Fifth Business (The Deptford Trilogy, #1) in Reading with Style

Aug 23, 2010 Elizabeth (Alaska) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, library, mid-20th-century

This, where would normally be the dedication:

Fifth Business...Definition

Those roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were nonetheless essential to bring about the Recognition or the denouement, were called the Fifth Business in drama and opera companies organized according to the old style; the player who acted these parts was often referred to as Fifth Business.

- Tho. Overskou, Den Danske Skueplads

Told in the first person in the name of Dunstable ...more

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Apr 06, 2019 Alex rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I came across Fifth Business while browsing through boxes of books donated to my local library and for sale. I wasn't familiar with the novel or author, Robertson Davies, but the cover, which depicted a half-male, half-female face, caught my attention. I opened the old yellowed paperback and on the cover flap was a date, 11/11/83, and a handwritten note: "Lew, This had been my favorite novel for a few years now. I thought you might enjoy it to! It's a lot of fun. xox," and signed by either Mary I came across Fifth Business while browsing through boxes of books donated to my local library and for sale. I wasn't familiar with the novel or author, Robertson Davies, but the cover, which depicted a half-male, half-female face, caught my attention. I opened the old yellowed paperback and on the cover flap was a date, 11/11/83, and a handwritten note: "Lew, This had been my favorite novel for a few years now. I thought you might enjoy it to! It's a lot of fun. xox," and signed by either Mary or Matt. Sold, I plunked down my 50 cents and look forward to seeing what so won the heart of Mary or Matt. The novel begins with Dunstan Ramsay, the narrator and main character, recounting a boyhood snowball fight. When Dunstan ducks to avoid the snowball, it hits a nearby woman, Mrs. Dempster, who was walking with her husband, the Reverend Amasa Dempster. Mrs. Dempster, who was pregnant, cries out in pain and falls to the ground. This incident sets the plot in motion and intertwines with every step of the narrator's life. The novel jumps many decades ahead to the retirement of Dunstan Ramsay as assistant head and Senior History Master for a prestigious Canadian boys school. The retirement is accompanied by an article in the school's quarterly newspaper, the College Chronicle. The article is breezy, jokey and dismissive, referring to Dunstan as "Corky." Dunstan is outraged by the article and confronts the headmaster with his complaint. How could they ignore the accomplishments of the "only Protestant contributor to Analecta Bollandiana?" To right this wrong, Dunstan will write a memoir meant to inform the headmaster of Dunstan's accomplishments, his life outside the classroom. With this introduction, I was prepared for tongue-in-cheek satire of academia. This is not what follows. Since the incident of the snowball, Dunstan has lead a life of tragedy, myth and magic. From the little Canadian village of Deptford, Dunstan takes us to Europe's battlefields, where the horror of war is depicted as too real to be real, unfathomable. From there to the afterlife of the infirmary, and a remarkable affair, both touching and absurd, that brings his thoughts back to Mrs. Dempster, who had undergone a severe change in personality and behavior, for which Dunstan will feel lifelong guilt. He will develop a passion for magic and saints, and plunge into a quest for the truth of their miracles. He will find himself in the midst of freak shows, touring magic acts, brilliant scholars. Odd love affairs and startling sexual encounters. And that little village and Mrs. Dempster intertwining everything. There is satire all right, and many funny moments. But the novel is at its heart, an oblique take on how our lives play out. The unrelenting strangeness of this life. ...more

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Sep 12, 2009 Juniper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian, effing-awesome, owned, 2014-books

so, so great! this is, i think, a master class in fiction writing, and a really fantastic story. classic for a reason!

though i consider davies one of my favourite writers, i have not read this novel for a long, long time. a long time. so i was nervous - worried i wouldn't love it as much as i think i do. but it was amazing and i love it still with even stronger appreciation now. i can't imagine this book being taught successfully to most high school students - and my teacher did do a great job. ...more

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Oct 03, 2017 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Unusual, well-written, challenging. Religion, myth, guilt, magic, a sprinkling of humor.
This book is a written as a letter from Dunstan Ramsay to his boss upon Ramsay's retirement. He explains his life as the fifth business, the essential character in a drama or opera, who is not the hero, heroine, villain or confidante.
A lot to think about. ...more

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