Customer Reviews

Fifth Business

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fifth Business, the first installment of the Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, is without doubt the best novel that I had never heard of. Davies prose and narrative voice rival Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in elegance, humor, and style. And his characters and plot development, so rich, absorbing, and at once triumphant and tragic, put this fine novel in the same class as Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

The term 'Fifth Business', as Davies describes, refers to the role in an opera, usually played by a man, which has no opposite of the other sex. While only a supporting character, he is essential to the plot, for he often knows the secret of the hero's birth, or comes to the assistance of the heroine when all seems lost, or may even be the cause of someone's death. In this novel, Dunstan Ramsay plays this role, and he is in maginificent form. Though he narrates the novel, and is intimately entwined in the lives of all its characters, he somehow manages to remain slightly in the background as a passive observer of others. It is through his eyes that we witness the rise of Boy Staunton, his childhood friend from the small Canadian town of Deptford. While Dunny goes off to the war where he is seriously wounded, and later becomes a boarding school master and expert on the history of saints, Boy makes his fortune in the sugar business and eventually pursues a career in politics. Dunny, whose soft-spoken charm, honesty, and self-reflection become clear through his narration, serves as an admirable foil to Boy, whose drive and ambition are unrestrained by a sense of morality, duty, or altruism.

But the novel is far more complex than a simple study of two contrasting characters. Davies' cast is rich and diverse, and their lives intertwine fluidly, though often in surprising ways. There is Mrs. Dempster, who in the opening pages is struck by a snowball thrown by Boy and intended for Dunny, and is rendered "simple" after the subsequent premature birth of her son Paul. Paul runs away from home at a young age, but reappears later in the novel in a key role. And Liesl, the magician's manager, a strong-willed and sexually aggressive woman, hardened by life but wise in the ways of the world, proves to be an admirable rival for Dunny as astute observer of others.

Narrated in the form of a letter to Dunny's headmaster, the novel maintains a strong sense of plain honesty throughout. It is a remarkable novel, and a shock that Davies has remained relatively obscure in this country.

I had never heard of Robertson Davies until I discovered "Fifth Business", the first instalment of the "Deptford Trilogy", from a recommended book list and what a great reading experience it turned out to be. Davies writes in a style highly reminiscent of the great late 19th and early 20th century writers. Strongly narrative, the novel is richly multilayered in its exploration of ideas and themes. At its most basic level, it is the story of the sensitive but oddly passive Dunstan Ramsey, the novel's protaganist, whose life is contrasted with his pragmatic and successful friend, Boy Staunton and his women (including Leola, his wife who turns out not to be made of the same stuff as Boy). Whilst Dunstan seems content to live life as a school master, observing rather than participating, Boy makes waves and becomes a hugely successful figure in business and politics. But more fascinating is the early traces of "magical realism" used by Davies in the Mary Dempster (the "fool-saint") episode, which manifests the nature of Dunstan's conscience (contrasting with the lack thereof in Boy) as well as his belief in the power of magic and imagination. In the development of this secondary plot line, Davies employs a technique that hints at "magical realism" but wields his craft with such confidence and aplomb that the effect can only be described as dazzling. Dunstan's feeling of responsibility towards Mary and her son Paul is brought to a beautiful conclusion when he learns much later after Paul runs away from home and assumes the identity of a magician that it was he (Dunstan) who had taught him (Paul) the rudiments of magic through the card game. The shock ending for Boy smacks of poetic justice, leaving the question metaphysically open ended. Boy may be the protaganist on the world's stage and Dunstan only "fifth business", but who's ultimately the more valuable human being ? Davies has written a brilliant and enchanting novel. For sure I'll be checking out the next two instalments of his trilogy.

No one has yet written the Great Canadian Novel, but in Fifth Business, World of Wonders and the Manticore, Robertson Davies may have given us something like the Great Interlinked Canadian Trilogy.

Fifth Business is the novel with which to start. The book's central figure is schoolteacher Dunstan Ramsay, who grew up in the tiny village of Deptford in the sugar-beet growing district of Southwestern Ontario. The town's pretty boy-slash-bully Percy Boyd Staunton hits the minister's wife with a snowball containing a rock, which causes her to go into premature labor and give birth to the underweight Paul Dempster. (This is an early 20th Century level of obstetrics, you understand.)

The rest of the book is a fascinating weave of Canadian social and political history from the 1910s thru the 1960s as Dunstan, Paul and Percy Boyd (now the raffish "Boy") Staunton are pushed together by the whims of fate. Boy and Paul become world famous in very different ways. Not bad for two kids from the sticks and Dunstan, the humble schoolteacher, has reason to envy them. Or does he? A "fifth business" is theater talk for a leavener, a kind of enzyme agent that, while not significant in itself, makes other things happen.

As the amazon-dot-com reviewer from Singapore so brilliantly pointed out, the novel contains elements of magical realism. Don't confuse Fifth Business with your basic American sprawling bestseller. This is heady yet subtle stuff. Not for nothing is Fifth Business required reading in Grade 13 of the Ontario public school system. (Yes, Grade THIRTEEN--no wonder Canadian kids are so smart.)

I would recommend you buy the paperback Fifth Business/World of Wonders/Manticore trilogy. It only costs a little more than buying Fifth Business by itself, and more than likely you'll want to read the other books once you've finished Fifth Business.

I've read Fifth Business five or six times over a 22-year period, and the older I become, the more it speaks to me. I think it's because Davies writes with a mature wisdom that is so rare these days that it's astonishing to find.

The narrator, Dunstan Ramsay, tells a spellbinding story as he assesses the impact of a snowball fight that irrevocably changes intertwining lives.

Every time I've picked up this book, I've read it straight through; my copy is dog-eared.

Apparently, Davies started writing novels in the second half of his life, after (and these are Davies's own words paraphrased) he'd grown up, after he'd realized that someday he was going to die, and after he'd found out that without God life lacks an important and much-needed component.

Fifth Business is one of the finest books in Canadian literature that I have had the pleasure of reading.
Robertson Davies is a literary genius - the sophisticated manner in which he writes, the brilliant plot of his story, his excellent characterization, and all of the other elements that make Fifth Business an engaging, mesmerizing Canadian classic. Fifth Business is a challenging, thought-provoking novel that will compel you to read on until the very last page.

Do yourself a favour and read Fifth Business; it will be a novel you won't regret reading.

There are a thousand reviews on Amazon saying "this is the best book I've ever read", so they're easy to pass off as hyperbole, but do yourself a favor and read this book. This is great literature, and although I am pleased to find a lot of reviews here saying that it is required reading in many literature classes, this is a book that inspires more than academic analysis - approach it with a sense of wonder and you will be amply rewarded.
I first read "Fifth Business" around 1970, and I've been telling people for over thirty years that I've never read anything to compare to it. At the time everyone was touting "The French Lieutenant's Woman" for it's "magical realism", but that was a cold read compared to "Fifth Business." This book transports you. You will find it hard to leave the world of Dunstan Ramsey when you finish this book.
The rest of the "Deptford Trilogy" is very good (though I found "World of Wonders" far superior to "The Manticore"), but if Davies had never written another word after "Fifth Business" his literary reputation would have been assured.
After spending all those years claiming that this book is the best novel of the second half of the 20th centiry, I felt an obligation to pick it up again as the year 2000 rolled around, since it had been several years since I last read it. I was not disappointed - despite being so familiar with the book, I was unable to put it down, and read far into the night before finishing.
Do yourself a favor and visit the world of Dunstan Ramsey - those who don't are the poorer for it.

In my very humble and very personal opinion, it is not for nothing that Robertson Davies has earned "international recognition"... I was hooked into Deptford before the book even began! The magic operates from the exergue in fact, where it is told what exactly is a fifth business, "Those roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confidante nor Villain, but which were nonetheless essential to bring about Recognition or the dénouement". After this "appetite whetter", the book opens on Dunstan Ramsay's memoirs, a rambling tale of many lives, where the detours are almost more interesting than the main story.

Davies' writing is fluid; to follow it is like strolling along a (sparkling) river, until the river inevitably joins the sea (ie, it all come together in the end!) And of course, with great writing comes great portraits - bewildered Mary Dempster, truculent Padre Blazon, bigger-than-life Boy Staunton, Liesl (...that one doesn't need any adjective) - along with thoughtful insights and quiet laughs.

I definitely give my thanks to the owner of the used books store who recommended this book! "The Manticore" - book #2 in the Deptford Trilogy - here I come!

Robertson Davies' Fifth Business is the beginning of a trilogy that has become legendary in Canadian literary life. It took moving to America for me to finally begin these novels and I am glad that I have done so. This first book begins the series of novels off on a strong note. Dunstan Ramsay weaves a wonderful narrative as he explores the life lived below the surface of this staid history professor at a boys' school. The novel moves through geography and chronology as the various people in his life become twice born, dropping one identity and taking another (demonstrated by the creation of a new name). Things are never quite so simple as the past lives come crashing in at odd times into their new lives. It is a wonderfully magical and mystical (in many senses) journey and will be a delight to the reader. I look forward to the other two books in the Deptford trilogy.

Having read everything Davies has written, I just finished re-reading Fifth Business (the first of his I had read). I'm obviously a Davies enthusiast, and this is Davies at his best. The characters are wonderful, and the plot hooked me both times I read it. Choosing to tell the story from the point of view of a character who is neither hero nor villain (evidently "fifth business" refers to a character who is necessary to move the plot along, but not one of the main characters) is interesting. The actual heroes and villains are a colourful bunch, but might actually be TOO colourful to make a good focal point for the telling of the story (I recall not liking World of Wonders quite as well as the other two books in the Deptford trilogy for that reason). Presented this way, the characters are flamboyant and juicy enough to be interesting, but don't overwhelm the story.

A friend of mine complains that in Davies' books his voice comes through too strongly (as opposed to his characters voices). I kind of know what he means, but that doesn't diminish my enjoyment in reading Davies' books one bit (interesting, since Davies' passions and apparent world view aren't mine). If Davies' voice does loom in the background, it doesn't interfere with the telling of a good yarn. Besides, having read his biography, and non-fiction writing as well, it is really an interesting voice.

Fifth Business, a theatrical term actually invented by Davies for the novel, is meant to indicate the fifth of the main operatic players. The four main players' lives are entwined and influenced by the "Fifth Business" character, in a sort of subconscious synchronicity.

The main character in this first of Davies' Deptford trilogy, Dunstan Ramsay, is such a fifth business character. Without intent or effort, he shapes and defines the lives of those around him. In a beautifully woven and uniquely Canadian style that Davies made his own, Ramsay, Paul Dempster, Boy Staunton and the rest of the wonderfully believable characters capture the attention and the imagination of the reader.

This mainstay of high school English classes across Canada is well worth the read, even if you don't need to write a four-page essay on the major themes of the novel. Davies writes with humour and wit, with passion and pain. I guess I got lucky - I had to take it in grade 12 English, and then again in grade 13. Although it's a fairly short novel (under 300 pages), it's not a quick, unsatisfying read. It has substance without being too bulky, and I highly recommend it as the first introduction to Robertson Davies. It will definitely make you want to read more.