The Deptford Trilogy: Fifth Business; The Manticore; World of Wonders

Fifth Business is beautiful. The story of Dunstan is compelling and subtly craftly. The story follows his journey for personal truth and an understanding of his own personal mythology. There are gems throughout:"They were anxious to make men of us, by which they meant making us like themselves.""We all forget the things we do, especially when they do not fit into the characer we have chosen for ourselves.""...you've made a God of yourself and the insufficiency of it forced you to become an atheist."The story, including its conclusion, is intricate and thoroughly satisfying.The other two books, "The Manticore" and "World of Wonders", though flawed, complete the Deptford story in a very necessary way. How can a story fully convey the idea of personal truth and subjectivity without relating the story from another perspective? This is what the other two books set out to do.The Manticore is very interesting, but not as compelling as Fifth Business. It's the pieced together narrative of Boy Staunton's son, David, as he goes through Jungian psychoanalysis. As a fan of Jung, I think the concept is brilliant, but the execution falters as David is not as endearing as Ramsay, and his narrative is uneven. At times, he is too defensive and at other times, his progress is a bit contrived.World of Wonders tells the story of Magnus Eisengrim, and how he became the world's greatest illusionist. Another beautiful, subtly crafted story. Though slow at points and filled with a healthy dose of pretentiousness (the banter between Liesl and Magnus is a little much sometimes), it's incredibly enjoyable.There is no doubt that Fifth Business is the masterpiece in this trilogy. The other two do not match its brilliance. However, they do serve to reinforce the underlying themes in the work and provide the reader with a more full experience of the personal mythologies that make up the Deptford history.If you love the first, read the next two!

The above title of this review is the gnomic answer of a sort given to the question asked by many of the characters in this trilogy, "Who killed Boy Staunton?" at the end by Ramsay. But to find out what this means, you'll have to look up the history of the word "weird" when it was still a noun, before the "three weird sisters" of Macbeth launched the word into its long trek to the adjective we know today.-So it is with much of this work, lots of interesting, fascinating tangents to follow, if one is so inclined. I think this trilogy succeeds so well primarily because of the writing.-What the character David Staunton calls "plain language"-The baroque is indeed, "not for everybody", but more significantly, hard to pull off. One has to be a Proust or Faulkner to accomplish such a feat.--Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet, though fine in many respects, is an example of an author who reached above himself in this regard. The "plain language" is so well done that the reader can go through the whole of the middle book, The Manticore, the entirety of which involves the analysis of David Staunton by a Jungian psychiatrist, and finish knowing only a smattering more about Jung and his therapy than he did at the beginning-No "race-consciousness", "archetypes" or "synchronicity". -Again, the reader must delve into this aspect if he or she feels so inclined, after reading the work.-The Manticore also, to me, was the finest of the trilogy, the most deft and interesting, for it forces the reader (or, at least, this reader) to imagine himself in David's position, and I managed to dredge up several (not insignificant) moments from my past that I'd completely forgotten. So, if you enjoy finely penned, not overly ornate prose, and long nights turning pages, I might add.-Then read and...dree your weird.

I really liked the Fifth Business, the first book of the trilogy. It was intriguing and maintained my interest very well and I liked the way the three boyhood characters reunited in an inexplicable encounter at the end of the tale. The Manticore was not as interesting to me and the coincidence of encountering Eisengrim yet again was much harder for me to swallow by this time. David's story was not nearly as engaging as Dunstan's and I could not swallow the explanation for his arrested sexuality. He just was not real for me. By the third book, I had lost interest and only skipped through the bizarre saga of Paul's life. I admire Davies' writing and enjoy all his literary references, but I had trouble following through on the entire trilogy. I suspect I missed something critical in the story line for the second book, but I am not sure I want to put in the effort to find it out. I do like that Davies' story is intentionally ambiguous on multiple levels.

no problem just what I hoped for

I've read this trilogy twice and found it captivating both times, so I gave it as a gift to a friend who has come late in life to good literature, hungers for it, and should be more than satisfied with "The Deptford Trilogy."

This promises to be an excellent series. So far I've read only Fifth Business, but found it wonderful. I thought it would show it's age but Davies writes with a clear voice that doesn't sound the least bit dated. The narrator of Fifth Business is a charmingly intelligent and blindingly honest man--with himself as well as with you the reader--who somehow manages to hold steady in spite of dealing with madness, the nightmare of WWI, love and loss. I'm looking forward to reading The Manticore after the holiday crazies subside.

This is another excellent Trilogy from the magnificent mind of Robertson Davies. Characters are excellent and varied as well as likeable. His usual subtle humour and masterful writing style. The second novel of the Trilogy is an excellent period of psychological examination. It is fascinating. As well, the breadth of experience with mythology, astrology and astronomy is amazing and keeps the reading colourful. Highly recommended.

Three books in one is always good but these were magnificent. I was not sure what to expect having bought the trilogy on the recommendation of an Independent (newspaper) crossword setter (Phi) who has clued several Robertson Davies references in his puzzles. I was enraptured and awed by the author's eloquence and story-telling ability. These were not at all the sort of books which I would normally read so I am truly grateful to Phi for pointing me in their direction.Previous reviewers have given details about the contents of the stories so I will only say that I was engrossed in the characters and their linked histories. I look forward to reading his other trilogies.

I must confess I only came across this author via a chance-remark by a newspaper columnist - and am I glad. This book about three individuals is a delight, clever but never intimidating. It has touches of humour, and replete with characters. Robertson Davies was a a Canadian to whom we owe a lot.

My husband bought this book for our daughter's partner, as he is a big fan of Robertson Davies and knew that my daughter's partner would enjoy this book. He was right, she really enjoyed reading it, one of Robertson's great books. Highly recommend this book.

Just a wonderful book or books. Robertson Davies is woefully under recognised and this and his other trilogies deserve much wider recognition.

I first discovered Robertson Davies more than 30 years ago and recommended this triolgy recently to a book club I belong to. He just tells a great story and manages to bring out the numinous quality of everyday experience in a wholly compelling way. The other members of the book club loved it and they're not an easy group to please.