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Fifth Business

By Robertson Davies
Fifth Business Ramsay is a man twice born a man who has returned from the hell of the battle grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man s land wher

  • Title: Fifth Business
  • Author: Robertson Davies
  • ISBN: 9780141181363
  • Page: 418
  • Format: Paperback

    • Ramsay is a man twice born, a man who has returned from the hell of the battle grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man s land where memory, history, and myth collide As Ramsay tells his story, it begins to seem that from boyhood, he has exerted a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious, influence on thoseRamsay is a man twice born, a man who has returned from the hell of the battle grave at Passchendaele in World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross and destined to be caught in a no man s land where memory, history, and myth collide As Ramsay tells his story, it begins to seem that from boyhood, he has exerted a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious, influence on those around him His apparently innocent involvement in such innocuous events as the throwing of a snowball or the teaching of card tricks to a small boy in the end prove neither innocent nor innocuous Fifth Business stands alone as a remarkable story told by a rational man who discovers that the marvelous is only another aspect of the real.

    • Free Read Fifth Business - by Robertson Davies
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    Fifth Business

    About Author

    1. Robertson Davies says:
      William Robertson Davies, CC, FRSC, FRSL died in Orangeville, Ontario was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor He was one of Canada s best known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished men of letters , a term Davies is sometimes said to have detested Davies was the founding Master of Massey College, a graduate college at the University of Toronto.Novels The Salterton Trilogy Tempest tost 1951 Leaven of Malice 1954 A Mixture of Frailties 1958 The Deptford Trilogy Fifth Business 1970 The Manticore 1972 World of Wonders 1975 The Cornish Trilogy The Rebel Angels 1981 What s Bred in the Bone 1985 The Lyre of Orpheus 1988 The Toronto Trilogy Davies final, incomplete, trilogy Murther and Walking Spirits 1991 The Cunning Man 1994 enpedia wiki Robertso

    Comment 961 on “Fifth Business”

    1. Candi says:
      4.5 stars 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 Dunstan Ramsay was born in the small town of Deptford, Ontario In 1908, at the age of ten, he is unknowingly cast in the vital though never glorious [...]
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    2. Kalliope says:
      I just could not help but feel sorry for poor candid little kalliope, the one who likes to invoke her eponymous muse, as if that were to help her in her reading and review writing Lately little spirally kalliope has been reading so many books that deal with saints and other holy figures that she was beginning to question her own mythological essence There was Fra Angelico La Virgen de la Humildad, which she enjoyed, and led by the mysteries of this book she followed the saving path sowed by Mill [...]
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    3. Terry says:
      4.5 starsRobertson Davies is one of my literary heroes At a time in my youth when I had been engulfed with Canadian Literature that was, in my humble opinion at the time at least, depressing, uninteresting, and decidedly parochial, here was a man who wrote stories with verve, humour, erudition and a view to the wider world _Fifth Business_ is the first book of Davies Deptford trilogy, a series of books that centre around people from the fictional small town of Deptford, Ontario Sounds parochial [...]
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    4. Manju says:
      Ramsay was born in 1898 in Deptford, Ontario When he was 10, while running away from his friend, a snow ball meant for him hit Mrs Dampster instead of him Mrs Dampster, who was pregnant at that time, immediately went into labour and lets say she was never same again She became what people of Deptford called simple This very event weighed heavily on Ramsay s conscience for the rest of his life Whatever he did, he always returned to this very moment In fact many of his decision were solely taken r [...]
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    5. BlackOxford says:
      Canada behind the glossFor me Robertson Davies is Canada its gentleness and its snobbery its reserve and its smugness its inherent democratic attitudes and its bourgeois provincialism its multicultural diversity and subtle ethnic prejudices It is the US without the fanaticism and England without inherited nobility It is also much than either Davies ability to describe Canada s uniqueness is unparalleled and itself unique Fifth Business is a sort of representative history of the country from 191 [...]
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    6. Darwin8u says:
      As I have grown older my bias the oddly recurrent themes of history, which are also the themes of myth has asserted itself, and why not Robertson Davies, Fifth BusinessRobertson Davies is one of those authors who has constantly been a peripheral artist I ve seen his books, corner of my eye, at bookstores used and new but never focused Never stayed Never picked one up Recently I asked a couple friends to recommend some bigger books or series that they really liked A friend of mine, who is an auth [...]
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    7. Carrie says:
      Because I loved, loved this book, I feel I must steal some precious seconds to write about it, before my memory of fades too much Not that it could ever escape completely, because as I said I loved this book I didn t know much about Davies, only that he was a famous Canadian author, and I bought this book used thinking that I should be exploring my Canadian heritage And I was totally wowed by the book It is the story of Dunston Ramsey, or rather, a story told by Dunston Ramsey Dunston comes to r [...]
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    8. Ali Green says:
      I can not stand this book and don t understand why people seem to rave about it.I like the concept that a character s life is not special, in itself, but how that character influences other character s lives gives the first character meaning, a bit like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet but the book itself is just Words on paper I did not care at all about any of the characters I found the main character to be boring, flat, uninteresting, and whinny As the book is told in first person, I fo [...]
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    9. Teresa Proença says:
      Robertson Davies Canad , 1913 1995 escreveu onze romances, organizados em trilogias a ltima inacabada Este o primeiro livro da denominada de Deptford e o nico traduzido para portugu s para grande pena minha.Dunsten Ramsay indignado com a not cia publicada num jornal, acerca do jantar de despedida da escola onde lecionou durante quarenta e cinco anos, na qual retratado apenas como um velho e t pico mestre escola faz uma exposi o escrita, dirigida ao reitor, na qual conta a sua vida desde a inf nc [...]
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    10. Jan Rice says:
      Fifth Business is a Really Good Book I can t say enough about it But on the other hand I could easily say too much I hate to say what kind of book it is, since I didn t find that out until the end and don t want to spoil it for others I can say read the publisher s blurb, though, which seems to me to have little enough to do with the novel This is the Best Kind of Book, that s what I think that, among other things, it s a bildungsroman, if that encompasses the development of the main character a [...]
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    11. Panagiotis says:
      , , , , , , , , , Davies , , , , , Davies , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Davies , , The Manticore.
      Reply

    12. Tyler Jones says:
      The first and best novel in the famed Deptford Trilogy is as rare and wonderful as anything in literature There are very few novels that manage to be so erudite the number of classical and mythological references is mind boggling and tightly plotted In fact the story unfolds at such a break neck pace that Tom Clancy ought to read it to get some pointers on building suspense And John Irving ought to give one dollar for every book he s ever sold to the estate of Robertson Daviesbut that s another [...]
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    13. Kirstin says:
      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 d nouement, 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 Robertson DaviesFifth Buisness is the memoir of Dunstable Dunstan Ramsey, newly retired school teacher unhappy with his farewell write up in the school paper I [...]
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    14. Jessica says:
      Fifth Business has steadily moved up the ranks of my quaint list of favourite books It teeters towards the top as an overwhelming reflection of Canada, the Scotch immigrants who settled here, and perhaps even me I learned a lot about my mother, my grandfather, and myself in reading this book Is that the epitome of the Fifth Business, or the antithesis To assume I can see my own lineage woven through the fabric of a tale published a decade before my conception There is something so hauntingly Can [...]
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    15. Wanda says:
      I love this book it is one of my comfort reads I took it to Ecuador with me for pleasant airport airplane reading and now remember why I love it so much It was the first Canadian literature that I was introduced to in undergraduate university days and it got me excited about Can Lit.Perhaps this novel speaks to me because I used to feel a bit like Fifth Business in my own life a supporting cast member to those around me But I think since those undergraduate days, I have learned to be the the sta [...]
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    16. Katerina says:
      17 , , And the audible production is really good, the narrator fits the text perfectly and treats it with due respect.
      Reply

    17. Ben Babcock says:
      I do not like the cover on this edition of Fifth Business I don t remember when I first read this book definitely in high school, but I hate to say that it s now long enough ago I can t remember the exact grade I didn t like the cover then, and I don t like it now There is just something unsettling about the composite of faces I interpret it as a representation of the various people we are, at different stages of our life and even simultaneously, an allusion to the Jungian archetypes that become [...]
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    18. AgnÄ— says:
      WHAT IS IT ABOUT Fifth Business, the first book in The Deptford Trilogy by Canadian writer Robertson Davies, is Dunstan Ramsay s memoir written as a letter to a Headmaster of Colborne College, where Dunstan was teaching for 45 years This letter memoir was provoked by a farewell article which offended Dunstan deeply as it downplayed his accomplishments and presented him as a typical old schoolmaster doddering into retirement with tears in his eyes and a drop hanging from his nose The story told b [...]
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    19. Madelyn Ck says:
      I cannot stand this book It may be technically interesting, and good archetype study, but its entire premise fails Dunny s contention is that his life WAS interesting, despite indications otherwise Too bad he told the story in the most long winded and torpor inducing way possible The character s life was certainly eventful, but not at all interesting This is a mind bogglingly boring book to read You know Grandpa Simpson s onion on my belt, which was the style at the time speech This is the liter [...]
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    20. Alex says:
      This isn t about a boy who, through vicious thoughtlessness, nearly destroys an entire family and denies it for the rest of his life It s not about his poor wife It s not about the woman he injures, who may be a saint it s not about the son who barely survives and goes on to be the world s greatest magician, and it s certainly not about whether vengeance will ever be served It s about Fifth Business, the odd man out, a bystander Those roles which, being neither those of Hero nor Heroine, Confida [...]
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    21. Terri Jacobson says:
      This is the first book of Robertson Davies The Deptford Trilogy, and it s a challenge and a joy to read The writing is luscious and deep with many touches of humor Davies introduces all the themes of this trilogy in this first volume We are introduced to Dunstable Dunstan Ramsey as a young boy, and the characters of his childhood have a great impact on his growth and development as a person Davies explains the concept of Fifth Business , someone or something that has great influence on the cours [...]
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    22. Akshita says:
      I honestly didn t understand this book.d neither did my classmates Although this book may have many archatypes.I think a different bookight have been better as this book didn t seem to grasp anyone s attention in our class I feel this book can be better understood by people who are mature and should be read when you are oldert grade 11.e you cannot relate to the characters or anything the book is talking about at that age.
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    23. Paul Secor says:
      As I did with the Cornish Trilogy, I read the last volume of the Deptford Trilogy, World of Wonders, first for no good reason, other than it was readily available to read And, as with the Cornish Trilogy, I m finding that this was a big, big mistake, so I m reading Deptford from the beginning and will reread World of Wonders.Robertson Davies was one of the master storytellers of the twentieth century One of the things I enjoy about his novels is that no one is perfect Just as in life, no one is [...]
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    24. Minerva says:
      If anyone ever tells you to read this, punch them in the face and never speak to them again.
      Reply

    25. Anna H says:
      Not sure what to say about the book, because I didn t find it spectacular but not terrible either oh the curse of the three star novel Good but not great Another classic that probably plays well in English classes with English teachers, as it would be easy to discuss the character interplay in a literature class the meaning of fifth business and how the rest of the story ultimately revolves around a central character who doesn t play the central action of the story, but whose presence drives the [...]
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    26. Diane Barnes says:
      Robertson Davies is one of my favorite writers, because I feel so intellectual and learned when I read him Fifth Business is the first novel in the Deptford trilogy The plot is complicated and intricate, but you only realize that when you ve finished because the prose is so effortless Fifth business is a dramatic term denoting a character who is neither the hero nor the villain in the play, but the person who precipitates the events taking place by his relationship to the main characters This ta [...]
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    27. Jerry says:
      My lifelong involvement with the Fifth Business began at 5 58 o clock pm on 1 March 2010 I still remember the strong feelings and expressions on my face as I eagerly scanned your letter, and I must say Mr Dunstan, your letter was beyond crafty and colourful it was ingenious It revealed the truths, the lies, and those burning thoughts you held within your mind for all these years You took me through a truly marvellous journey You had me confused at first when you talked about the Mrs Dempster inc [...]
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    28. Yair Ben-Zvi says:
      There s something distinctly lacking in a lot of modern literature that this somewhat antiquated piece of literature has in spades enthusiasm In fact, not since the better prose of Saul Bellow have I experienced a literature so determinedly skillful and driven to a single point, that point being adventurous literary exploration and analysis of themes and ideas fettered smoothly to the act of storytelling that the depth of theme never overshadows the exigencies of storytelling puts Robertson Dav [...]
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    29. Carlo says:
      I m ashamed to say I bought this book in a used bookstore because of the cover, which I m doubly ashamed to say that I likedWTFas, I know.Anyway, as I m preparing to make Canada my permanent home in the coming months, I wanted to explore Canadian literature and came across the book in one of the top 10 Canadian novels of all time lists online Well, it was a great surprise How I enjoyed reading this little gem of a book The simple yet beautifully told story, full of wit and satire absorbed me ful [...]
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    30. Jeanette"Astute Crabbist" says:
      This story is somewhat bizarre, and yet somehow oddly compelling I kept telling myself I d read just a little , little .The surface story is the autobiography of the narrator, Dunny Ramsay He gets offended by a retirement piece written about him that makes him appear as a dim and dull old boarding school teacher who never had anything interesting happen to him He writes his own story to set the record straight and tells about his upbringing, service in World War I, world travels, and what he con [...]
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