Jarvis, Robin. "Robin Jarvis - Frequently Asked Questions". Robinjarvis.com . Retrieved 27 September 2020.

The Deptford trilogy has won praise for its narrative voice and its characterizations. The main characters originate from the same small village. Each carries a secret that crosses the lives of the others and drives the plot forward. Fifth Business is considered one of Davies' best novels. The second novel, The Manticore, won the Governor-General's Literary Award in the English-language fiction category in 1972. Other key characters in the trilogy include Boy Staunton, Dunstan’s childhood friend turned rival, and Magnus Eisengrim, a mysterious magician and performer who becomes a close confidant of Dunstan’s. Each of these characters brings their own unique perspective and experiences to the story, adding depth and complexity to the narrative.

Discover

Something about the Author: Facts and Pictures about Authors and Illustrators of Books for Young People (181ed.). Cengage Gale. 5 November 2007. pp.94–95. ISBN 9780787688059. 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! And Fifth Business is a progressively more complicated, murky and allusive affair, as it morphs into the carnival of capricious capers that lurks in the two companion novels of this, the Deptford Trilogy, all set off aptly by the plodding, dourly academic main character (Davies himself?) Dunstan. Dunstan Ramsay nos cuenta su vida, empezando por su niñez en el pequeño pueblo de Deptford a principio del siglo XX. Sabemos de su amistad con Boy Staunton y de un incidente que cambiará la vida de los implicados y cuyas consecuencias se irán desgranando a lo largo de la novela. Es una historia sobre la culpa y la responsabilidad que tenemos sobre los efectos de nuestras acciones. Dunstan es el narrador pero al mismo tiempo no es el protagonista de los sucesos principales, aunque su intervención es siempre decisiva: es 'el quinto en discordia', un personaje que no es principal pero que, a su manera, es importante.

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as “a modern classic,” Robertson Davies’s acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven. The Manticore—the second book in the series after Fifth Business—follows David Staunton, a man pleased with his success but haunted by his relationship with his larger-than-life father. As he seeks help through therapy, he encounters a wonderful cast of characters who help connect him to his past and the death of his father. Thomas Triton is a retired midshipmouse who makes his home aboard the Cutty Sark. He befriends Twit when the latter is unexpectedly dropped onto the ship by the bats Orfeo and Eldritch. Davies discusses several themes in the novel, perhaps the most important being the difference between materialism and spirituality. Davies asserts religion is not necessarily integral to the idea—demonstrated by the corrupt Reverend Leadbeater who reduces the Bible to mere economic terms. He was one of Canada’s most distinguished men of letters, with several volumes of plays and collections of essays, speeches, and belles lettres to his credit. As a novelist, he gained worldwide fame for his three trilogies: The Salterton Trilogy, The Deptford Trilogy, and The Cornish Trilogy, and for later novels Murther & Walking Spirits and The Cunning Man.

One other theme strikes me – Davies’ anal obsessions. Staunton fils starts off his narrative with a fairly detailed description of his grandfather’s efforts to make him (Staunton fils) defecate, for which he has a complex and painful contraption, and ends with his shitting himself when trying to get out of cave through a narrow, dark passage, with a woman just behind him (oh, what a symbol that is!) Staunton fils is not the only character who shits himself. Dempster/Eisengrim’s buggery at the hands of Willard and its subsequent effect on Dempster/Eisengrim is also given some prominence. A dig at the Freudians and their anal obsessions? Publishing history Similarly, Magnus’s experiences with the occult and his belief in the power of magic shape his worldview and his actions. His performances as Eisengrim are not just entertainment, but a means of exploring the mysteries of the universe and connecting with something greater than himself. While in Mexico City on a six-month sabbatical from Colborne College, Ramsay attends a magic show put on by the mysterious illusionist Magnus Eisengrim, who is revealed to be an adult Paul Dempster. Intrigued by Eisengrim's spectacular illusions, Ramsay joins his entourage as he tours the world with his magic act, and gradually becomes close to Eisengrim's wealthy patroness Liesl, an eccentric woman with a bizarre androgynous appearance. Liesl, who becomes Ramsay's lover, senses that he has never been truly happy, having spent most of his life being overshadowed by other people whose lives have intersected with his own. To help him make sense of his role in the world, Liesl suggests that Ramsay is fated to play the part of "fifth business," a term for a supporting player in a stage show whose role can’t be easily classified, but nonetheless plays a vital role in resolving the plot. Overall, The Deptford Trilogy is a rich and complex work of literature that draws on a wide range of literary traditions and influences. It is a testament to Davies’ skill as a writer that he was able to weave together these different strands into a cohesive and compelling narrative. The trilogy remains a landmark work of Canadian literature and a testament to the power of the written word. The Critical Responses to The Deptford Trilogy Overall, the title of The Deptford Trilogy is significant in that it sets the stage for a complex and engaging story that explores themes of identity, memory, and the human experience. The Narrative Style of The Deptford Trilogy

Ramsay appears in Davies' novels What's Bred in the Bone and The Lyre of Orpheus, two of his Cornish trilogy, and in the later novel The Cunning Man. Ramsay is not religious but he is fascinated by the lives of the saints. He writes several well-regarded treatises on saints. In the novels he is compared with Saint Dunstan in his struggle with Satan.Izvanredna knjiga. Naslov može da zavara pa da neko pomisli kako je ovo roman o nekom introventom junaku koji je, eto nekim slučajem izolovan iz društvenog cirkusa. Baš naprotiv. Njegov život će se proživljavati usputno, prilagođavaće se svakoj situaciji i vrlo vješto davati drugima šansu, što mi je i bilo drago tokom čitanja. Nikoga nije previše uzdizao na pijedestal i svako je imao svoj duboki pečat postojanja tvoren duhovnim, a manje materijalnim stvarima. Toliko toga je u ovoj knjizi. Toliko različitih sudbina isprepletenih u jednu mrežu da se dobije osjećaj čitanja više knjiga unutar jedne. U svakom liku utkan je neki dar koji doprinosi punoći te mreže. Svako poglavlje nosi sa sobom strogu odgovornost, intezitet koji ne jenjava do samog kraja romana. Vrlo uigrano pripovijedanje, pisac vrlo lako obogaćuje sferu i ovladava situacijom u svakom pogledu. 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 literary equivalent. My eyes were so glazed you could have sold them at Tim Horton's. I think that, among other things, it's a bildungsroman, if that encompasses the development of the main character and his discovery of wisdom across his whole lifetime. That could be what makes this book so wonderful.