Back in 1990 Canadian literature enjoyed a fascinating encounter between Margaret Atwood y Robertson Davis. On that occasion the two writers engaged in a brilliant struggle to be the best Canadian writer of the moment and, why not, since they were at it, in history.
They launched into a series of affronts between the octogenarian narrator and Atwood who, approaching 50, also had nothing to prove. That day it was necessary to show who occupied the most and best on the prestige and sales honor lists. That was finally settled by one of the two stating: "I swear by the Bible that I can be infinitely more defamatory than you." From the struggle for the style they had gone on to show that every struggle of egos ended up leading to the most absolute pettiness.
Anecdotes aside, Atwood and Davies undoubtedly fed off each other. The survivor Atwood already knows today that she is one of the greatest of Canadian letters, with the permission of that bearded and pretentious guy in the forms who, however, deep down certainly achieved epic evocations of the human, with ghostly overtones or from impressions disturbingly realistic about humanity.
Top 3 Recommended Robertson Davies Novels
What takes root in the bone
One of those novels that encapsulates the art of fiction par excellence, which is nothing other than balancing action and reflection to the maximum. In Francis Cornish we discover ecce homo, the human exposed to our most thorough analysis from the soul to the organic. Then comes the action, the insertion of the character in a dynamic, fast-paced scenario. Nothing better than war to confront us with dangers and also to pose dilemmas about life, death, and the transcendence of the artistic, from its value to its price. A necessary story for any fiction reader.
We start at the end, for more bewilderment. Francis Cornish is a wealthy and mysterious Canadian patron and art collector who has just died. From the hazardous circumstances that led to the marriage of his parents through his heterodox artistic training? Started in the workshop of an embalmer? or his love initiation, the novel goes through the different stages of his life and gives an account of the development of his character.
This is how his past as a painting restorer and forger is revealed, skills that during the Second World War would lead him to be part of British espionage and participate in a plot to sell fake works of art to the Nazis. In this novel, Robertson Davies creates an ingenious story about the reasons, passions and intrigues that drive the art world.
Deptford Trilogy
Davies was capable of great trilogies and linked them together with the astonishing ease of someone who devotes himself to a routine task. His mastery overflows in this volume where, through the labyrinthine tunnels of history, myth and magic, we are provided with a stimulating antidote to a world, quoting the author: "where fear, terror and the splendor of the wonderful have disappeared.
In "The Fifth Discord" is where, around the mysterious death of Canadian magnate Boy Staunton, the plot of this novel is woven. The narration is provided by Dunstan Ramsay, Staunton's friend since childhood, who in trying to clarify the circumstances of his death will have no choice but to confront the story of his own life. From the beginning of the story, Ramsay has exercised a mystical and not entirely innocuous influence on those around him: seemingly innocent actions - a fight with snowballs or learning card tricks - will be revealed as decisive events in the lives of others.
"Manticore" David has been upset since the death of his father. He, unlike the police, is convinced that his father was murdered. Determined to get rid of his obsession, David travels to Zurich for psychoanalysis at the Jung Institute. Forced by psychiatrists to inquire into his memory, David will gradually bring to light an extraordinary gallery of characters and memories that will allow him to face his own demons and, above all, the memory of his father.
"The World of Wonders" closes the Deptford Trilogy with a spectacular climax, solving the mystery surrounding the death of tycoon Boy Staunton. Seemingly innocent actions - a snowball fight or learning sleight of hand - will be revealed as watershed events in the life of Paul Dempster, a Deptford boy whom Staunton had known in his childhood and who, in time, he would become Magnus Eisengrim, the most famous conjurer of his day.
Festive spirit
At the time I cited a book by Edgar Allan Poe about a humorous gathering of spirits as the best of his production. It is about the bewildering intention to arouse hilarity and terror in unison. This time the matter is oriented more towards humor. And so, the ghosts is more to address the inexplicable of this world (almost everything) from the vision of illustrious and clairvoyant characters already dead.
One of the best things about this volume is the representation of recognizable personalities, of those once beacons of our world already gone for a better or worse life but that return to judge and provide that tragicomic glimpse of everything around us. Extravagant, disturbing at times ..., magic made of close, popular literature.
During the traditional Christmas festivities held at Massey College at the University of Toronto, Robertson Davis he had a habit of entertaining students by telling ghost stories. This anthology collects these eighteen stories in which Robertson Davis He masterfully integrates parody overtones into lurid horror stories. An unforgettable anthology of ghost stories in which Robertson Davies masterfully integrates parody and literary curiosities into horror stories.
