Fifth Business

The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1

By: Robertson Davies

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as "a modern classic", Robertson Davies’ acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven.

This first novel in the trilogy introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross but who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide. As we hear Ramsey tell his story, we begin to realize that, from childhood, he has influenced those around him in a perhaps mystical, perhaps pernicious way. Even his seemingly innocent involvement in as innocuous an event as throwing a snowball proves to be neither innocent nor innocuous in the end.

Listen to the rest of The Deptford Trilogy.

©1970 Robertson Davies (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A marvelously enigmatic novel, elegantly written and driven by irresistible narrative forces." ( The New York Times)

"Robertson Davies is one of the great modern novelists." (Malcolm Bradbury, The Sunday Times, London)

"One of the splendid literary enterprises of this decade." ( Newsweek)

I took a chance, and was greatly rewarded.

This isn't my normal genre. I generally don't like books set in this time period, or books that don't have something immediately gripping in the plot. Regardless, I gave this book a chance - mostly because I liked the cover and thought it was about running a business. After the first few chapters, I became so attached to the main character that finishing this book feels a bit like losing a friend. I'm astonished. More importantly, I'm very satisfied. The reading was great, too.

some of the best writing I have had the pleasure

Great read(listen), i laughed out loud many times. jokes with depth and truth. satisfying ending that leaves some room for conversation. loved it.

Just a delight!

I got this blindly after seeing someone post about it. I had no idea of the story or the author, but I found it a wonderfully fun and insightful story.
The narration is top-notch as well.

Love John Irving? You'll love this!

Any additional comments?

If you love John Irving's sagas, you'll enjoy Robertson Davies.

This trilogy was recommended to me probably 30 years ago and many times since. But it was a friend's recent comment comparing the two authors that made me finally make time.

I'm glad I did. It was well written, quirky and oddly compelling. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the series.

Canadian Gem

This is one of the pleasant surprises found by going through lists of "great books". I had not heard of the author or the book. I really enjoyed this book a lot. The writing is subtle and excellent, mixing in themes of religion and spirituality, Jung and Erikson archetypes, and fate versus free will. The story is revealed through an introspective letter from an older adult retelling his life. There is a lot of humor, explicit and subtle and very subtle. I particularly enjoyed the multiple levels that kept influencing the story. The smooth writing along with this gentle shifting makes this a truly great read.

I would recommend this to most readers and will likely read it again.

I appreciated the narration which is completely clear, and expresses the extraordinary subtle humor and the quirky perspective of the narrator.

smart, witty, nuanced and charming

Fifth Business is the first book of Davies’ Deptford trilogy, and if the other two are half as good as this I am in for a treat because this book was highly enjoyable. I am new to Robertson Davies and was glad to see that he has quite a few other books for me to hunt down. This series centers around the people in the small town, Deptford, Ontario. The main character, Dunstan Ramsay, narrates the story. He is intelligent and witty, and because he seems to have lived as an outsider, he has also been a sharp-witted observer. Ramsay is a school teacher at an all boys' private school. Unmarried and childless he is a lonely man with no real friends. It seems the only person in his life is man named "Boy" who is more enemy than friend. Boy is married to the woman that Ramsay once desired. Boy is wealthy and popular. He is everything Ramsay is not; successful in a way that Ramsay has never been. He is also prideful and narcissistic and seems to enjoy reminding Ramsay of his superiority.

When the two were boys they were part of the same tragic moment that caused a woman to give birth to her child very early and led to a loss of cognition in the woman. These events changed Ramsay. He spent the rest of his childhood acting as a helpmate to the family, and his young-adulthood trying to escape the self-imposed guilt. He never really got over it. He lived with the events as a secret in his memory alone, and the guilt wrecked him. This one event shaped the person Ramsay became. Ramsay comes to think of this woman as perfect; saint-like. And he believes that she performs miracles. Never actually religious he is obsessed with saints and their role in history.

I really enjoyed Dunstan Ramsay as the narrator. As I mentioned above he was shrewdly observant of others but lacking in self-awareness. He is a bit unreliable because of that, and that makes his story more intriguing. Because of his quiet and intelligent observations we experience the realities of life in a small town at the beginning of the 20th century, and then the horror of World War 1.
But what about Boy? He was the person actually responsible, but the moment didn't linger in his consciousness. He shows us how our lives our intertwined with those around us and how every action we take impacts someone else. He quietly reminds us to choose wisely. And as we see how Boy has been impacted - or not - by the same events, we are reminded that even minor events can be major ones for someone else.

I found the book enjoyable, wise and charming. I will definitely read more of Davies' works.

4.5 stars

Extraordinary!

So brutally honest it feels like a true story. It's a perspective on the time period and setting that I haven't read before and I'm enlightened.

Give it time.

A great read/ listen. Took a little while to get into it but once I did I didn't what to press pause!!

amazing

perhaps one of the greatest books in Canadian literature. The performance of this book was wonderful the voices were appropriate and the pacing was perfect. No issues at all with any area of this book; highly recommended

Great story (and series), great in audio format

Loved the book already, and this narrator is fantastic. Glad I got it and will definitely get the rest of the series.