Fifth Business: The Deptford Trilogy, Book 1

This is a favorite series of mine from my college days so I was very happy to see it come up on audible. For years, when I was younger, I re-read it nearly every year. This is great storytelling but it's complex and multifaceted so beware if you are just looking for a fun light listen. It is a great tale infused with history, psychology, religion, theories on different styles of education, murder mystery, all wrapped up in a often humorous, sharp writing style. I think this is the most sedate of the 3 books but it's needed to glean insight into into the main characters. As Dunstan Ramsey says, he is Fifth Business and this book reflects it.

The reader, Marc Vietor is adequate. He is the style of reader who mostly just reads. Not a great deal of characterizations of the voices. I would have wished for a more versatile reader. Not sure about his doing Canadian voices but Simon Vance would have been an interesting choice for reader.

This is another novel I've always wanted to read but wouldn't have gotten to if not brought to audio. Since it finds itself on "best novels of all time" lists, my expectations were very high; however, I enjoyed books in Davies' Cornish and Salterton trilogies more. While Fifth Business is a very worthwhile listen, it's not THE great Canadian novel, but maybe it was the great Canadian novel of the Canadian psyche of its day (1970?).

I love Davies' old fashioned, (and sometimes) poetry-infused prose. The narrator was good, but it takes someone like the late Frederick Davidson to get his tongue around those multiclaused sentences in a natural sounding way. (and to be really picky, the Brit Davidson did a better job of sounding old fashioned Canadian vowels than Vietor (who may not have even attempted that little added touch to the pre WWII Canadian English of the characters - I imagine that Davies would have delighted in that little touch-up to the vowels)

I've no formal literary background, but Davies seems to me to be the great Jungian bridge between colonial and postcolonial CanLit and culture. And for 1970, this tale was probably innovative insight into the evolution Canadian nationhood. For non Canadians, Fifth Business might explain how we got from a nation of "hewers of wood and drawers of water" to "gee, eh!" (or G20) status. And it spins a darn good tale with some wonderful word play and images along the way. I'm looking forward to books 2 and 3. (The spirit of Davies is probably laughing about an American audio company making his novels accessible to Canadians who skipped through him on their university reading lists.)

This is a hard question for me to answer because Fifth Business may be my favorite book of all time. I have read it on numerous occasions and enjoying it as an Audiobook just added more to my ongoing and probably never ending experience with the book. It has many wonderfully developed, interesting characters chief among them being the narrator and protagonist Dunstan Ramsay. The story is king though and includes many fascinating subjects in its tapestry: stage magic, love, war, siants, pre-WWI small town Canadian life, Jungian psychology. Just great.

Marc Vietor really does a good job with the general narration which means does a good job with our protagonist Dunstan Ramsay who is the teller of this story. I also really enjoyed his Padre Blazon.

It's a truly wonderful book. The only book I had to read in high school that I was thankful for. If you've never read it I can't recommend it enough. If you've read it and are wondering if it's worth listening to as an audiobook I'd say yes, yes it is.

In this trilogy, THE FIFTH BUSINESS, THE MANTICORE, WORLD OF WONDERS Davies traces the ripples in the lives of the three protagonists of one snow-wrapped stone thrown by one little boy at another little boy who dodged it. Can one ever foresee the impact of a careless act or word on the futures of oneself and others. A rock centered snow ball thrown by the fair haired son of the small town’s most prominent family thrown at and dodged by the son of a history professor. A rock-centered snow ball that is dodged by the intended target and hits the pregnant wife of a local minister who delivers a premature baby boy.

Davies traces the lives of these three boys as they separate and intertwine over their lives. He is a master story teller and draws upon his wide knowledge of history, literature, music, and even magic. He is a joy to read (listen) and also learn more than you might expect.

Why the trilogy? When I find an excellent writer, I enjoy immersion. I recommend all three books be enjoyed one after another; however, each book stands on its own.

It was a long story full of characters with little charisma and with little mystery. I enjoyed it enough to listen till the end. Some of this intentional, its story is narrated by the main character, a bachelor academic writing to his successor about events that have already occurred.

The Last Jiad.

I loved the mysterious neighbor who was hit by a snowball. She is a fantastic character I would love to know.

Sadness.

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.

Was an ok story... it gets rave reviews on here but i found it just ok... am i missing something? lol

I had heard so many good reviews from friends about this book and the whole series but I was really disappointed. The story drags and doesn't really seem to go anywhere. The narrator doesn't help to make this book more interesting either. I found it hard to keep paying attention to the story.

His voice is dull and lacks emotion.

NO!!!

Don't bother.