It’s clear that Robertson Davies is a big fan of Jung and weirdly enough this was the book I have read the quickest of all three.

The Manticore looks on many events from The Fifth Business from a different perspective and through a different medium – Jung style psychoanalysis which Boy Staunton’s son is undergoing. After all, he does specialize in myths and likes to attribute more meaning to things than other people think it’s reasonable. Dunstan is an honest and self-aware narrator but as every first person narrator should be approached with caution. As it is, it as much a story about Dunstan as it is a story about Boy Staunton, his best friend and his enemy. Even as a narrator he reduces himself to a catalyst needed for certain things to happen. It’s the life story of Dunstan Ramsay, a man who has never played the main character. There were saints, magic and a lot of symbolism but not as heavy handed as in John Irving’s books. It all starts in a small village of Deptford, Ontario.įifth Business was like a better version of Prayer for Owen Meany. It was three books and each one of them a different kind of wonderful. Not that it made sense to anyone who asked. But I thought about it and decided that it was mostly about subjectivity of experience. It's usually non-readers who ask such questions because readers know better than to ask what a 800 page book is about. GradeSaver, 29 July 2014 Web.How do I even begin this? I spent about two weeks reading this and that's a lot of time for people to be asking: 'so what is it about?' Next Section Fifth Business Summary Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Thakkar, Tiger. The New York Times called it, “A marvelously enigmatic novel, elegantly written and driven by irresistible narrative force.” Fifth Business was also selected number 40 in the American Modern Library's 'reader's list' of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. It has continued to attract critical acclaim as well. First published by Macmillan of Canada, Fifth Business has gone on to win numerous literary awards, and it remains a staple in University English Literature classes around the world. Many critics consider the novel to be Davies's finest addition to Canada’s literary canon. Jungian motifs and archetypes re-occur throughout Fifth Business.

In this way, the novel is heavily indebted to the work of psychologist Dr. The novel follows the life of its narrator and protagonist, Dunstan Ramsey, and reflects Davies's interest in the 'inner life' and the tapestry of the human psyche. Published in 1970, it is the first work in his Deptford Trilogy.

Fifth Business is a novel by the famed Canadian author, playwright and professor Robertson Davies.

Fifth business by robertson davies