Bøger af Robertson Davies

At two minutes to six on December 27th 1908 the lives of three people become inextricably bound together by the trajectory of a snowball. There is ten-year old Dunstable Ramsay; his 'lifelong friend and enemy' Percy Boyd Staunton; and, Paul Dempster prematurely born when his pregnant mother is struck by Percy's icy missile.

An Ottawa civil servants royal connection and a letter to the editor are the themes from two of Davies best plays.

The acclaimed playwright, novelist, and author ofFifth Businessexplores the performing arts in this witty and insightful essay collection. Though best known for his award-winning fiction, Robertson Davies enjoyed a long and varied career as an actor, playwright, journalist and critic.Happy Alchemycollects an equally diverse range of Davies' writingsincluding speeches, articles, prologues to plays, a ghost story set to music, and even a scenario for a film. In this eclectic volume, Davies shares his many musings on music, theatre, opera, and more. These pieces, many of them published here for the first time, touch on topics from Greek tragedy to Scottish Folklore and from Lewis Carroll to Carl Jung.

A collection of essays ';filled with pleasantly rambling opinions about everything from self-help books to erotica' from the celebrated Canadian author (The Chronicle Journal). An urbane, robust, and wonderfully opinionated voice from Canada, sometimes called ';America's attic,' speaks here of the delights of reading, and of what mass education has done to readers today, to taste, to books, to culture. With his usual wit and breadth of vision, Robertson Davies ranges through the world of lettersbooks renowned and obscure, old and recent; English, Irish, Canadian, and American writers both forgotten and fondly remembered. ';Sweet reason in the raiment of well-woven prose? Most assuredly. Good humor agraze over broad literary demesnes? No doubt of it. Forgotten popular favorites rescued and rehabilitated? Certainly. A parade of agreeable prejudices? He would not be a true Canadian if he did not have them. Lightheartedness where needed? Yes. Seriousness where it counts? Yes. Wit, satirical touches, firm indignations, sound sense, good taste, judiciousness, cosmopolitan breadth of view, urbanity, sanity, unexpected eccentricities, educated humanism? By all means. It is indeed by all these means and more that this book of essays and observations bestows its multiple benefactions, and anyone picking it up is bound north to pleasure and profit.'The New York Times

The first novel in Davies's celebrated "Deptford Trilogy" introduces Ramsay, a man who returns from World War I decorated with the Victoria Cross who is destined to be caught in a no man's land where memory, history, and myth collide.

A collection of speeches on literature, academia, and more by the ';extremely entertaining novelist and public speaker' (The Washington Post). These public addresses by the acclaimed Canadian man of letters and New York Times-bestselling author Robertson Davies provides portraits of literary personalities, advice on writers and writing, and comments on academia and the modern world. Whether giving advice to schoolgirls, discussing the Age of Aquarius as seen by alchemists, exploring Jungian psychology in the theater and insanity in literature, or telling us how to design a haunted house, Davies brings to all his subjects the same intensity and marvelous craftsmanship that are the hallmarks of his fictional creations.

The first book in the acclaimed Cornish Trilogy. ';[A] darkly funny scuttle through academe's more covert passageway . . . saucy stuff indeed.'Kirkus Reviews Davies weaves together the destinies of this remarkable cast of characters, creating a wise and witty portrait of love, murder, and scholarship at a modern university in this first book ofThe Cornish Trilogy. A goodhearted priest and scholar, a professor with a passion for the darker side of medieval psychology, a defrocked monk, and a rich young businessman who inherits some troublesome paintings are all helplessly beguiled by the same coed. The story is set in motion by the death of eccentric art patron and collector Francis Cornish. Hollier, McVarish, and Darcourt are the executors of Cornish's complicated will, which includes material that Hollier wants for his studies. The deceased's nephew, Arthur Cornish, stands to inherit the fortune. Rebel Angels ';is an enlarging and engaging marvel . . . one does not read this book to be surprised but rather to ponder the ideas its characters encounter in their lives and their readings. It ends like all good comedies end; it proceeds in a manner both picaresque and poignant' (AllReaders.com). ';A compelling performance.'Library Journal

';With a sure comic touch, Davies assembles his cast of characters and lets them make fools of themselves . . . in the best Shakespearean tradition.'The Emerald City Book Review Weaving a tapestry of wonderfully developed characters, smoldering rivalries, and witty satire, Robertson Davies introduces the first book inthe Salterton Trilogy. An amateur production ofThe Tempestprovides a colorful backdrop for a hilarious look at unrequited love. Mathematics teacher Hector Mackilwraith, stirred and troubled by Shakespeare's play, falls in love with the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. When Griselda shows she has plans of her own, Hector despairs on the play's opening night. ';High comedy with a spice of satire to give it savor.'Montreal Gazette ';An exercise in puckish persiflage.'Toronto Star ';Hilarious, satirical, witty and clever.'Edmonton Journal ';By turns humorous and sympathetic, Davies shows us that he knows his stuff, even in this, his first book.'AllReaders.com ';It would not be a bad thing for more writers to read and be inspired by Davies's example of intelligent, emotionally resonant fiction, or for more readers to discover its pleasures.'The Emerald City Book Review

The Salterton Trilogy continues with a novel ';full of zest, wit and urbanity' from the celebrated Canadian author of Tempest-Tost and the Cornish novels (The New York Times). Returning to the town he first visited inTempest-Tost, Davies continues to explore the lives of its inhabitants in this winner of the Leacock Medal, awarded for the best in Canadian literary humor. The following announcement appeared in the Salterton Evening Bellman: ';Professor and Mrs. Walter Vambrace are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Pearl Veronica, to Solomon Bridgetower Esq, son of . . .' Although the malice that prompted this false engagement notice was aimed at three people onlySolly Bridgetower, Pearl Vambrace, and Gloster Ridley, the anxiety-ridden local newspaper editorbefore the leaven of malice had ceased to work it had changed permanently, for good or ill, the lives of many citizens of Salterton. Praise for Robertson Davies ';Invention has always been Robertson Davies's strength. He tells terrific stories that twist around and double back on themselves in surprising ways and, characteristically, combines them with intriguing, arcane information.'The New York Times ';Davies' fiction is animated by his scorn for the ironclad systems that claim to explain the whole of life. Messy, magical, high-spirited life bubbles up between the cracks.'South Florida Sun-Sentinel

A collection of hauntingand hilariousghost stories by the beloved Booker Prize finalist and New York Times-bestselling author. Robertson Davies first hit upon the notion of writing ghost stories when he joined the University of Toronto as the first Master of Massey College. Wishing to provide entertainment at the College's Gaudy Night, the annual Christmas party, Professor Davies created a ';spooky story,' which he read aloud to the gathering. That story, ';Revelation from a Smoky Fire,' is the first in this wonderful, haunting collection. A tradition quickly became established and, for eighteen years, Davies delighted and amused the Gaudy Night guests with his tales of the supernatural. Here, gathered together in one volume, are those eighteen stories, just as Davies first read them.

The ';first-rate . . . abundantly funny' conclusion to the Salterton Trilogy, following Leaven of Malice and Tempest-Tost (The New York Times). Louisa Bridgetower, the imposing Salterton matron, has died. The substantial income from her estate is to be used to send an unmarried young woman to Europe to pursue an education in the arts. Mrs. Bridgetower's executors end up selecting Monica Gall, an almost entirely unschooled singer whose sole experience comes from performing with the Heart and Hope Gospel Quartet, a rough outfit sponsored by a small fundamentalist group. Monica soon finds herself in England, a pupil of some of Britain's most remarkable teachers and composers, and she gradually blossoms from a Canadian rube to a cosmopolitan soprano with a uniqueand tragicomiccareer. ';Davies is equally familiar with the world of the Canadian provinces and with that of musical London, and portrays both with rich humor and sympathetic understanding.'Chicago Tribune ';Something of a virtuoso performance, this relies more on its wit than its warmth, but the musicianship is very knowledgeable and the fingerwork light.'Kirkus Reviews

';Davies introduces us to his alter ego . . . A humorous and insightful picture of postwar Canadian life as seen through the eyes of a delightful eccentric.'Library Journal As editor and later publisher of thePeterborough Examiner, Robertson Davies published witty, curmudgeonly, mischievous, and fiercely individualistic columns under the name of his alter ego, Samuel Marchbanks. In 1985, Davies edited and selected from his alter ego's observations to bring together previous titles in the Marchbanks bibliography:The Diary(1947),The Table Talk(1949), andSamuel Marchbanks' Almanack(1967). Marchbanks opines on politics, on his furnace, on theatre, on the taxman, on trains, on Christmas, on book-banners, on manners, indeed on everything under the sun. Not only this, but Davies's copious and quite delectable Notes are ';calculated to remove all Difficulties caused by the passage of Time and to offer the Wisdom, not to speak of Whimsicality, of this astonishing man to the Modern Public, in the most convenient form.' ';This writing of four decades ago is consistently incisive, insulting, funny, relevant and altogether interesting.'The New York Times ';Now this crank of the first order is on full display for the first time in America . . . To explain to his younger American readers such arcana as ';telegrams' and ';coal-burning furnaces,' Davies has added graceful and comic notes that rival the entertaining opinions of Marchbanks himself.'South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Second in the Cornish Trilogy following The Rebel Angels. ';An altogether remarkable creation, [Davies'] most accomplished novel to date.'The New York Times Shortlisted for the Booker Prize Francis Cornish was always good at keeping secrets. From the well-hidden family secret of his childhood to his mysterious encounters with a small-town embalmer, an expert art restorer, a Bavarian countess, and various masters of espionage, the events in Francis' life were not always what they seemed. Rounding out the story started by the death of eccentric art patron and collector Francis Cornish inThe Rebel Angels, this worthy follow-up,What's Bred in the Bone, takes you back to Cornish's humble beginnings in a spellbinding tale of artistic triumph and heroic deceit. It is a tale told in stylish, elegant prose, endowed with lavish portions of Davies' wit and wisdom. ';Davies' novel is absorbing, and the understated humor radiates with good sense about the way of the world.'Los Angeles Times ';Davies' fiction is animated by his scorn for the ironclad systems that claim to explain the whole of life. Messy, magical, high-spirited life bubbles up between the cracks.'South Florida Sun-Sentinel

';An amazing coup . . . a brilliant, never less than engaging work of fiction which is also a philosophical meditation on the business of living.'Financial Times When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullahwhose holistic work has earned him the label ';Cunning Man' (for the wizard of folk tradition)wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician's search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high-jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life,The Cunning Manreveals profound truths about being human. ';Wise, humane and consistently entertaining . . . Robertson Davies's skill and curiosity are as agile as ever, and his store of incidental knowledge is a constant pleasure.'The New York Times Book Review ';The sparkling history of [the] erudite and amusing Dr. Hullah, who knows the souls of his patients as well as he knows their bodies . . . never fails to enlighten and delight.'The London Free Press ';Davies is a good companion. Settling into The Cunning Man is like taking a comfortable chair opposite a favorite uncle who has seen and done everything.'Maclean's ';Irresistible, unflaggingly vital. A wholehearted and sharp-minded celebration of the Great Theatre of Life.'The Sunday Times ';A novel brimming with themes of music, poetry, beauty, philosophy, death and the deep recesses of the mind.'The Observer

';The final Cornish Trilogy novel from an author who ';tells terrific stories that twist around and double back on themselves in surprising ways' (The New York Times). There is an important decision to be made. The Cornish Foundation is thriving under the directorship of Arthur Cornish when Arthur and his beguiling wife, Maria Theotoky, decide to undertake a project worthy of Francis Cornishconnoisseur, collector, and notable eccentricwhose vast fortune endows the Foundation. The grumpy, grimy, extraordinarily talented music student Hulda Schnakenburg is commissioned to complete E.T.A. Hoffmann's unfinished operaArthur of Britain, or The Magnanimous Cuckold; and the scholarly priest Simon Darcourt finds himself charged with writing the libretto. Complications both practical and emotional arise: the passion in Maria's blood rises with a vengeance; Darcourt stoops to petty crime; and various others indulge in perjury, blackmail, and other unsavory pursuits. Hoffmann's dictum, ';the lyre of Orpheus opens the door of the underworld,' seems to be all too trueespecially when the long-hidden secrets of Francis Cornish himself are finally revealed. ';Davies once again delivers the goodswith this solidly entertaining finale . . . Blending a characteristic knack for wit, esoterica, and snobbery, Davies charges ahead with a buoyant tale of upper-class grantsmanship and modern-day cuckoldry . . . A spry jaunt from an old masteronce again in full command of the form.'Kirkus Reviews ';Packed with interesting details of opera history and production . . . intelligent observations and playful allusions.'Publishers Weekly ';With his wonderfully complex yet controlled plot, deft portrayal of eccentric characters, and great wit, Davies effectively satirizes the world of universities and foundations.'Library Journal

';A splendid gallimaufry of the eminent Canadian's talks and essays, mostly about literature and the creative life . . . a thought-filled and amusing book.'The Washington Post For devotees of Davies and all lovers of literature and language, here is the ';urbanity, wit, and high seriousness mixed by a master chef,' vintage delights from an exquisite literary menu (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Robertson Davies's rich and varied collection of writings on the world of books and the miracle of language captures his inimitable voice and sustains his presence among us. Coming almost entirely from Davies's own files of unpublished material, these twenty-four essays and lectures range over themes from ';The Novelist and Magic' to ';Literature and Technology,' from ';Painting, Fiction, and Faking,' to ';Can a Doctor Be a Humanist?' and ';Creativity in Old Age.' Davies himself says merely: ';Lucky writers . . . like wine, die rich in fruitiness and delicious aftertaste, so that their works survive them.' ';Splendidwise, witty, wide-ranging.'The New York Times Book Review ';Some of Davies's ideas are iconoclastic, and will delight those who share them while stimulating those who do not. All his judgments are interesting, steeped in humanism, and most elegantly put.'The Atlantic Monthly ';The inimitable novelist gives an exuberant posthumous performance in this eclectic collection of (mostly) previously unpublished addresses, talks, and incidental pieces . . . Davies diffuses his opinions entertainingly, if occasionally superficially, but never loses his audience.'Kirkus Reviews

“The elder statesman of Canadian letters continues to explore the themes of sin, guilt, and self-discovery . . . A masterful effort.”—Library Journal   Connor Gilmartin’s inauspicious, but much beloved, mortal life comes to an untimely end when he discovers his wife in bed with one of his more ludicrous associates, theater critic Randall Allard Going. Death becomes a bit complicated when Gilmartin’s out-of-body experience stays an out-of-body experience.  Enraged at being so unceremoniously cut down by his wife’s lover, Gil vows revenge against the now panic-stricken Going. But first, Gil must spend his afterlife seated next to his killer at a film festival, where he views the exploits of his ancestors from the Revolutionary era to his parents’ time, an experience that changes the way he views his life—and death. “Mr. Davies is a tremendously enticing storyteller, whether his characters are cajoling in Welsh brogue or portaging a canoe through the northern wilderness, but it’s possible to ask now and then just how such and such an incident fits in the master plan of the book. On most occasions, however, the author, as if sensing our restiveness, provides an answer.”—The New York Times   “Davies’s depiction of how the descendants of Samuel Gilmartin came to emigrate to British North America convincingly blends gritty humor—including a hilarious Welsh cursing contest—with sympathetic portrayals of his characters.”—Kirkus Reviews   “The unexpected conceit devised by the author of the Deptford trilogy will surprise but likely not disappoint his fans.”—Publishers Weekly

Two plays from the 1940s by the most important Canadian playwright of the postwar period.

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as "e;a modern classic,"e; Robertson Davies's acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven. World of Wondersthe third book in the series after The Manticorefollows the story of Magnus Eisengrimthe most illustrious magician of his agewho is spirited away from his home by a member of a traveling sideshow, the Wanless World of Wonders. After honing his skills and becoming better known, Magnus unfurls his life's courageous and adventurous tale in this third and final volume of a spectacular, soaring work.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as "e;a modern classic,"e; Robertson Davies's acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven. The Manticorethe second book in the series after Fifth Businessfollows 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.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.

'I was never so amazed in my life as when the Sniffer drew his concealed weapon from its case and struck me to the ground, stone dead.' So begins the story of Connor 'Gil' Gilmartin when he catches his wife in flagrante with the Sniffer, his former colleague and now his murderer.

When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high altar on Good Friday, Dr Jonathan Hullah - whose holistic ideas have earned him the soubriquet 'cunning man' - wants to know why. But it is only through looking back at his own long life that answers are forthcoming.

In the small university town of Salterton, Ontario, dreams are quietly taking shape, or falling apart. There's the Salterton Little Theatre Company, in which professional director Valentine Rich is tormented by the amateurish efforts of his actors.

The University of St John and the Holy Ghost (known affectionately as Spook) has a problem - and an opportunity. Strange, eccentric art patron and collector Francis Cornish has died and faculty members have been made executors of his complicated will.