the deptford trilogy trilogy pt 1

book: fifth buisness

author: robertson davies

completion date: 16/06/10

method: borrowed (mum)

every time i have asked my mother for a book recommendation, she has pushed this trilogy on me. she told me this is her second set of these books, because the first ones weren't up to the number of times they were to be read. fifth business is the first in the trilogy named for the town the story starts.

i loved this novel. i loved the writing. the narrator is so likable but so complex. i find often with first person narrators, the narrator is simply an observer and isn't participating in a lot of the action. however dunstan is so intriguing and seems to focus as much on what is going on inside him as much as what is going on around him.

my favourite part of the novel is the relationship between dunstan and his best friend/ chief rival percy boy(d) stanton. percy seems to not so much enjoy dunstan as much as he likes using him as a reference point. they were friends from boyhood and percy has experienced a very rapid climb to success. they have always been in competition and percy seems to keep dunny around as someone he has beaten. dunny on the other hand enjoys percy's company because of the monetary success it affords him. the two enjoy a complex relationship both giving and taking from each other because each is integral to the other's enjoyment of life.

davies creates characters with such depth. even the smaller characters who play only a minor roll in this part of the trilogy have such depth which i have to assume is because they are featured in each book.

it is difficult to review this book because i feel even though i've been told each book can stand on its own i still think that in order to absorb everything in each book without reading the others. because otherwise there wouldn't have been a reason to write a trilogy.

xo-ellebee