Rating: 
Summary: Good characters, but the story just never grips you
Review: Although I sympathised with Francis, the main character, I found this a very difficult read and nearly gave up twice along the way. The plot is slow and full of endless discussions about art and religion. Given the length of the novel, very few things happen. The characters are well drawn but the book is marred by a weak plot and tiresome dialogue. I wouldn't recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A rare find of a book
Review: Back in 1985 I was discussing Tolkein with a friend of mine. She said, "Oh, you like dwarves? Well, I've got a book with a dwarf in it." Handed this book, I became, in less than an hour, a confirmed Robertson Davies fan. Here is a sense of history, of art, of magic, and of human peculiarities, lovingly portrayed. Davies is an artist with words; his powers of observation are impeccable; his interest in the world unbounded. I cannot say what the book is ABOUT, because that would detract from it. Suffice it to say that this is one of the finest works in the English Language, no matter what the Modern Library list had to say.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels ever written in any language.
Review: Davies always anchors his world in the primal instincts, the truths of human nature. You are never quite prepared for the surprising complexity of his characters or the fate that awaits them. The realistic evolution of Francis from troubled boyhood to artistic savant is really a modern version of David Copperfield, except the female characters are more fully dimensioned than Dickens could ever manage. And there is nothing of Dicken's stuffiness here. This is great literature with a Monty Python flair. No matter how you slice it a convincing argument can be made that during the last ten years of his life Davies was the greatest living novelist writing in English.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels ever written in any language.
Review: Davies always anchors his world in the primal instincts, the truths of human nature. You are never quite prepared for the surprising complexity of his characters or the fate that awaits them. The realistic evolution of Francis from troubled boyhood to artistic savant is really a modern version of David Copperfield, except the female characters are more fully dimensioned than Dickens could ever manage. And there is nothing of Dicken's stuffiness here. This is great literature with a Monty Python flair. No matter how you slice it a convincing argument can be made that during the last ten years of his life Davies was the greatest living novelist writing in English.
Rating: 
Summary: oh boy...
Review: I agree with the person from Mississauga-- it is the most boring book I've ever been forced to read. You think it's a credible, serious book and then he throws in the daimons (angels) and it's just weird. And I know my religion class agrees with me!
Rating:
Summary: Blairlogie
Review: I didn't know of Davies' history - except that he went to UCC and Queens and UofT - and that he was a wonderful storyteller. What's Bred in the Bone tells the story of Francis Cornish, beginning with his birth and childhood in Blairlogie. As I read on, I soon realized that Blairlogie was in fact Renfrew Ontario, my hometown... I didn't know how he had been able to describe my hometown so well, but I was knew it was Renfrew - physically, historically, economically and personally. I later learned that Davies had been able to draw such a devastatingly clear, ironic and satirical portrait of Renfrew, because he too grew up there. He attended the same public school as me (although we had proper plumbing by the time I went there) and attended the same church. The story is populated with Renfrew names... Cornish was the Anglican Minister, Froats - the Monument Maker - and so on. It is a wonderful story - and all the more so because Renfrew continues with much the same social system, which includes an annual "Lumber Baron Days," while ignoring the wonderful love letter from a homegrown son. Too Rich!
Rating:
Summary: Even without the trilogy, an excellent book
Review: I didn't realize this was the middle book of the Cornish trilogy and read it first. I haven't read the other two yet, but I have to say that this book is excellent and one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. This book chronicles the odd adventures of Francis Cornish in a sweeping story which moves from Canada to Europe. Francis Cornish is just enough unlucky that you sympathize with his trials and tribulations, but his fantastic artistic skills and his many riches make him someone the reader might envy and not understand. Davies is an expert at telling this sort of life story, and I think this one is even more enjoyable than Fifth Business. He has a sense of what it is like to have characters at the hands of fate; in this novel, the daimons quite literally command and shape Francis's destiny. Reading this book definitely wanted to make me read the rest of the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Even without the trilogy, an excellent book
Review: I didn't realize this was the middle book of the Cornish trilogy and read it first. I haven't read the other two yet, but I have to say that this book is excellent and one of the most entertaining books I have read this year. This book chronicles the odd adventures of Francis Cornish in a sweeping story which moves from Canada to Europe. Francis Cornish is just enough unlucky that you sympathize with his trials and tribulations, but his fantastic artistic skills and his many riches make him someone the reader might envy and not understand. Davies is an expert at telling this sort of life story, and I think this one is even more enjoyable than Fifth Business. He has a sense of what it is like to have characters at the hands of fate; in this novel, the daimons quite literally command and shape Francis's destiny. Reading this book definitely wanted to make me read the rest of the trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Robertson's strongest offering
Review: I have a conflicted view of this novel. On the one hand, almost all characters (except Francis himself) are unreal, unsympathetic, contrived, flat like papercut. The plot is outrageous and sophomoric (the spying career makes no sense whatsoever, either as a personality builder or plot mover; there are many more). The biggest complaint is characters: they are chess pieces the author moves on the board to move his story, with no lives of their own. Yet, somehow Mr. Davies managed to keep me reading, despite the exasperation and the knowledge that I was being taken for a sucker. This has to do with his trademark erudition and good writing. Depsite the bad story, there are flashes of interesting passage and musing (particularly as related to arts) that keeps one from throwing the book in complete disgust. Because it is Davies, I give it a three star. For lesser writers, it would a 2.
Rating: 
Summary: An astonishing book.
Review: I, at first, did not enjoy this book since I am not a fan of the rather cold English way of writing which lacks empathy and joy and is full of cynicism and an almost brutal acceptance of suffering without any concomitant emotions. This changed throughout however and the book is almost a work of art. The book concerns itself with the life of Francis Cornish from his childhood to middle age with almost no mention of his later life up to his death. There are really two distinct parts to the book, the first deals with Francis's childhood and is written in that witty (and a little dry) style so characteristic of British humour. His childhood encompasses Francis's experiences of the Catholic and Protestant faiths as practised among his relatives who represent almost cliches in this sense. His impressive Grandfather, warm aunt, rarely seen mother and distant father as well as a range of fascinating characters such as Victoria Cameron the Scottish Protestant cook, Zadok the coachman and enbalmer and finally the crusty old doctor. This part builds the final character of Francis, except in one aspect, and gives an idea of why and how his life proceeds. The second part is really about two people, Francis and Tancred Saraceni the Meister of Art who teaches Francis all about art restoration as well as much that is wise and deep. It is Saraceni who I believe to be the most interesting character and the last step in building Francis as a man, or as Saraceni calls him Corniche. This final part of his character one would call "Bildung" in German with all that this entails. As Francis develops his art, which started as a little boy with sketches of just about anything, his true talent is revealed. the moment when the Maestro tells him he is a master now is, I think, the finest moment in the book. It is unfortunate that Francis's talent is not further developed after he completes his only Masterpiece "The Marriage at Cana" a magnificent large oil painting in the 16th Century style. This painting really tells the story of Francis's soul and could have been the start of an incredible career of the Alchemical Master as Saraceni puts it. Unfortunately his career as an artist never takes off and one is disappointed of his lack of drive and passion to continue. It is this last third of the book where it becomes difficult to really enjoy it as much. It must not be forgotten how well Davies writes in this section about art and especially about the soul of art. This is why the book itself is perilously close to a work of art itself. The last part deals with Francis's life as, first, a low grade spy in the service of MI5 during WWII and finally as an art dealer in Canada. Here too we learn a little more about his father and his one love affair with Ismay the passion driven beauty of his life. His father never really steps out of his "Wooden Soldier" shoes but Ismay represents some real women I have known. An astonishing book and hopefully the remaining ones in the trilogy are as good.
|
