Rating: 
Summary: Great Beginning for the Trilogy
Review: Robertson Davies' Fifth Business is the beginning of a trilogy that has become legendary in Canadian literary life. It took moving to America for me to finally begin these novels and I am glad that I have done so. This first book begins the series of novels off on a strong note. Dunstan Ramsay weaves a wonderful narrative as he explores the life lived below the surface of this staid history professor at a boys' school. The novel moves through geography and chronology as the various people in his life become twice born, dropping one identity and taking another (demonstrated by the creation of a new name). Things are never quite so simple as the past lives come crashing in at odd times into their new lives. It is a wonderfully magical and mystical (in many senses) journey and will be a delight to the reader. I look forward to the other two books in the Deptford trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: An enchanting saga told in great story telling tradition
Review: I had never heard of Robertson Davies until I discovered "Fifth Business", the first instalment of the "Deptford Trilogy", from a recommended book list and what a great reading experience it turned out to be. Davies writes in a style highly reminiscent of the great late 19th and early 20th century writers. Strongly narrative, the novel is richly multilayered in its exploration of ideas and themes. At its most basic level, it is the story of the sensitive but oddly passive Dunstan Ramsey, the novel's protaganist, whose life is contrasted with his pragmatic and successful friend, Boy Staunton and his women (including Leola, his wife who turns out not to be made of the same stuff as Boy). Whilst Dunstan seems content to live life as a school master, observing rather than participating, Boy makes waves and becomes a hugely successful figure in business and politics. But more fascinating is the early traces of "magical realism" used by Davies in the Mary Dempster (the "fool-saint") episode, which manifests the nature of Dunstan's conscience (contrasting with the lack thereof in Boy) as well as his belief in the power of magic and imagination. In the development of this secondary plot line, Davies employs a technique that hints at "magical realism" but wields his craft with such confidence and aplomb that the effect can only be described as dazzling. Dunstan's feeling of responsibility towards Mary and her son Paul is brought to a beautiful conclusion when he learns much later after Paul runs away from home and assumes the identity of a magician that it was he (Dunstan) who had taught him (Paul) the rudiments of magic through the card game. The shock ending for Boy smacks of poetic justice, leaving the question metaphysically open ended. Boy may be the protaganist on the world's stage and Dunstan only "fifth business", but who's ultimately the more valuable human being ? Davies has written a brilliant and enchanting novel. For sure I'll be checking out the next two instalments of his trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: The Finest
Review: I first read Fifth Business as a course requirement in college 25 years ago. To this day, that very same copy sits on my bookshelf, dog-eared and well worn. This is truely one of the finest books I have ever read and I recommend it most whole-heartedly. Robertson Davies was short-listed for the Nobel Prize in 1986 and when you read Fifth Business I'm sure you will understand why.
Rating:
Summary: Literary magic
Review: There are a thousand reviews on Amazon saying "this is the best book I've ever read", so they're easy to pass off as hyperbole, but do yourself a favor and read this book. This is great literature, and although I am pleased to find a lot of reviews here saying that it is required reading in many literature classes, this is a book that inspires more than academic analysis - approach it with a sense of wonder and you will be amply rewarded.
I first read "Fifth Business" around 1970, and I've been telling people for over thirty years that I've never read anything to compare to it. At the time everyone was touting "The French Lieutenant's Woman" for it's "magical realism", but that was a cold read compared to "Fifth Business." This book transports you. You will find it hard to leave the world of Dunstan Ramsey when you finish this book.
The rest of the "Deptford Trilogy" is very good (though I found "World of Wonders" far superior to "The Manticore"), but if Davies had never written another word after "Fifth Business" his literary reputation would have been assured.
After spending all those years claiming that this book is the best novel of the second half of the 20th centiry, I felt an obligation to pick it up again as the year 2000 rolled around, since it had been several years since I last read it. I was not disappointed - despite being so familiar with the book, I was unable to put it down, and read far into the night before finishing.
Do yourself a favor and visit the world of Dunstan Ramsey - those who don't are the poorer for it.
Rating: 
Summary: A compelling finish.
Review: The best way to approach Fifth business is to read it in small installments. This is definitely not a read until sunrise book. This is a true Saga, leaving out plenty of unnecessary detail. It covers the life of one man, almost desperately trying to prove that he has lived a full and interesting life. As the reader, you are to judge this by paying attention to his bizarre but captivating hobbies in life. Most people don't want to read about dubious sex scenes, nor sinners and saints. Davies draws on our own feeling, we all have our own unique interests in life and find that relating to Ramsay is easy. The ending is not so much of a shocker as a pleasant conclusion to a story which nearing the finish has been dragged out somewhat. None the less what makes this book a great read is how it sets the scene for the next installment of the Deptford trilogy (The manticore) which is twice as wonderful, though pointless without reading fifth business. None the less there are great lessons of life to be learned, and a vaguely true generalisation of Canadians. A fair read, though a great trilogy. Three stars.
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting saga told in great story telling tradition
Review: I had never heard of Robertson Davies until I discovered "Fifth Business", the first instalment of the "Deptford Trilogy", from a recommended book list and what a great reading experience it turned out to be. Davies writes in a style highly reminiscent of the great late 19th and early 20th century writers. Strongly narrative, the novel is richly multilayered in its exploration of ideas and themes. At its most basic level, it is the story of the sensitive but oddly passive Dunstan Ramsey, the novel's protaganist, whose life is contrasted with his pragmatic and successful friend, Boy Staunton and his women (including Leola, his wife who turns out not to be made of the same stuff as Boy). Whilst Dunstan seems content to live life as a school master, observing rather than participating, Boy makes waves and becomes a hugely successful figure in business and politics. But more fascinating is the early traces of "magical realism" used by Davies in the Mary Dempster (the "fool-saint") episode, which manifests the nature of Dunstan's conscience (contrasting with the lack thereof in Boy) as well as his belief in the power of magic and imagination. In the development of this secondary plot line, Davies employs a technique that hints at "magical realism" but wields his craft with such confidence and aplomb that the effect can only be described as dazzling. Dunstan's feeling of responsibility towards Mary and her son Paul is brought to a beautiful conclusion when he learns much later after Paul runs away from home and assumes the identity of a magician that it was he (Dunstan) who had taught him (Paul) the rudiments of magic through the card game. The shock ending for Boy smacks of poetic justice, leaving the question metaphysically open ended. Boy may be the protaganist on the world's stage and Dunstan only "fifth business", but who's ultimately the more valuable human being ? Davies has written a brilliant and enchanting novel. For sure I'll be checking out the next two instalments of his trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: undeservedly unknown
Review: Merciful heavens, what a novel!! The implications of a thrown stone-loaded snowball is the basis of this book, and indeed an entire trilogy. From this simple premise comes one of the most profound and multi-layered stories that I have come across. Magically brilliant. Dunstan Ramsey is the narative voice of the book and is a nicely fleshed out character. Ramsey is moved by his unfounded guilt because of his part in the fateful snowball toss. His guilt and dedication is nicely played against the carelessness of Boy Stanton. A very thoughtful novel. Truly a great and important work.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment
Review: The story has a very intriguing and promising start, but goes downhill after that. It is barely readable in the end. Mr. Davies should have followed the promising start and focus on Mrs. Dempster as a fool-saint. Rather he sprawls and branches out into narcissitic nonsense and sheer contrivances (meeting Paul twice by pure chance? In two different continents? For no useful purpose other than showing off the author's knowledge of conjuring and magic? Come on!) My first exposure to Mr. Davies was the Rebel Angels. I thought it an excellent and tightly written book. The next in the Cornish Trilogy, What's bred in the bones, was a significant step down. And Fifth Business sealed my judgment of Mr. Davies as a severely flawed writer, despite his talents. He seems to love trivias too much to think clearly what makes sense to a story and the reader. In spite of his erudition, he doesn't seem to have deep philosophical insight or position to move the reader to deep thinking. He is limited in character building (other than the slightly anti-social, eccentric types), especially so in the treatment of female characters. His narrative voice is not rich (three flavors, cynic, pedantic, and sentimental) All in all, a minor talent who has a larger-than-deserved reputation. I am disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I had never heard of
Review: Fifth Business, the first installment of the Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy, is without doubt the best novel that I had never heard of. Davies prose and narrative voice rival Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited in elegance, humor, and style. And his characters and plot development, so rich, absorbing, and at once triumphant and tragic, put this fine novel in the same class as Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The term 'Fifth Business', as Davies describes, refers to the role in an opera, usually played by a man, which has no opposite of the other sex. While only a supporting character, he is essential to the plot, for he often knows the secret of the hero's birth, or comes to the assistance of the heroine when all seems lost, or may even be the cause of someone's death. In this novel, Dunstan Ramsay plays this role, and he is in maginificent form. Though he narrates the novel, and is intimately entwined in the lives of all its characters, he somehow manages to remain slightly in the background as a passive observer of others. It is through his eyes that we witness the rise of Boy Staunton, his childhood friend from the small Canadian town of Deptford. While Dunny goes off to the war where he is seriously wounded, and later becomes a boarding school master and expert on the history of saints, Boy makes his fortune in the sugar business and eventually pursues a career in politics. Dunny, whose soft-spoken charm, honesty, and self-reflection become clear through his narration, serves as an admirable foil to Boy, whose drive and ambition are unrestrained by a sense of morality, duty, or altruism. But the novel is far more complex than a simple study of two contrasting characters. Davies' cast is rich and diverse, and their lives intertwine fluidly, though often in surprising ways. There is Mrs. Dempster, who in the opening pages is struck by a snowball thrown by Boy and intended for Dunny, and is rendered "simple" after the subsequent premature birth of her son Paul. Paul runs away from home at a young age, but reappears later in the novel in a key role. And Liesl, the magician's manager, a strong-willed and sexually aggressive woman, hardened by life but wise in the ways of the world, proves to be an admirable rival for Dunny as astute observer of others. Narrated in the form of a letter to Dunny's headmaster, the novel maintains a strong sense of plain honesty throughout. It is a remarkable novel, and a shock that Davies has remained relatively obscure in this country.
Rating:
Summary: Honest eccentricity!
Review: A youth's discovery of stage magic, combined his Scots-Ontario upbringing of prudery, hypocrisy and prejudice make for a fascinating life-path. The characters are internally consistent and sharply defined. These eccentrics cannot abide each others' quirks. As the expression goes, "Something's gotta give," and that something is disclosed from the beginning.
Like a fine Persian rug, it is complex and well executed. *Everything* ties in to a perfect ending, just at the right time.
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