Robertson Davies is a Canadian writer whom you will either adore or hate very much; very idiosyncratic, mythic, funny. He has some annoying sexist tropes but a number of fantastic female characters too. I will recommend two trilogies with the caveat that I like the middle book the best in both.
The Cornish trilogy begins with The Rebel Angels, but I'm not all that crazy about that one. The sequel, which can be read on its own, is What's Bred in the Bone and is the life of an artist with forgery and spying, narrated by the daemon appointed to make his life interesting. The Lyre of Orpheus is about an Arthurian opera put on my a foundation whose mission is to support strange, over-ambitious, impractical art, narrated from Limbo by the ghost of E. T. A. Hoffman. It too can be read separately though you'll miss some stuff, and it's hilarious - Davies clearly did tons of theatre.
The Deptford trilogy begins with Fifth Business, in which a boy throws a snowball and hits the wrong person; this tiny act spins out into a web of odd connections, sainthood and destiny, stage magic, and lots of interesting stuff with people consciously or unconsciously acting out archetypal roles. The Manticore consists almost entirely of a man's life told to a Jungian analyst, with lots of Jungian analysis. The man in question is the son of the boy who, years ago, ducked the thrown snowball, and recently died in a very odd manner. World of Wonders is about the son of the woman who was hit by the snowball, who becomes a stage magician.
Where She Was Standing by Maggie Helwig is a beautifully constructed modern novel about all sorts of serious issues, but not top-heavy. Very moving and intense.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-08-20 07:14 am (UTC)The Cornish trilogy begins with The Rebel Angels, but I'm not all that crazy about that one. The sequel, which can be read on its own, is What's Bred in the Bone and is the life of an artist with forgery and spying, narrated by the daemon appointed to make his life interesting. The Lyre of Orpheus is about an Arthurian opera put on my a foundation whose mission is to support strange, over-ambitious, impractical art, narrated from Limbo by the ghost of E. T. A. Hoffman. It too can be read separately though you'll miss some stuff, and it's hilarious - Davies clearly did tons of theatre.
The Deptford trilogy begins with Fifth Business, in which a boy throws a snowball and hits the wrong person; this tiny act spins out into a web of odd connections, sainthood and destiny, stage magic, and lots of interesting stuff with people consciously or unconsciously acting out archetypal roles. The Manticore consists almost entirely of a man's life told to a Jungian analyst, with lots of Jungian analysis. The man in question is the son of the boy who, years ago, ducked the thrown snowball, and recently died in a very odd manner. World of Wonders is about the son of the woman who was hit by the snowball, who becomes a stage magician.
Where She Was Standing by Maggie Helwig is a beautifully constructed modern novel about all sorts of serious issues, but not top-heavy. Very moving and intense.
More recs later.