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Title: High Spirits by Robertson Davies ISBN: 0-14-200246-1 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: 5 stars if Massey is your alma mater, 3 if it isn't.
Comment: By "High" Spirits in the title, Davies' is referring to the fact that the ghosts in these stories are most often of lofty earthly lineage. They are "highly" extracted. In these 18 stories we meet the ghosts of King George the V and VI of Great Britain, Queen Victoria, Sir John A. MacDonald, Saint George of Cappadocia, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and John Strachan (founder of Massey College) to name but a few. These are no ordinary run-of-the-mill random ghosts, and these are not "scary" ghost stories. They are moreso HUMOROUS and were meant originally to entertain guests at the annual Gaudy Nights held at Massey College when Davies was Master there.
While these stories are very well-done (original and highly inventive) and no doubt caused quite a stir in their time, to read them now seems quite dated. The inferences and specific allusions to college life are lost on the modern reader who may not have a conversational grasp of Canadian political history, or a knowledge of the finer points of Massey College's quadrangles and inner sanctums. All in all, these stories are best TOLD to their original hearers... a few times I had the sense that I would have liked to have been in attendence as Davies' recited these to his guests. But to sit and read them nowadays?... I don't know, at the end of each story I sort of felt like... "so what?" I am a big fan of Davies' writing, but this is not a book I would highly recommend to anyone getting to know his work.
Rating: 5
Summary: High spirited stories by the master of high literature
Comment: The late Robertson Davies is perhaps best known for his works of heady literature. Some of the most well-known works by him are "Fifth Business", "The Manticore", "What's Bred in the Bone" and "Murther and Walking Spirits." Most readers of Davies will know him first and foremost as an author and second as a scholar of Elizabethan theatre; "Shakespeare's Boy Actors" is but one of his more academic works on the subject.
However, most Americans do not know of the years that Davies was the Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto in Canada. While there, it became his habit to tell a ghost story every year for the college's Christmas staff party. Thirteen of these ghostly (yet often quite hysterical stories) are contained here. Beginning with the first, "Revelation from a Smoky Fire", in which Davies is visited by an apparition who seems to be from the college's FUTURE, and moving on through "The Ugly Spectre of Sexism" and "The Pit Whence Ye Are Digged", these ghost tales are far less horrific and spooky than they are highly amusing. For example, when dealing with the sudden appearance of what is most likely a ghost that has appeared in his own office and, furthermore, assumes that Davies has come down the chimney, he writes, "I grasped immediately the sort of man I was dealing with. This was a madman! It is one of my cardinal rules to always humor madmen. It comes second nature to me. I do it several times each day."
These stories, like much of Davies's work, is highly scholarly, with a turn of phrase and vocabulary that often verges on that seen in Victorian English novels. People who have read a great deal, or who have gone to graduate school in the fine arts or for literature, will catch the subtle barbs and digs that Davies directs at the ivory tower nature of academia and even himself as Master of the college. The stories were first intended to be read aloud for an academic audience of professors, so they are meant more to amuse and tickle the wit than to accompany the more traditional Halloween stories or his other novels or scholarly works.
Potential readers should note that there was at one time an audio version of this book published with an introduction by the author with the reading performed by Christopher Plummer. As I understand it, this audio version is currently out of print. This is a dreadful shame because Mr. Plummer gives an exceptional performance of Mr. Davies's work. Also, as mentioned, these stories were intended to be read aloud for a gathering of people on an evening, and what could be better than HEARING these ghostly tales?? If anyone finds themselves enjoying these stories, they would be well advised to track down the audio version!
Canada lost a fine writer, critic, playwright and journalist in 1996 when Mr. Davies passed away. His books are still enjoyed today as much as ever, and for those who are seeking out a less heavy, light and amusing work by him, one simply cannot go wrong with "High Spirits." Highly recommended- by this Davies fan!!
Rating: 5
Summary: The dance of his macabre!
Comment: This wonderful collection of ghost stories gives a new view of the macabre and of Davies' view of it. This book combines his scholarly mind with his subtle humour and understanding of human nature. A glorious asset to any lover of ghostly tales.
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Title: The Cunning Man: A Novel by Robertson Davies ISBN: 0140248307 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks, Comprising the Diary, the Table Talk and a Garland of Miscellanea by Samuel Marchbanks by Robertson Davies, Robert Davies ISBN: 0670811459 Publisher: Irwin Pub Pub. Date: July, 1986 List Price(USD): $39.50 |
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Title: The Deptford Trilogy: Fifth Business/the Manticore/World of Wonders by Robertson Davies ISBN: 0140147551 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: October, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: For Your Eye Alone: The Letters of Robertson Davies by Robertson Davies, Judith Skelton Grant ISBN: 0142000299 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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