Tempest-tost

Robertson Davies

Penguin, 2006 - 265 pages

No other Canadian novelist is lauded and read as widely outside his homeland as Robertson Davies. His characters fascinate, and his gentle, graceful style makes no demands on the reader. His civilized prose should read well aloud--indeed, Davidson helps one hear its strengths. He provides an intelligent, expressive, well-paced rendering of the narrative about a Canadian university professor, as well as vivid impersonations of the characters. However, he has trouble with the "authorial voice." In his mouth, the narrative has a sarcastic, even cynical, edge, whereas Davies's words, though not without humor and irony, are far more empathetic

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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Venarain - LibraryThing

As someone who's dabbled in theater, the characters of this book Ar immediately recognizable. Davies does a lovely job of painting a quaint community that has a hilarious but realistic dark under current.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - etxgardener - LibraryThing

The send up Robertson Davies would later give to opera, was honed in the first novel of his Salterton trilogy when he turned his gimlet eye on an amateur production of Shakespeare's The Tempest and ...

About the author

Robertson Davies, novelist, playwright, literary critic and essayist, was born in 1913 in Thamesville, Ontario. The Manticore was published in 1973, followed by The Salterton Trilogy (Tempest-Tost, Leaven of Malice, winner of the Leacock Award for Humour, and A Mixture of Frailties); The Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders); The Cornish Trilogy (The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, shortlisted for the 1986 Booker Prize, and The Lyre of Orpheus); Murther & Walking Spirits; and The Cunning Man. His other work includes One Half of Robertson Davies, The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies, Robertson Davies: The Well-Tempered Critic, The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks, High Spirits, A Voice from the Attic and The Merry Heart, a posthumous collection of autobiography, lectures and essays. Many of his books are published by Penguin. Robertson Davies died in December 1995.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Tempest-tost; Methuen Drama modern classics; Modern classics; Volume 786 of Penguin modern classics; Volume 1 of Salterton trilogy / Robertson Davies, Robertson Davies
• Author: Robertson Davies
• Contributor: Margaret MacMillan
• Publisher: Penguin, 2006
• ISBN: 0143054910, 9780143054917
• Length: 265 pages