Canadian Author Challenge — January: Robertson Davies & Kim Thúy

January Authors:

Robertson Davies
Kim Thúy

Back to general thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/209622

Robertson Davies (August 28, 1913 – December 2, 1995) was born and raised in Ontario and was educated at a variety of schools, Upper Canada College, Queen’s University, and Balliol College, Oxford. He had three successive careers: first as an actor with the Old Vic Company in England; then as publisher of the Peterborough Examiner; and as a university professor and first Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto, from which he retired in 1981. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself and to have detested.

Born in Thamesville, Ontario he was the third son to Senator William Rupert Davies, a newspaperman from Welshpool in Wales and Florence Sheppard McKay. Growing up, Davies was surrounded by books and lively language. Both parents were voracious readers and he, similarly, read everything he could. He also participated in theatrical productions as a child, when he developed a lifelong interest in drama. He spent his formative years in Renfrew, Ontario (Blairlogie in his What's Bred in the Bone); many of his novel's characters are named after families he knew there.

Davies was a fine public speaker—deft, often humorous, and unafraid to be unfashionable. Often asked if he used a computer, Davies said in 1987: "I don't want a word-processor. I process my own words. Helpful people assure me that a word-processor would save me a great deal of time. But I don't want to save time. I want to write the best book I can, and I have whatever time it takes to make that attempt." In its obituary, The Times wrote: 'Davies encompassed all the great elements of life...His novels combined deep seriousness and psychological inquiry with fantasy and exuberant mirth.'

He was without doubt one of Canada’s most distinguished men of letters, with over thirty books to his credit, among them several volumes of plays, as well as collections of essays, speeches, and belles lettres. As a novelist he gained fame far beyond Canada’s borders, especially for his Deptford trilogy, Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders, and for his last five novels, The Rebel Angels, What’s Bred in the Bone, The Lyre of Orpheus, Murther & Walking Spirit, and The Cunning Man.

His career was marked by many honours: he was, for example, the first Canadian to become an honorary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, and Honorary Fellow of Balliol, and received an honorary D.Litt. from Oxford.

Kim Thúy (born 1968 in Saigon, Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-born Canadian living in the city of Montreal. Thúy spent her early childhood in Vietnam before fleeing with her parents as boat people and settling in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil. She has degrees in law, linguistics and translation from the Université de Montréal and has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer and restaurant owner.

Thúys debut Ru, an autobiographical novel, was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, received a Governor General's Literary Award and won the nationwide book competition Canada Reads. She writes in French, and an English edition, translated by Sheila Fischman, was published in 2012. A second novel, Mãn was published in 2014 in and English translation, also by Sheila Fischman.

As soon as I get back to my house I will be pulling Deptford Trilogy off my shelf and get started on it. I am not sure if I should count it as one book or three as my copy is one book. But I will work that out as I read it. At any rate it will take me some time to work my way through it as it will be a busy month with the new semester starting and two business trips planned for the month. The good thing about flying is that there is time to read while in airports so I intend to put that time to good use.

Benita, the Deptford Trilogy is most definitely composed of three separate novels: Fifth Business, The Manticore, and World of Wonders, which can be found printed individually on the market. Personally, I wouldn't attempt to tackle all three novels in the same month, especially if it is a busy one, regardless of the fact they are printed in the same volume. I have one such volume myself, a gorgeously illustrated Folio Society edition which I sought out for quite a long time before finding what was an almost affordable copy.

As I was just mentioning on the general CAC thread, I've read the first two books and greatly enjoyed them. Have completed a reread of Fifth Business a short while back, and rereading The Manticore this month before finally moving on to the final book in the trilogy sometime this year.

I love series but generally like to read them all at once when the series is completed, so I am more likely to read all three of them than to stop and read only one. However, you have several authors listed on your challenge that I want to read, and then there is the BAC and the AAC authors I want to read as well, so I will probably read only the first in the trilogy this month.

A nice set-up over here, Ilana. Good job. I have my library copy of The Manticore waiting nearby. Thuy sounds interesting too. May not get to her this month but I will keep her in mind for a future read.

>6 benitastrnad: Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind, as was about to mention: that there are many other authors on the CAC this year which are worth discovering, and many other challenges with very appealing options, and that one probably would want to make time for all that. :-)

>7 msf59: Hi friend! Yes, looking forward to rereading The Manticore. Hoping to fit in several Davies books in this year, but we'll see (see my message to Benita above). As for Ru I've yet to read it, but I have a strong feeling that it is definitely worth making time for, and this apart from the fact that it is also a what Bill would characterise as a "wedge" book! '-)

Just making myself comfortable with a bowl of popcorn. I won't be reading either of these authors, but I've read them both in the past so am interested to see what people have to say.

>9 Nickelini: Welcome! And please DO share thoughts and impressions, Joyce! What have you read by them and when, for starters?

Ooh, love those "wedge" books, especially with those Chunksters running rampant.

>10 Smiler69: Thanks for the welcome. I read Ru for my book club back in 2013. I thought it was really well written and we had a good discussion. Unfortunately, when I think back to the book, my mind goes "ugh," despite knowing it was well-written. It's just not my thing. And I read The Fifth Business last year and found it incredibly bland. I think I must have missed something, or maybe as with Ru, it just wasn't for me. But it would be boring if we all liked the same books.

But it would be boring if we all liked the same books.

As you say! I adore Fifth Business, which hit all the right notes with me when I first read it in 2009, and then again revisiting it last year. But then, I was an early adopter of Robertson Davies, whom I started reading when I was about 18 years old, more or less. Started with The Rebel Angels and shortly took in the whole Cornish Trilogy. He has a sense of humour and observational skills I find irresistible. Perhaps, when you feel up to it, you might try him again? But then, if he doesn't rub you the right way, no sense in that either.

I plan on reading The Rebel Angels this month, though the cover is a bit scary! I also have Ru waiting for me at the library. Just couldn't resist the description in the author's bio, Ilana. Thanks?!?

I read The Deptford Trilogy over 30 years ago and while I remember really enjoying all three books, I honestly can't say I remember much of them now. Ditto for The Cornish Trilogy. So, I will concentrate on seeing how soon I can get my hands on Ru

>13 Smiler69: Perhaps, when you feel up to it, you might try him again? But then, if he doesn't rub you the right way, no sense in that either.

I'm a firm believer in giving authors second and third chances -- especially if they have numerous books and are critically acclaimed. I think it's shallow and unfair to make judgements based on one book alone. I've found I often don't really get what an author is all about until I read several of their books, and then sometimes they become favourites and I become their fierce defender. So, yes, I will try Robertson Davies again one day.

That said, it's not that easy to pick up the second book (I'm looking at you JM Coetzee).

As I've mentioned on the main thread, I'll be reading Man by Kim Thuy. I have it out from the library. I enjoyed Ru, so I expect to enjoy Man .

Dropping off my star. I have Ru from the library and I'm looking forward to it!
I might also read The Manticore.

I have started Ru and think it very elegant although purposely disjointed.

Will read The Manticore this month having read and enjoyed Fifth Business a few years ago.

Having read and loved both Ru and Man, I am going to use this CAC as an opportunity to read Robertson Davies Fifth Business, which as a Canadian I am ashamed to admit, will be my first Davies read.

I found Deptford Trilogy on my shelf and, as I am using the challenges as a way to actually read what I all those pesky TBRs, my plan is to read this book for the challenge. It looks doable especially when I compare it to the biography that I am reading for another challenge: Newspaper Titan: The Infamous Life and Monumental Times of Cissy Patterson which clocks in at 720 pages - what was I thinking?

>12 Nickelini: I read Ru back around then too for my book club... one of the better books is has selected. However, like you, I had the same reaction. I also found it somewhat uneven, starting off by not liking it as I really didn't want to read about her children, but once she got into her own story, it really picked up. It is certainly a topical book now as Canada welcomes Syrian refugees. There must be at least one Kim Thúy there and I look forward to those books.

>14 Donna828: Thanks?!?

Lol! Anytime, Donna! :-)

I really loved The Rebel Angels when I read it, almost 30 years ago now (!!!) and I definitely intend to reread it at some point. Perhaps after I've read all those books by Davies I've yet to discover. He really is one of my all-time favourite authors, and I need to do him justice as such.

>15 jessibud2: Fair enough that you can't exactly recall books you read 30 years ago. I can't either, believe me! I'm left with impressions more than anything else. I'd say that's a reasonable amount of time to allow for rereads, however...

>16 Nickelini: You comment made me think hard about a few authors I dropped at the first book (often unfinished) and decided I never wanted to read again. Thinking of Amelie Nothomb for example, whose Hygiene and the Assassin so disgusted me I had to drop it three quarters of the way through. But you are right that basing oneself on just one book is far from conclusive. Sometimes though, it just seems like so many authors call to us, that a negative first impression is enough to make one (me, for example) be less than eager to repeat the experience. Still, something to think about.

>17 vancouverdeb: I hope you come back and share your impressions on 13717780::Mãn when you're done with it, Deborah.

>18 EBT1002: I'll be reading both this month Ellen, and hope you manage them too, but NO PRESSURE!!! especially for you! :-)

>19 PaulCranswick: That seems like an apt comment about Ru, Paul. I'm about halfway though and have enjoyed the way it is told in short paragraphs, almost like a collection of short stories and anecdotes. The publisher's summary mentions something about it being both reflective and humorous, and I must admit I fail to see any humour in it so far, however.

>20 lkernagh: It's never too late to start, Lori!

>21 Familyhistorian: Sounds like Newspaper Titan is just right for the doorstopper challenge!

I finished Mãn by Kim Thúy today, and I absolutely loved it. Five stars from me, and I have requested Ru from the library. My review is here if you are interested. The writing was so beautiful, and you can read this in one sitting - well worth an afternoon of your time. Ilana thanks so much for choosing this author!

I had planned on reading Fifth Business this month but the print in my paperback copy is a little small which slowed me down. And then I got sidetracked by the discussion about Ru and its availability in libraries. My library had both a print copy and a digital available so I'm reading it now and like it a lot. Before this, I had never heard of the book or the author.

>23 Smiler69: Newspaper Titan is a hefty one! It will be very freeing to finish it!

>24 Crazymamie: Fabulous review of Man, Mamie! I know I can force a touchstone, but I am too lazy :) Thumbed your review and I look forward to reading Man later this month. I recall very much enjoying Ru.

Thank you, Deborah!

I've read about half of Ru this afternoon, and I'm very taken with it, style, content and all.

I just finished Ru and loved it. The spare structure reminded me a lot of The Buddha in the Attic.

While reading the author's fictionalized story of her journey from Vietnam to Quebec, I couldn't help but think of the Syrian refugees and their lives in Canada.

>30 Copperskye: While reading the author's fictionalized story of her journey from Vietnam to Quebec, I couldn't help but think of the Syrian refugees and their lives in Canada.

Yes, it's very topical. From what I hear, refugee experience changed in a bad way since Ru (under Stephen Harper). I hope it's going to change for the better with our new government.

>31 Nickelini: - It has already changed for the better, under Justin Trudeau. The fact that he was at the airport, personally greeting and welcoming each of the first refugees to arrive in December, is something that would never have crossed Harper's mind. Trudeau's desire to welcome those refugees to Canada is genuine, I believe. Things can only go in one direction, and that's up, now that Harper is gone.

Well, whaddya know! I got a call from the library this morning to come pick up Ru! I did and am about to hunker down! Yay, TPL! (Toronto Public Library)

My copy just came in at Ramsey County Public (Saint Paul, Minnesota area). A very nice surprise!

Karen O.

Well, perhaps this is typical for me, to be a dissenting voice, but I am wondering what all the fuss is about, re: Ru. This isn't meant as a spoiler alert but if discussion of a book you haven't yet read is something that concerns you, then perhaps you can take it as that and read no further.

For one thing, I have to wonder why it is called a *novel*. To my mind, this is not a novel at all but rather an almost stream of consciousness collection of memories. I agree with those who found it disjointed; sometimes it flowed, other times, not at all, jumping back and forth in time with no apparent consistency. It was a quick enough read, though, with its format of very short pages (sometimes, only one paragraph per page), and no chapters. I am not a fan of short stories, as a rule, so maybe that also had something to do with why I don't agree with it being called a novel. There wasn't really a beginning, middle and end. There were times I did find the language to be lovely but in truth, most often, it just felt more like a running commentary of her memories of her homeland and her family. Oh well. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

>35 jessibud2: - Good comments regarding Ru. I found Ru to be more of a joy for the writing first, the story second.

I've just started Ru and am finding it compelling. I really enjoy books that are different (in structure, in approach, whatever)--that are "novel." And the writing, of course, very nice.

Karen O.

I'm enjoying all the comments on Ru some of you are sharing here. I've read it and withholding comments for now. I think I need to let it sink in before I can start verbalising how it impacted me.

I've finished Ru: a good read although it didn't blow me away. My review is here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/211084#5417017

>35 jessibud2: I agree that it doesn't fit my definition of a "novel". Nevertheless, I thought the overall picture of the life of a Vietnamese refugee was enlightening, uplifting, and very much worth reading in this format. I said a few more things about it here.

I read Ru today and the style grew on me as I went along. I just finished a trilogy where I felt like I didn't know the characters well after three books, so I appreciated that in Thuy's short novel she showed me so much about the characters and the events of their lives. The jumping around did get confusing at times (especially when she returned to Vietnam as an adult) but I think it was an interesting change of style from what I normally read. It seems to fit the idea- a novel written as if you're hearing someone's life story in pieces over time as you get to know them.

I started listening to Fifth Business today and while it will take me a while, it is so far a very pleasant listen. No accent issues at all. :)
I'll also try to read a Thuy later in the month.

I finished Man yesterday. Unfortunately it did not resonate with me, like Ru did. Here a few comments from my thread .

Man by Kim Thuy proved to be a disappointing read for me. I had read her award winning book, Ru and given it 4 stars. I did not review it, but I recall loving the beautiful , poetic prose and the wonderful impressions created and coming away from Ru feeling that is was a satisfying read. This was not the case with Man. The beautiful prose was still present, but the story was too fractured, moving back and forth in time. Perhaps it was my fault, but I never felt engaged with Man. The ending seemed to sudden and inconclusive - just when I wanted a little more, the story ended

3 stars.

I finished Ru last night and here are my comments:

This autobiographical series of interlinked vignettes tells the story of a Vietnamese girl who traveled by treacherous boat to Malaysia and eventually emigrated to Quebec. It is also the story of her family, especially aunts and uncles and cousins, each of whom immigrated carrying the seed of trauma within. It is the story of integration and assimilation and the irrepressible thread connecting these immigrants to their home and their culture. The writing is almost lyrical and the author deftly weaves together images and sounds and smells to evoke that thread of connection with all its variations. The result for the reader is a satisfying sense of having met the narrator's family at a gathering at which the family stories are shared for the tenth or the hundredth time, providing just a glimpse into their shared consciousness.

3.5 stars, which for me means not quite great but I'm glad I read it. Very solid.

I finished Ru just now: looking forward to getting Man from the library too. I don't really have anything to add as so many above have said how beautifully written it is, and commented on the structure. Intrigued by the comments on changing Canadian policy - I found the video of Trudeau at the airport just so moving.

I finished Ru today, too--I had much the same reaction as >44 EBT1002: and >45 charl08:. I liked the small pieces, but I think I would have appreciated it more if they had some chronological structure, with flashbacks interspersed, just to understand a little better. On the other hand, linking the pieces by themes and ideas makes the book sort of like stream of consciousness. Beautifully written. Thank you for letting us get to know this author and this culture.

I finished listening to Fifth Business last night. I enjoyed it a lot and might listen to the other two of the trilogy as well if I get them. For whatever reason I can't get his books here, but some audiobooks are available. It's a type of story I found I actually prefer as audio - a straight narrative, no time jumps worth mentioning, no complicated plot. The narrator did a great job.

>44 EBT1002: Thanks so much for your comments on Ru, Ellen. Great summary. I was sure I'd fall in love with this book before I read it, but did not. Glad I read it all the same and will definitely look out for Mãn (wow, the touchstone points to the right book for once!).

I just finished rereading The Manticore last night, the second book in the Deptford trilogy and really enjoyed revisiting it. I had planned to finish the trilogy at some indefinite time this year, but was inspired to just continue right along with World of Wonders before turning out the lights. That way I might be able to fit in another of his trilogies in 2016!

>48 Smiler69: My Davies read is also from the Deptford trilogy. It is apparently the last book of the trilogy World of Wonders. It is divided into 3 sections and as I have just finished the first section I am about a third of the way through. It started out slow but is getting more interesting the further I get into it.

>48 Smiler69: I seem to have given away or otherwise disposed of my omnibus Deptford Trilogy. So I have put The Manticore on hold at the library to join you in continuing the trilogy.

I'm dropping in now and then to acquaint myself with more Canadian authors. I just finished Fifth Business and really enjoyed it. My first Robertson Davies read. Ru is waiting on my Kindle so I hope to read that as well.

Finished The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies last night with World of Wonders. I'm so thrilled to have completed this set of books, one, because they're really good of course, but also because I started on Fifth Business back in 2009 and thought it was awesome and was determined to get through the trilogy, but then... life intervened. I'm ready to tackle another of his trilogies sometime this year, but the great question is whether I should take on the as yet unread Salterton Trilogy, of which I have the first two books, starting with Tempest-Tost, or if I should yield to temptation and reread The Cornish Trilogy, which I read back in 1987 or 88 and made me fall in love with Davies in the first place. Decisions, decisions...

Ilana, I have The Manticore waiting for me at the library. I'll pick it up this weekend. You have me rather excited to read it. :-)

I finished Fifth Business on Wednesday, and I also enjoyed it. I own The Deptford Trilogy, so I'll likely read The Manticore and World of Wonders later this year.

I read Ru a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't like it as well as some others did. I'm glad that I read it, though.

I finished Ru and liked it. I was especially touched by the relections on parent- child relationships. Here's a favorite bit:
how becoming a mother herself gave the writer a new sympathy for her own mother. The language is lovely, here is a favorite part:

“My parents often remind my brothers and me that they won’t have any money for us to inherit, but I think they’ve already passed on to us the wealth of their memories, allowing us to grasp the beauty of a flowering wisteria, the delicacy of a word, the power of wonder. Even more, they’ve given us feet for walking to our dreams, to infinity. Which may be enough baggage to continue our journey on our own. Otherwise, we would pointlessly clutter our path with possessions to transport, to insure, to take care of.”

Finished What's Bred in the Bone and as surprised how much I liked it (reading it on public transport, kept catching people looking at the back cover of my library book with the portrait of Davies with am enormous white beard and looking a bit surprised... )

I just finished Ru also and liked it, but I agree with others that it did not flow smoothly. I felt the author did this on purpose as she showed what a young girl of 10 was experiencing and then how she felt about those experiences as a young mother, and how those early experiences shaped her present life.

I'm about 2/3 through Ru, and liking it a lot. I understand the comments on its shortcomings, but its strengths are impressive. What she and others from Viet Nam had to go through is deeply affecting, and she writes so well.

I didn't have problem at all with the short paragraphs and jumping around in timeline and subject matter in Ru. Actually, that's one of the things that worked for me somehow, perhaps as Donna says (in >57 dallenbaugh:) because it's a good representation of how her life must have felt. Having been dragged around all over the place growing up, I could relate to this feeling. I'm not sure what it is that didn't quite connect for me in that book; probably the displacement she feels and communicates so well, in which case the author has of course achieved her purpose wonderfully.

On another note, I obtained the newly released A Celtic Temperament: Robertson Davies as Diarist by Robertson Davies on OverDrive, which I started reading last night. These are excerpts from his diaries dated between 1958 and 1963. This publisher's description pulled me in:

"Versatile and prolific, Robertson Davies was an actor, journalist and newspaper publisher, playwright, essayist, founding master of Massey College at the University of Toronto, and one of Canada's greatest novelists. He was also an obsessive, complex, and self-revealing diarist. His diaries, which he began as a teenager, grew to over 3 million words and are an astonishing literary legacy. This first published selection of his diaries spans 1959 to 1963, years in which Davies, in mid-life, experienced both daunting failure and unexpected success."

I was interested to learn that Davies had always been prepared for his diaries to be published one day, but stated that they should only be brought to the public 20 years after his death, which was in 1995.

I ended up really liking Ru. If you're interested, here's my short review: http://www.librarything.com/topic/217955#5447036

I'm going to start The Manticore this evening and I will try to finish it before Sunday midnight. :-)

I went back to Fifth Business and love it. The print in my copy is small so I can't read it for long stretches. I probably won't finish it this month, but no matter, I'm just glad I'm reading it!

>60 jnwelch: Thanks, jnwelch! I just finished Ru and I felt like you did. Memories flow in all directions, they aren't linear. The sheer beauty of Kim Thuy's writing had me often rereading passages, or reading aloud (I think the translation must have been terrific, too).

Karen O.

Finished my read of Robertson Davies' Fifth Business this weekend. Loved it! A worthy page-turning read, written in an accessible style. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the heady topics Davies' presented and look forward to reading more Davies in the future.

I finished The Manticore and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps a wee bit less wonderful than Fifth Business but still quite good. I purchased a used copy of World of Wonders to round out the trilogy in the next few weeks.

Just squeaked under the wire, I finished Robertson Davies’ World of Wonders this morning. I had never read anything by him before and now I know why he is a well known Canadian author. That was good even though, in my usual way, I read the last book of a trilogy without having read the first two books.

Just wanted to throw something else in here, for the Robertson Davies discussion. Yesterday at our Bookcrossing meetup, I snagged a copy of a rather old book (published in 1989, 6 years before his death) called *Conversations With Robertson Davies*. It is a collection of transcripts of conversations and interviews he had over the years with a variety of journalists and radio personalities. The print in this small paperback is smaller than my eyes would have noticed back in '89, but I hope to skim through it, sooner rather than later.

>63 klobrien2: Oh, glad to hear it, klobrien2! I want to try her Mãn soon. Good point on the translation of Ru - it read beautifully, didn't it.

I think I'll be reading both my Robertson Davies novel (The Rebel Angels, which arrived today) and something by Kim Thuy in February, as I've read all of Leacock's oeuvre over the years and am not much of a fan of Helen Humphreys! I would like to read the Cornish trilogy this year, though. Found myself thinking back to my sole in-person encounter with Davies yesterday, which was my birthday. I had afternoon tea with Davies on my 18th birthday, at the invitation of the Dean of Women at Queen's University. His family owned the newspaper in Kingston, Ontario (where I eventually got my first "real" newspaper job) and I was feeling v. out of place in my first year of university. My dorm room was almost immediately adjacent to the Dean of Women's office, so I got to know the folks working there that year, hence the invite. He was fascianting... Wish I could remember the conversation, or had read his novels at that point. Shameful, I know.

I read and enjoyed What's Bred in the Bone, my very first Davies - although the audiobook narrator was so irritating I nearly stopped within the first half hour of listening. But I'm yet to get to either Ru or Mãn; trying to read more than one paper book per month is proving challenging.

>69 Chatterbox: What a memorable birthday treat, Suzanne! I really liked The Rebel Angels. In fact, I plan to read the next two books in The Cornish Trilogy before winter is over. I am becoming a big Davies fan.

"I was born in the shadow of skies adorned with fireworks, decorated with garlands of light, shot through with rockets and missiles. The purpose of my birth was to replace lives that had been lost."

"That memory definitely explains why I never leave a place with more than one suitcase, I take only books. Nothing else can become truly mine."

"My children have given me the exclusive power to blow on a wound to make the pain disappear, to understand words unpronounced, to possess the universal truth, to be a fairy. A fairy smitten with the way they smell."

-Ru

I just finished this and I was quite enchanted, by her original voice. The constant shift of time and place, made it a bit choppy but the beauty of the writing, saved the day. This is a quick read but packs in volumes. Another lovely author discovery, thanks to Ilana.

I finished Fifth Business a couple of days ago and wound up really liking it and there were parts I loved. Some of it, particularly all the talk of saints, seemed to go on and on, but I loved the way the whole story came together at the end. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the trilogy.

It reminded me a lot of Stoner.

I think Dunstan Ramsay and William Stoner would have gotten along pretty well.