"Nothing is more fatal to maidenly delicacy of speech than the run of a good library" --Robertson Davies
I never really Davies before, but I had heard good things about this Canadian, so I decided to open up this flimsy paperback. It is the first part of a loose trilogy, all three of which take place in the provincial villiage of Salterton. Davies sets up a lovely scene with almost victorian style although the novel is set in the late 1960s. The book wrestles with issues of social class, unrequited love, and ultimately delving into ones' own emotional state.
The issues of social class structure, or more aptly social snobbery come out scarcely one chapter into the book. Davies exposes all levels of social stratification from the comfortably loaded Webster family down to the Vambrances who pissed and moaned about buying their daughter a strapless bra. The way that the main characters allowed this to factor into their decision making process was very interesting as those of the lower social structure feared the money and power or the elite, but the elite were more quick to judge the lack of style or classiness of their impoverished counterparts. For example, no one ever criticized Hector for living at the Y.M.C.A., but they were quick to mock his style-less outfits. Perhaps it is more socially acceptable than criticizing someones income, but it also becomes evident that the affluents don't think of money as a large issue. Essentially, the haves are blind to what they have. The issue of snobbery transcends social class in some areas when the privledges of education, miliatry status, or simply a knowledge of old books transport the average guy into a hero. In short, the situation of the book lends itself to a surface critique of class. On a deeper level we begin to see a humerous comment on love.
Unrequited love themes are always either humerous, or tragic. In Davies book, they become both. Love trianges, and hexagons and octagons are superimposed on each other to lend comic effect to the actual underlying story. An old, tasteless professor who has never been in love is totally smitten with an eighteen year old buxom blonde. His love is unrequited in the sense that Creseda's love for Troylus was, as Hector never even bothers to tell Griselda of his love while letting it consume and almost destroy him. There are other romantic plot lines going on, but most deal with the obsession of the old school teacher. It is almost didactic in purpose telling us to quit complaining and say something. Even if you don't get what you want, you have to expose your feelings and take a chance. Perahps your love will be answered with bells and whistles, or perhaps you will just hear yourself say it and realize that your feelings are actually unrelated to physical love. Such is the case in Tempest-Tost. The final deduction of Davies relates to the introspection that each of us should have upon our own emotional state. Everyone has a different conception of love. Until each person admits what they want, any semblence of happiness is lost.
DG's short: Good book, though anticlimactic in the end. Perhaps more will be answered in the other books of the trilogy. Worth a read if you don't feel like dedicating too much to a good little narriative.
DG's score: 6 out of 10
