Well written. Too bad that the blurb on the back of my paperback contained a major spoiler - that the snowball Boy Staunton throws in the beginning of the book contained a rock - as the impact of the book's ending was much lessened for me. ( )

This is probably Davies' seminal work, the one that everyone who has read one of his books has read. I just finished reading the Salterton trilogy, which were his first books, and I think I actually enjoyed all of those better than I did this one. Don't get me wrong, Davies is still one of my favourite authors--I love his narrative style and his way of getting deep inside characters, placing them equally inside their minds and spirits, and their times and places. I think that's really hard to do with the smoothness that he does it. Dunstan Ramsay's life seems to start when he dodges a snowball thrown by his friend--which then hits Mary Dempster, throwing her into premature labour and a lifetime of psychological and emotional problems, for which Dunstan (or Dunstable, as he was born) feels responsible, and spends his life attempting to make amends. Ramsay is someone who thinks deeply and critically about academic subjects, traveling and writing in pursuit of esoteric knowledge that will fulfill his spiritual needs, which I guess I relate to as a life goal, but who cultivates very few intimate personal relationships, which I can totally relate to, as a person who has found herself in a similar situation. The few relationships he does have are with difficult, unusual, enigmatic people, and some of those become the subjects of the volumes that follow this one in the Deptford trilogy, with Dunstan playing a secondary role. I always find this an interesting conceit, one that Davies may have pioneered. ( )

Dunstable Ramsay, in looking back upon his life, determines that his has been the role of 'fifth business'. It is a dramatic term to describe non-central characters who are nonetheless required in order to steer the drama of others' lives forward, always positioned at the right place and time to do so. He does, as it turns out, occupy some of the other positions in the eyes of society and his friends - a hero of the war, for example, though he feels it a false title. Is all the world a stage, and does life only have import if you are its hero, or are the auxiliary roles just as important? Is it all merely a matter of perception? If Dunstan Ramsey is only fifth business who's role is the hero in the life that he knows? Is it Percy? It is Mrs. Dempster? In spite his perception and his broad view of life, he remains the hero of his own story, as do we all. At the same time, this being only a novel and Dunstan only its narrator, its other pieces must come together if he is not to be its central figure.

Dunstan becomes intrigued by hagiography, the study of saints and miracles. He's extremely rationale in his philosophy but cannot and will not doubt or deny the miraculous acts he witnesses. Unable to explain them, he still integrates them as facts into his world view and devotes his life to exploring this mystery without ever crossing the line into embracing irrationalism. To my mind this is the perfect melding and integration of a sense of wonder. The wonder of this book was how it became increasingly more intriguing and interesting as it went on, without ever becoming too complex or difficult to understand. In large part this is due to the characterizations that bring such incredible life to some most unusual people. I wished I might know them in reality, their wisdom, their repartee. I had only intended to read this first book, but there's no question I'll be reading the other two Deptford novels to explore the full picture. ( )

Alrededor de la misteriosa muerte del magnate canadiense Boy Staunton se teje la trama de esta novela. La narración corre a cargo de Dunstan Ramsay, amigo desde la infancia de Staunton, quien al intentar aclarar las circunstancias de su muerte no tendrá más remedio que enfrentarse al relato de su propia vida. Desde el principio de la historia, Ramsay ejerce una influencia mística y no del todo inocua en cuantos le rodean: acciones en apariencia inocentes -una pelea con bolas de nieve o el aprendizaje de trucos de cartas- se revelarán como acontecimientos decisivos en las vidas de otros. El quinto en discordia es una muestra de la maestría de Davies para la novela: su erudición le permite tratar los temas más diversos -el circo, el santoral, la primera guerra mundial, o la vida en un internado- con una naturalidad asombrosa; y su imaginación teatral logra cautivar al lector desde el inicio. La primera novela de la Trilogía Deptford, la más aclamada de Davies, se alza como la historia de un hombre racional que descubre en lo mágico un aspecto más de lo real.

Highly weird (though it starts off in a mundane enough way) but BRILLIANT prose and unforgettable characters.
The narrator- a history master/ author on the brink of retirement - relates his life story. As the son of a fairly average family in a small Canadian town at the turn of the century, things change forever when an accident brings him into contact with the pregnant girl bride of the dour local vicar..
Myth, magic, religion...I loved it. ( )