The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books - Robertson Davies

Readers around the world continue to mourn the 1995 death of a beloved literary icon, but this rich and varied collection of Robertson Davies's writings on the world of books and the miracle of language captures his inimitable voice and sustains his presence among us. Coming almost entirely from Davies? own files of unpublished material, these twenty-four essays and lectures range over themes from "The Novelist and Magic" to "Literature and Technology," from "Painting, Fiction, and Faking," to "Can a Doctor Be a Humanist?" and "Creativity in Old Age." For devotees of Davies and all lovers of literature and language, here is the "urbanity, wit, and high seriousness mixed by a master chef" (Cleveland Plain Dealer)?vintage delights from an exquisite literary menu. Davies himself says merely: "Lucky writers. . .like wine, die rich in fruitiness and delicious aftertaste, so that their works survive them."

As close to an autobiography as we can ever expect, this is a collection of reminiscences, speeches, book reviews, parodies and essays. Covering such diverse subjects as art fakery, Davies' own schooldays, the differences between Canadians and Americans, Thackeray, Ibsen, writing and reading - along with tantalizing fragments from Davies' own unpublished diary. 'Davies is extravagantly knowledgeable, continuously intelligent, and given to thinking matters through; whatever the subject, he has something to say about it' D. J Enright, Spectator.

ISBN: 9780140275865

Pages: 385

Paperback

Penguin Books, 1998

Good condition; cover has some small creases/chips

B61.2