Author | Robertson Davies |
---|---|
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Series | The Deptford Trilogy |
Genre | Theatre-fiction |
Published | 1975 (Macmillan Canada) |
Media type | Paperback |
Pages | 316 |
ISBN | 9780670788125 (1975ed) [1] |
Preceded by | The Manticore |
World of Wonders is the third novel in Robertson Davies's Deptford Trilogy.
First published by Macmillan of Canada in 1975, this novel focuses on the life-story of the fictional conjuror Magnus Eisengrim.
Magnus Eisengrim (also known by at least four other names throughout the trilogy) tells the story of his life to a group of filmmakers who are producing a biographical film about the great magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin for the BBC. [2] They are headed by the world-famous Swedish director Jurgen Lind (evidently modeled on Ingmar Bergman). Also present during the story are Eisengrim's friends Dunstan Ramsay and Liesl, who both appear in the earlier installments of the Deptford Trilogy. Ramsay reprises the role of narrator which he played in the first novel, Fifth Business , but in this case it is only to add context and continuity to the internal narration of Eisengrim. The life story of Eisengrim pulls together many events found throughout the previous two novels, showing them from a different perspective.
This section deals with Paul's life travelling with Wanless World of Wonders carnival as well as playing in vaudeville theatres during the winters. The section title derives from the biblical reference to a bottle as a goatskin that has been cured and hardened by smoke from a fire. Paul has similarly been hardened by his experiences at the hands of Willard, the magician who abducts Paul and subjects him to sexual abuse. [3]
In this section, Paul has arrived in London and is recruited as a stunt double to Sir John Tresize, actor-manager of a stage company. After playing stages in London and elsewhere in Britain, the troop does a long tour in Canada. Paul, who is called Mungo Fetch within the company, is strongly influenced by both Tresize and his wife, "Milady". In the telling, Magnus reveals that Ingestree as a young man had also joined Tresize's troop and had embarrassed himself in several ways. Magnus also shows how Ingestree later revenged himself on Tresize by a spiteful act.
In this epilogue section, Liesl, Magnus, and Dunstan share a large bed (lit) in the Savoy hotel in London after the completion of the film. Dunstan and Liesl question Magnus based on his earlier revelations, and the mystery of the death of Boy Staunton is finally resolved.
The book contains an extended treatment of the paedophilic abuse inflicted on the young Eisengrim by his abductor who repeatedly sodomizes him and uses him to obtain morphine, but in turn teaches him hand magic.
In light of its recurring focus on theatre and performance, scholars such as Katrina Dunn have discussed World of Wonders as theatre-fiction. [4]
William Robertson Davies was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies gladly accepted for himself. Davies was the founding Master of Massey College, a graduate residential college associated with the University of Toronto.
Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin was a French watchmaker, magician and illusionist, widely recognized as the father of the modern style of conjuring. He transformed magic from a pastime for the lower classes, seen at fairs, to an entertainment for the wealthy, which he offered in a theatre opened in Paris, a legacy preserved by the tradition of modern magicians performing in tails.
The Rebel Angels is Canadian author Robertson Davies's most noted novel, after those that form his Deptford Trilogy.
The Deptford Trilogy is a series of inter-related novels by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies.
Gall according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. However, he may have originally come from the border region between Lorraine and Alemannia and only met Columbanus at the monastery of Luxeuil in the Vosges. Gall is known as a representative of the Irish monastic tradition. The Abbey of Saint Gall in the city of Saint Gallen, Switzerland was built upon his original hermitage. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall.
Fifth Business (1970) is a novel by Canadian writer Robertson Davies. First published by Macmillan of Canada in 1970, it is the first installment of Davies' best-known work, the Deptford Trilogy, and explores the life of the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay. It was the novel that brought Davies to international attention.
The Manticore is the second novel in Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy.
Coin magic is the manipulating of coins to entertain audiences. Because coins are small, most coin tricks are considered close-up magic or table magic, as the audience must be close to the performer to see the effects. Though stage conjurers generally do not use coin effects, coin magic is sometimes performed onstage using large coins. In a different type of performance setting, a close-up coin magician will use a large video projector so the audience can see the magic on a big screen. Coin magic is generally considered harder to master than other close-up techniques such as card magic, as it requires great skill and grace to perform convincingly, and this requires much practice to acquire.
Tempest-Tost, published in 1951 by Clarke Irwin, is the first novel in The Salterton Trilogy by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. The other two novels are Leaven of Malice (1954) and A Mixture of Frailties (1958). The series was also published in one volume as The Salterton Trilogy in 1986.
To the Lighthouse is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.
What's Bred in the Bone is the second novel in the Canadian writer Robertson Davies' Cornish Trilogy. It is the life story of Francis or Frank Cornish, whose death and will were the starting point for the first novel, The Rebel Angels.
The Cornish Trilogy is three related novels by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies.
The Cunning Man, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994, is the last novel written by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies.
Thamesville is a community in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the junction of former provincial Highways 2 and 21, between Chatham and London. Its name comes from the Thames River that flows nearby and the suffix -"ville". Post office established in 1832.
John Henry Anderson (1814–1874) was a Scottish professional magician. Anderson is credited with helping bring the art of magic from street performances into theatres and presenting magic performances to entertain and delight the audience.
World of wonder(s) may refer to:
The Deptford Mice is a trilogy of children's dark fantasy novels by British author Robin Jarvis. The first book, The Dark Portal, was published in 1989 by Macdonald & Company in London, followed that same year by The Crystal Prison and then The Final Reckoning in 1990. The trilogy tells the story of a young mouse girl named Audrey Brown and her friends as they fight Jupiter, the evil living god of the sewer rats in the London borough of Deptford.
Carl (Compars) Herrmann (1816–1887) was a German illusionist and magician. He was part of what has been referred to by some as the "first-family of magic". Carl's father Samuel, a practicing German physician, was the first to enjoy magic as a hobby. Samuel's first son Carl (Compars), was born in 1816 and left medical school at an early age to pursue a career as a magician. He was the first in the family to gain fame as a conjurer. By the age of thirty, Carl was recognized as one of Europe's most accomplished magician. Alexander Herrmann, who was 27 years younger than his brother Carl, also became a world-famous magician.
The Théâtre Robert-Houdin, initially advertised as the Théâtre des Soirées Fantastiques de Robert-Houdin, was a Paris theatre dedicated primarily to the performance of stage illusions. Founded by the famous magician Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin in 1845 at No. 164 Galerie Valois as part of the Palais-Royal, it moved in 1852 to a permanent home at No. 8, Boulevard des Italiens. The theatre's later directors, before its demolition in 1924, included Robert-Houdin's protégé Hamilton and the illusionist and film innovator Georges Méliès.
A Snowball in Hell (2008) completes Christopher Brookmyre's suspense trilogy featuring DI Angelique de Xavia. She and her antagonist, Simon Darcourt, were introduced in A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away (2001), while she was the central character in The Sacred Art of Stealing (2002), where she met the third main character of Snowball, the magician Zal Innez. Brookmyre himself sees Snowball as a sequel to two separate books.
Canadian magician David Ben in collaboration with former CBC Television director Patrick Watson produced in the 1990s a stage magic show inspired by many of the elements in World of Wonders.