Monday, September 22, 2008

SHORT STORY MONDAY: High Spirits by Robertson Davies

High Spirits by Robertson Davies

a continuation of the reviews

"The Night of the Three Kings"
Davies continues with his annual ghost story during his time at Massey College. His tone is very easy to read and quite amusing. This time he chases down a ghost by the smell of his cigar. King George V was on a mission to reclaim a postage stamp, but carefully following Supernatural Regulations 64A in deciding who he could summon to assist him. Great ending in this one, but it might help to have some understanding of Canadian history and to know about WLM King's interest in the spiritual world.

"The Charlottetown Banquet"
Surely John A MacDonald is worthy of a ghost story himself, and in typical Canadian irreverence, his view of Canada is not what one would expect from the Father of our Country. Plus, amazing descriptions of food and drinks from the Charlottetown Conference in 1864. I could probably find the place downtown where the meal was served and really get in the mood while reading the story.

"When Satan Goes Home for Christmas"
Apparently, his listeners got tired of all his ghosts being famous, so Davies had to change his story a bit. But really, I think Satan is just as famous as the others, Davies just gets a chance to put down the egalitarians that had been complaining. Also, I forgot that the Devil was an angel at one point and got put out of God's Kingdom. Everyone wants to go home for Christmas.

1 comment:

  1. I need to see if our library has anything by Robertson Davies for the Canadian challenge. I don't think I have a single title of his on my shelves. The cover of this one kind of creeped me out, but the stories sound good!

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