The Rebel Angels / Robertson Davies

 

4.5 out of 5 stars

2022 Re-Read

I always enjoy revisiting Davies' novels as they are lively, quirky, and written in his very distinctive voice. He values eccentricity in his characters, making people like Arthur Cornish look rather stiff and boring. However, having previously read the next book in the series, I know that there are dark roots in the Cornish family. I have yet to read the third book of the trilogy, which I hope will give Arthur more page time and authorial attention.

I picked up a biography of Davies today at the library, hoping for some insights into one of my favourite authors. Rereading this novel was actually in anticipation of April, when Davies is one of our chosen authors for the (Mostly) Dead Writers Society. I hope to squeeze in quite a few of his works before the end of June, this one being just a warm up for the main event.

Original Review (2013)

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

She is so perfect--a beautiful brainiac. How much I would have given as a student to have her knowledge of languages. However, I remember spending hours trying to conjugate Ancient Greek verbs and remember proper endings of nouns--all these many years later, the only sentence I remember? "The boat is in Byzantium." Not really too useful, for translations or conversations.

Davies does try to give Maria some faults--she has a Gypsy family to contend with and has an adolescent crush on her thesis adviser, Hollier. And trust me, the whole crush on an instructor happens more frequently that one would expect (I had one friend who made a complete idiot of herself over her thesis adviser). But somehow Maria manages to spin these problems into gold by the end of the book.

I did enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at academic life--the rivalries, the jealousies, the friendships. Academics are people after all and have all the same passions. Having been employed by a university for 30 years, I have seen many of these dramas play out.

My only (small) complaint was that I did not find Maria and Arthur's relationship and marriage very realistic. It seemed much more like a business transaction--well, if I can't have that man, this one is offering marriage, so I'll accept him. There was a relationship in which I would have liked to see more passion!