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4.0 out of 5 stars
Modern classic, Oct 25 2003
Robertson Davies's "Tempest Tost," first volume of the Salterton trilogy, opens in a deceptively quaint Canadian city, with two cathedrals (one Catholic, one Anglican) and one university. Still waters run deep, and quaint towns run weird. While it's not Davies' best work, it's still entertaining and quite amusing.An amateur production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is being put on in Salterton, under the guidance of Ms. Valentine, and a seemingly random assortment of people arrive to audition. The usual problems -- revealing "arty" costumes, warring auditions, simmering rivalries, and some rare old books -- crop up, with a few extras in the bargain. Hector Mackilwraith, a prissy, aging teacher, joins because of his crush on the beautiful heiress Griselda Webster. But Griselda is flirting with womanizing soldier Roger, who's romancing her to gain a sense of class, and is worshiped by the colorless Pearl. The relationships and mistakes they make come to a climax as the "Tempest" begins to storm... Anyone who's watched "Midwinter's Tale" knows that putting on a play is never a picnic, and it's even worse when there's internal tension and weird actors. There's a sense of the fantastical around "Tempest Tost," even though nothing really fantasy-like happens. His tone is less barbed than traditional satire, but no less amusing or insightful. His style is a good combination of the more formal styles of the early twentieth-century and the more streamlined style of more recent times. Where the book excels is character development. The plot really has no beginning or end; it just stops after awhile. The characters just border on parody, with fussy teachers, effusive "bad girls," gypsy philosophers, slick serial womanizers, precocious teens, pompous professors, and more. Humphrey Cobbler, who is a sort of gypsy philosopher, is the most vivid and engaging guy in here. The characters are very multifaceted, like real people. Roger is an expert portrait of a human Ken doll who feels no need to be anything else; Griselda and Freddy are the slightly fickle but kindly daughters of an eccentric; the Torso seems like she'll be a pain at first, but is revealed to be a diamond in the rough. Hector, with his stalkerlike obsession with Griselda and odd brand of sexism (he considers a girl who has been kissed to be no better than a hooker) just gave me the creeps. "Tempest Tost" was Davies' first book, but while it hasn't got the polish his later works have, it's still a solid and smooth read. Highly recommended as a modern classic.
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by Margaret Macmillan
by Margaret Macmillan
by Michelle Cliff
