Friday, February 15, 2008
What's Bred in the Bone
I've just finished reading a terrific book by Robertson Davies, What's Bred in the Bone. He's a Canadian author who has written three different trilogies, and this particular novel is the middle piece of the trilogies. It's framed by characters from the other 2 books discussing whether or not to continue publication of the autobiography of a mysterious artist/restorer of Renaissance art. The bulk of the novel, though, is the recounting of all the unknown details of this man's life by the Lesser Zadkiel, the gnostic angel of biography, and the daimon who developed his greatness. Lots of references to art, literature, religion, and history, with a focus on the creative process. To the right I've posted a painting by Bronzino that figures largely in the plot. We've been reading this work to see how theories of chaos and complexity might apply to the construction of the novel, but it's a terrific book no matter how you read it. I'm running out to get the other pieces of the trilogy this weekend.
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3 comments:
This sounds like a book I would love to read. Has the author written three trilogies and this particular book is the center piece of one of the trilogies? Also, you say "I've" and "We've". Who are the "We've"? Anyway, I am going to acquire the book.
Yes, it's the 2nd of three in one of his trilogies...there are other trilogies also, although I think he may have died before finishing the last one! "We" is my class on chaos and complexity theory as it relates to composition theory. We're reading Tom Stoppard's Arcadia later in the semester... didn't you perform that a few years ago?
It was "The Real Thing", a comedy in two acts by Tom Stoppard that I was involved in having performed by a fledgling drama group at my Episcopal Parish. Thank you for clarifying the triolgies of Robertson Davies and the I and We.
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