Reviews

High Spirits by Robertson Davies

cimorene1558's review against another edition

3.0

My mom emailed me the other day and said I absolutely had to read this hilarious collection of University of Toronto ghost stories. So I did, not entirely willingly, and I think that was fair. My mom was in grad school at U of T when Robertson Davies was there (although not at Massey), so I think she finds them wonderful because they are much closer to her than they are to me.
They are funny, but a giggle is the most they provoked. I do know Massey College, but really only from childhood, when my parents would take me in to look at the fountains in the warmer months. During my undergrad experience it was something I knew existed, and walked by a lot, but not more. I actually had no idea Robertson Davies had anything to do with it (or no memory of knowing, I suppose I might have once). The Canadian history ghosts are pretty excellent, and I'm glad to have read it once, but I think these probably were best as the silly ghost stories that Robertson Davies told aloud at every Christmas party during his years at Massey, and I really wouldn't recommend them to anyone but serious Canadiana buffs, or people who, like my mother, have a fairly personal connection.

cadenceann's review against another edition

3.0

I couldn't finish this one lol maybe when I get back into academia

artemisreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted relaxing tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

mike_brough's review

3.0

A series of ghost stories that Davies related at his university's Christmas dinners. There are some similarities to M R James' stories but these are slightly more twee and never really meant to be scary. A knowledge of 20th Century Canadian politics would help with some of the jokes but the stories work reasonably well even if the jokes pass you by.

Worth a read but shouldn't go to the top of your TBR pile.

thebacklistborrower's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

You’d *think* I'd have wanted to rush this review to get it posted during spooky season, but much to my surprise, there’s more of Dickens than of Devils about it, being a series of stories about Christmas hauntings, so I’ll consider this perfect timing.

Davies was the Master of Massey College in Toronto from 1963 to 1981, during which time he gave a ghost story at each year’s “Gaudy night” (Christmas party). This book is the collection of each ghost story as told. Being told on a high-spirited night, these are not scary ghosts, but humorous tales that poke a lot of fun at academia, Massey College personalities, and Canadian celebrities (both of the time and in history). In each story, Davies himself is the main character, and he maintains that they were all really true stories.

Towards the latter half of the book, he is rather self-aware about this pledge for only true stories, being rather concerned about the probability of coming across another ghost before the annual Gaudy Night -- and the reputation of the college for having so many ghosts. But this is all tongue-in-cheek. Each year, sometimes at the 12th hour, he stumbles across one ghost, (or a few, or many), and helps them on their way. Sometimes these ghosts are graduate students, who hadn’t quite defended their thesis before it was their time, and other times of Queen Victoria. In one case, it was a Frankenstines-monster-cat, and another, an antique table possessed by the ghost of former prime minister Mackenzie King.

If you don’t know your Canadians, this probably isn’t the book for you. But not having ever gone to a university, let alone U of T, I’m happy to say I still found the stories hilarious (in one scene, ghosts of Canadian authors are clamoring to be reborn. When asked why, Davies speculates “perhaps they hope that this time they might be born American authors”). These aren’t your regular ghost tales, but worth a read if you like your rather obscure canadian lit.

 

jnelsontwo's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

yaburrow's review against another edition

4.0

hilarious collection of Christmas ghost stories by Robertson Davies. These stories were originally performed by him at Massey College Gaudy Nights. Unfortunately for him, his books were put on the school curriculum, thus putting off a whole generation of Canadian kids from reading him. His work is very Jungian, in my opinion, and I enjoy it immensely. It has flaws, but it’s still great writing. These ghost stories were clearly written as a bit of fun and larks, but they’re very well structured. A knowledge of Canadian history is not entirely necessary to enjoy them (I did not possess this knowledge the first time I read them), but it does make them much funnier.

mattstebbins's review against another edition

2.0

As much as I enjoyed [b:The Rebel Angels|74405|The Rebel Angels|Robertson Davies|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170852645s/74405.jpg|1336027], as much as Davies had his occasional moments of sly dry wit, these were mostly terrible and a slog to get through. Truthfully, had it not been a collection on the smaller side, I'd have tossed it aside rather than finish. So... don't waste your time?

neven's review against another edition

This collection of ghost stories (sort of) written for and set in the academia of the University of Toronto is well-written but ultimately rather dull stuff. These tales were meant to be read out loud by Davies to his peers at the college, and I'm sure all the inside-baseball killed there and then. But here and now, I can't really recommend this unless you happen to be a professor at the University of Toronto. Do you?

chantale's review against another edition

4.0

I didn't really enjoy the first two ghost stories in this collection, once I got past them I sped through this book.

My favourite short stories in the collection were:
- The Night of the Three Kings
- The Charlottetown Banquet
- Conversations with the Little Table