The Well-Tempered Critic: One Man's View of Theatre and Letters in Canada by Robertson Davies (review)

456 LETTERS IN CANADA 1981 Perhaps the book's greatest value lies in its reprinting of two Ross short stories that are not easily obtainable: 'No Other Way,' his first published story, and 'Spike,' which has hitherto appeared only in a French translation. But it is typical of the oddity of the book that this latter story, of particular interest to Ross admirers, is never even mentioned (let alone discussed) in Mitchell's text. (w.). KEITH) Robertson Davies. The Well-Tempered Critic: One Man's View of Theatre and Letters in Canada. Edited by Judith Skelton Grant McClelland & Stewart. 285. $18.95 Do we really need another collection of miscellaneous pieces by Robertson Davies? Judith Skelton Grant does her best to defend her affirmative answer in the introduction to The Well-Tempered Critic:One Man's View of Theatre and Letters in Canada, despite what might seem a damaging admission: that the author himself 'never thought of making a collection such as this, because he felt that the pieces were too much the ephemeral products of their time.' Two main points constitute the underpinnings of her defence: the writing itself is 'many-splendoured,' filled with 'quotable nuggets and pithy ruminations that will long stimulate readers and students of Canadian drama and literature'; and 'the very reflection of earlier attitudes is the stuff of literary history,' particularly the 'grapplings ' ofan author like Davies with his culture, which 'produced insights of continuing relevance.' There is more than some slight justice to the rationale, given our current penchant for attributing the prevailing interest in Canadian letters to people who came relatively late to the scene. One of the earlier offerings in this book is a finely sensitive and wholly appreciative sketch of As for Me and My House, which appeared in the same year as the novel itself. It is certainly salutary for everyone interested in the maturation of Canadian literature to reflect that, in 1941, George Woodcock was still in England and would not return to this country for another eight years, Edmund Wilson was fully occupied with the literature of nations other than Canada, and Margaret Atwood was just over one year old. As this book demonstrates, Robertson Davies antedated most critics in the serious and sustained appraisal of our national writing. The demonstration is the more welcome and timely since it serves to correct a recent and near-calumnious view of Davies that should never have seen print. Joyce Carol Oates, in her review of One Half of Robertson Davies for the New Republic (15 April 1978), castigated that inoffensive collection of occasional speeches because they supposedly revealed the monstrous insensitivity of the speaker to the accomplishments of other Canadian artists. 'He is careful,' she wrote of Davies, 'never to mention HUMANITIES 457 the name of any distinguished Canadian contemporary of his, out of indifference - or simply ignorance - or perhaps envy.' Here we have refutation writ large, the unanswerable testimonial of four decades of warm, perceptive, and intelligentconsiderationofCanadian achievement in literature and the theatre. Davies did not, however, indulge in mindless boosterism: he said hard things about Canadian art and criticism when necessary, singling out (and I trust we all savour the irony of this) academics for 'dishonest,' 'unpassionate/ and 'unimaginative' evaluations , citing as one egregious instance E. K. Brown's treatment of Watson Kirkconnell's TheFlying Bull in the first appearance of 'Letters in Canada.' But Davies did prefer, as a point of prinCiple, to concentrate on Canadian artists and productions he could honestly admire: and so we have candid and accurate assessments of writers like Ross, MacLennan, LePan, Roy, Laurence, Leacock, and Gallant, and of directors like Hirsch and actors like Gerussi. And we encounter currents of emotion, delight with the artistry of Emily Carr's writing, zest for the exuberance of Layton and Richler, compassion for the harsh life of Grove. It should be not only gratifying to Canadians but also instructive to critics to see how well the work of a critic committed to a generous - rather than censorious - stance can withstand Dr Johnson's test of time. The merits of the work conceded, it should be added that the collection is not without imperfections. I...