CanLit Challenge discussion

This book by Robertson Davies is the second of The Cornish Trilogy, and the only one that's about Francis Cornish himself. I've read this one twice already and I think it's my favourite Davies novel that I've read so far (as of October 2010).

What's Bred in the Bone is like having hot cocoa with your grandfather on a long winter's night while he tells you how things used to be. It's very straight forward with hints of humour and little philosophical digressions. For more of my thoughts, take a look at my blog post on Reader of the Stack. I also have links there to some of the artworks discussed in the novel--if you come across others let me know; they were a bit more difficult to find back in 2006.

It was my favourite of the Cornish Trilogy. He can be read at different levels and still be enjoyable. Being in the world of visual arts was new to me even if I have taken a university visual art course (learning to draw and the use colours) when I was in my late forties.

I've been told by others that the academic in him shows, but I never noticed as I'm sort of out of my realm. I also thought there was a fair bit of philosophy in it. I got a feeling like I did in "Magic Mountain" that I'm missing something that would make the book even more interesting. Davies, of course was influenced by Mann.