Gentleman Death

by Graeme Gibson

Meet novelist Robert Fraser as he comes face to face with creativity, his mortality, and the deaths of his father and brother. Set mainly in Toronto, the novel also takes us to London, Scotland, Germany, and New York as we follow the escapades of two of Fraser’s fictional characters. There is Simpson, called into service as an anonymous sperm donor, and Dunbar, an enigmatic tourist in Berlin just before the Chernobyl disaster, where he meets the captivating Lena, with whom he begins to sense an almost forgotten freedom and elation. But at the centre of Gentleman Death is Robert Fraser’s own compelling story. Gibson juxtaposes reality and fiction in this compassionate, sometimes outrageous, often very funny exploration of the absurdities and alarms of aging, the nature of fiction itself, and the maturity that grows from reconciliation.

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Graeme Gibson CM was a Canadian novelist and conservationist and the longtime partner of author Margaret Atwood. He was a Member of the Order of Canada (1992) and one of the organizers of the Writer's Union of Canada. He was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada. Gibson was best known for his 1973 book Eleven Canadian Novelists, a non-fiction work.

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author was obviously intelligent and talented but this book drove me crazy (hence the lengthy amount of time it took me to put it down, restart, put it down...you understand). The language is lovely, but the “plot” is meandering, choppy, and resembles a stream-of-consciousness exercise rather than a novel. The protagonist is a novelist with writer’s-block brought on by his grief at the deaths of both his father and brother as well as the confrontation of his own mortality. Mixed in are snippets of the novels that he is trying to write. Overall it just did not work for me but I do understand why Mr. Gibson was a respected and lauded writer.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will likely have to re-read this one! Here is my blog entry, nonetheless: http://reidsreadings.blogspot.com/201...

[Andrew Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the most interesting books that I've ever read. The structure was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Gibson's Gentleman Death is about an author by the name of Robert Fraser, struggling to write two new novels, and grappling with existential questions about life and death. Interspersed between sections of the book from the author's point of view, are passages from the novels that often provide some comic relief from an otherwise fairly dreary main plot.

Although the protagonist of this book shares the same name as the protagonist of perpetual motion, there was very little linking the two tales aside from the hereditary link between great-grandfather and great-grandson. However, I did feel much the same way about Gentleman Death as I did about Perpetual Motion. Both books are beautifully written, with particularly powerful passages and scenes that stick with you. But they also have meandering plots that don't always seem to provide the payoff they promise. After reading Gentleman Death I am left once again with a very clear indication of why Graeme Gibson is considered a famous Canadian author, but I am not entirely sure his work is for me.

The best parts of this book came from the sections that are from the author's point of view, rather than the point of view of the character's in his novels. Gibson artfully writes about living in Toronto, trying to spend time at the cottage but always seeming to run out of summer, extreme wealth adjacent to poverty, and provides his personal opinion on the state of Canada under Brian Mulroney (he was not very positive in this aspect). As with Perpetual Motion, he shines brightest when describing nature, although one of the best scenes in this book takes place in a hospital.

Overall, I would say that this book is a very solid read, with parts that were absolutely incredible, but as a whole it was just good. The structure is very fascinating, and Gibson is a thoughtful writer who might take more liberties with his plot structure than he is due.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written entirely from a male narrator's perspective, Graeme Gibson tells the story of a writer at work who also travels from Canada to various capital cities in Europe. As his story unfolds so does the travel accommodate new characters with a new story. I will read more of this Canadian author's work in the near future.