The Manticore (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Michael Dirda (Introduction) "WHEN DID YOU decide you should come to Zurich, Mr. Staunton?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Dunstan Ramsay, Boy Staunton, Father Knopwood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Hailed by the Washington Post Book World as "a modern classic," Robertson Davies’s acclaimed Deptford Trilogy is a glittering, fantastical, cunningly contrived series of novels, around which a mysterious death is woven. The Manticore—the second book in the series after Fifth Business—follows David Staunton, a man pleased with his success but haunted by his relationship with his larger-than-life father. As he seeks help through therapy, he encounters a wonderful cast of characters who help connect him to his past and the death of his father.

From the Back Cover

"Robertson Davies is one of the great modern novelists."
—Malcolm Bradbury, The Sunday Times (London)

"Robertson Davies is a novelist whose books are thick and rich with humor, character and incident. They are plotted with skill and much flamboyance."
—The Observer (London)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014303913X
• ISBN-13: 978-0143039136
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,817 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #9 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Davies, Robertson
  #15 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Canadian > Classics
  #64 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Short Stories > Canadian

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Running at a tangent, November 2, 1999

By	Mark Salter (Idyllwild, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Manticore (Deptford Trilogy) (Paperback)

Book 2 of the Deptford Trilogy. In an odd way, this book runs at a tangent to the two massive novels that frame it, Fifth Business and World of Wonders. It is tightly focused on a minor character from the other two novels and does not drive the story forward. At the end of the book the reader is left a bit nonplussed -- where is the scope and epic nature from Fifth Business? But the "trilogy" is not intended to be a serial. This becomes clear upon completion of the three. This book serves to deepen the reader's appreciation for the themes expressed in Fifth Business and which culminate, if a theme can culminate, in World of Wonders. The reader who pays attention (a pleasant requirement for Davies's greatest novels) finds himself engrossed in a sad, exhuberant, and contradictory life, and also gains some clues about the other two novels. This book could really stand alone, outside of the "trilogy". Mr. Davies was not a slave to convention (although he certainly understood convention both theatrical and novelistic) and would have found the task of a serial across three books both frustrating and pointless. None of his three (not four, thanks to Father Time) "trilogies" are serials: they simply explore similar themes and share a few characters and -- important to Davies as playwright and keen fan of poetry -- setting and atmosphere.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff if read as part of the trilogy, April 6, 2006

By	Matthew Krichman (Durango, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Manticore (Deptford Trilogy) (Paperback)

This is the second installment in the Deptford Trilogy, and my first bit of advice is that you read it in conjunction with Fifth Business, the first installment. I read Fifth Business years ago, and loved it, and struggled to remember the details of it as I began The Manticore. It isn't absolutely necessary to remember every word of the first in order to enjoy the second, but each one does help to accentuate the other.

The Manticore is great writing from a great writer. Davies prose is so fluid that they seem to absord into your mind with very little effort. He expresses complex thoughts in ways that are so graceful and elegant. And he's not afraid to deal with difficult themes; indeed, that seems to be his main purpose in writing. Yes, he tells a fascinating story, but his real aim is to get at the core of his characters, find out what motivates them and what makes them human. David Staunton is just the character to use for such an experiment. As an eminent lawyer, now undergoing psychoanalysis to determine where his life went astray, he puts himself on trial as if he were in a court of law and demands not just honest self-assessment but also evidence to support his conclusions about his own persona. It makes for a fascinating character sketch, and great reading.

There are no simple answers here to life's great questions, and that can be frustrating for those who want to be able to wrap a nice, neat bow around this book. Equally frustrating is the rather contrived ending, which includes the introduction of a new character whose purpose in the novel seems to be nothing more than to impart a valuable piece of wisdom to our main character. It also includes a journey into a deep cave, reminiscent of Plato's Republic, which is meant to reveal some profound life lesson but may just confuse and bewilder some readers. And, being the middle installment in a trilogy, this book doesn't have a proper beginning or ending. But that doesn't make it not worth reading. It just means that you should read parts one and three as well.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars like Magic Mountain without the politics, April 14, 2001

By	M. H. Bayliss "book queen" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Manticore (Deptford Trilogy) (Paperback)

Okay, so the comparison to Mann's work is a bit far fetched, but this book is a Jungian exploration of our main character's consciousness. Thanks to the convention of having Davey recount his story to his shrink, we feel a bit detached and disoriented. There is an element of almost-mysticism and we trace all the paths of Davey's mind and experiences. How did this famous criminal lawyer become such an incorrigible drunk and why does he check himself into Zurich for analysis? Unfortunately I read Fifth Business 4 years ago, so I can't remember any of the story line or comment on the relation of this book to the first. It seems to me though that this book does not depend on the first book in the series. I plan to read World of Wonders next, so I'll have more to say about the relation.

Back to this book -- it's extremely engrossing with penetrating descriptions of all the characters in Davey's life and a curiously detached view of his life. I couldn't put it down, even at the end when the mystical element almost gets out of hand and he literally climbs the mountain and crawls through a primal cave. Even if you don't buy all the Jungian stuff, Davies is such a good and interesting writer that most should enjoy the experience. As a social commentator, he reminds me of Thomas Wolfe. A gripping read.