The Manticore (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by Robertson Davies (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)

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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: #212,841 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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.

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and beautifully written, February 22, 2006

By	R. Kyle (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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

This is my first Davies novel and I suspect I started with the wrong one in the series; however, MANTICORE was a fascinating read. In this, David Staunton comes to Zurich for psychoanalysis with a Jungian therapist after his father dies in a very strange accident. (Boy Staunton, his father, died in an auto accident with an egg sized stone of pink Canadian granite in his mouth) You think we're going to get a payoff on the mystery, which we eventually do, but we first have to go through Davey's life and get his personality integrated. The descriptions are very rich, which is a good thing because the book is mostly narrative. Despite sounding tiresome, the book for the most part is interesting and an enjoyable and challenging read. If you are a first time reader of Davies like me, I would suggest you start with the first book of this series, FIFTH BUSINESS before you read MANTICORE.