The Manticore by Robertson Davies

Second reading; first read about 15 years ago

Book 2 of The Deptford Trilogy

I have read, I believe, eight of Robertson Davies' novels, and this is my least favorite, for several reasons. The first reason (and this is my fault, not Davies') is that a great deal of the interest of the novel depends on a reader having a considerable background of knowledge about the writings of Karl Jung, which I do not have, unfortunately. The second reason is that it repeats so many of the plot details of Fifth Business, the first book of the Deptford Trilogy, except that it's from a different viewpoint. It is intriguing to see how the same events can be interpreted differently by different people, but the tension of the story is necessarily absent for anyone who has read the first book. The third reason is ambiguous, even to me, but this novel does not seem as elegantly written as his other books.

Book 1 of the trilogy ended soon after the death of Boy Staunton, who was extremely rich and politically prominent, and who was murdered (or perhaps committed suicide). This one, Book 2, follows Boy's son, David Staunton, a highly successful criminal lawyer who is also an alcoholic, as he undergoes a year-long analysis with a Jungian psychiatrist following his father's death. A goodly part of the novel consists of the dialogue between patient and doctor as she guides him to an understanding of himself.

Davies very subtly allows David to reveal aspects of his history which are revealing to the reader without being fully discerned or consciously admitted to by him. Here Davies shows one of the greatest of his strengths as a writer--he gives the reader credit for some degree of understanding and never over-explains or pontificates.

This was written so that it could be read as a stand-alone book, and as such I do not think it would be fully understood by the average reader. As part 2 of one big book it works much better.