The Manticore is the second volume in Robertson Davies’ Deptford Trilogy. The trilogy itself is about the ramifications through several people’s lives of one malicious act—a snowball with a rock in it thrown by Boy Staunton at Dunstan Ramsey when they were children.
Davies takes up this story again in The Manticore with the next generation, specifically David Staunton, Boy’s son. At the end of Fifth Business, Boy was found dead, having apparently driven himself off the end of a pier, but oddly found with a stone in his mouth. David is a successful, much-feared criminal attorney, but he realizes he drinks too much when he finds himself shouting during a magic show, “Who killed Boy Staunton?” This scene has all kinds of ramifications that David himself doesn’t know about but we do, because we learned in the previous book that the magician, Magnus Eisengrim, was the self-reinvented baby who was prematurely born after the throwing of that stone and may somehow be responsible for Boy’s death.
Davies uses the device of having David seek therapy to develop the story more, in particular what a horrible father Boy was despite David’s continued regard for him. (In fact, it’s fairly clear that Boy was a horrible person in many respects, despite the general respect for his wealth and accomplishments.) In this way, David is an unreliable narrator because there are so many things he doesn’t understand that others, including the readers, do.
To keep his therapy a secret, David goes to Switzerland and seeks the help of Jungian psychiatrist Dr. Johanna van Hallen. This therapy begins on page 7 and lasts for most of the book, so David tells story after story and Dr. van Hallen talks him through therapy. I have no idea if these discussions truly reflect Jungian therapy or if the therapist would indeed go into discussions of archetypes and so on, but the stories were far more interesting than the revelations of Jungian techniques.
The ending of this book I found a little too symbolic and fantastic—in a mild way. I’m not sure how I feel about this book overall.
What? Me Read? 
I really enjoyed Fifth Business and went straight into this sequel but didn’t get very far. I guess it was that it felt repetitive and like it wasn’t adding anything new to the experience of reading the first book. I’m not sure if I’d try it again, or read the third book (I have the omnibus edition) — will you?
Yeah, it definitely doesn’t move along like Fifth Business. I’m not sure the whole psychiatric angle was that effective. I will be reading the third book when it comes up on my pile.
I’ve been meaning to read this since I read Fifth Business a few years ago. I can hardly remember what happened in the first book so I’m hoping I haven’t waited too long.
I think I felt like I was in the same position at first, although I had read Fifth Business months before, but it came back to me. I’m not sure whether you would need to revisit the first book or maybe just read a plot synopsis or if you could just go ahead and read it.
It sounds intriguing though – it will be interesting if you develop stronger views of the book over the next few weeks…
Well, I finished two or three months ago. I think the proof will be in the pudding of the next book.
Wow, I couldn’t wait that long to write my review – I get all jittery with it weighing on me and I cannot release my thoughts until they are written down.. So I am impressed, especially given you read so much so probably have dozens of books in your mind at any one time!
Oh, I write them down in a notebook and post them when I come to them. I just have a big backlog. I sometimes modify the reviews when I post, but I have my thoughts down already.
Well, given that I abandoned the first book in the trilogy, I’m delighted to say that my TBR is safe today! 😉
That would seem to be the case.