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A review by jeremychiasson
The Manticore by Robertson Davies
4.0
Me: You simply HAVE to read "The Manticore", by Robertson Davies.
Customer: What's it about?
Me: Well it's about this insufferable middle-aged lawyer who drinks to forget his fabulously wealthy upbringing. He is so unhappy he decides to undergo Jungian analysis in Switzerland for a year or so. The story is told via entries from his therapeutic journal.
Customer: I'll take eight!
I have decided that describing the premise of a Robertson Davies novel is pointless. That is unless, you want to deter someone from ever reading one of his books.
Therefore I won't even bother explaining what happens in this book. It's not about the external/concrete events with Davies--it's what his characters take away from the events.
Besides, this is the second book in a trilogy, so if you have read Fifth Business already, and are considering reading the second one, you'll already 'get' what makes these books so great.
As for the people complaining about how annoying David is at first, I have to say that they are missing the point of the entire book. He is reckoning with his whole personality, good and bad, and he begins at a very unhealthy place. Cut him some slack. It wouldn't be very interesting if he was totally fine when the book began and just stayed fine the rest of the novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Fifth Business, and especially to those who are somewhat familiar with Carl Jung.
Customer: What's it about?
Me: Well it's about this insufferable middle-aged lawyer who drinks to forget his fabulously wealthy upbringing. He is so unhappy he decides to undergo Jungian analysis in Switzerland for a year or so. The story is told via entries from his therapeutic journal.
Customer: I'll take eight!
I have decided that describing the premise of a Robertson Davies novel is pointless. That is unless, you want to deter someone from ever reading one of his books.
Therefore I won't even bother explaining what happens in this book. It's not about the external/concrete events with Davies--it's what his characters take away from the events.
Besides, this is the second book in a trilogy, so if you have read Fifth Business already, and are considering reading the second one, you'll already 'get' what makes these books so great.
As for the people complaining about how annoying David is at first, I have to say that they are missing the point of the entire book. He is reckoning with his whole personality, good and bad, and he begins at a very unhealthy place. Cut him some slack. It wouldn't be very interesting if he was totally fine when the book began and just stayed fine the rest of the novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Fifth Business, and especially to those who are somewhat familiar with Carl Jung.