When Father Hobbes drops dead during a church service, holistic healer Jonathan Hullah suspects that something is amiss. He is prevented from performing a more complete examination by his old schoolmate, the mystical Father Iredale. Some 20 years later, a journalist doing a series on Old World Toronto prompts Hullah to ruminate on the circumstances surrounding the death of the saintly priest. In doing so, Hullah ranges far and wide, recalling his rural upbringing in Sioux Lookout, his life-changing encounter with a native American medicine woman, his schooling at an elite boarding school, his rowdy extracurricular activities with a troupe of actors, and his wartime experiences as a doctor. Popular Canadian author Davies has written a sort of metaphysical mystery story, with a plot just compelling enough to support the weight of his learned musings on any number of topics, including the theater, art, music, God, and medicine. Sharing many of the same characters as his last novel, Murther & Walking Spirits (1991), this one should have strong appeal for Davies' loyal readers.
Joanne Wilkinson --
To: ALL Date: 06/02
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 3:37 PM
THE CUNNING MAN... greetings...stay tuned...
=============== Reply 1 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/02
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 5:12 PM
...the high priestess said, cunningly...
=============== Reply 2 of Note 13 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 06/02
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:46 PM
I'm working on THE CUNNING MAN, one of the selections I
actually did find in my library. Does anybody remember, or
have you heard of, the era when "cunning" was all the rage
in children's readers? Mama said she got quite a mistaken
impression of the word. Baby Ray's cat was very cunning, as
were several other of his/her possessions.
This is a nice, prolix book with lots of literate talk.
Cathy
=============== Reply 3 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/03
From: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Time: 11:15 AM
Cathy: If I recall correctly, 'cunning' formerly was used to
describe children's clothing or activities that today we
would more likely term 'cute'. As in, "Peter Rabbit wore a
cunning little blue coat with shiny brass buttons." This was
in addition to its useage as a synonym for 'clever'. I also
recall it frequently being used in conjunction with the word
'low' -- 'low cunning'. I always thought that was slightly
redundent, since the word 'cunning' itself always conveyed a
sense of somewhat disreputable slyness, to me at least.
Americans and the English have always preferred a certain
straightforward stupidity over any amount of unseemly
cleverness -- smart people, yuck, as they might say down at
the mall. And this Davies is quite a good writer, isn't he?
I've enjoyed the book, despite the ocassional jarring
collisions between American style collquialism and English
twittiness in the language. Perhaps what our high quality
literature would read like if we'd lost the Revolution.
Anyway, I've found that an interesting sidelight to the
story itself.
Dick in Alaska, on the 5th of the 12 Days of the Inlaws
=============== Reply 4 of Note 13 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 06/03
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:23 PM
gail, Cathy, and Sir R.,
I am finishing up THE CUNNING MAN, and I have enjoyed it.
Considering that RD was quite an old man when he wrote this
book, he was also quite "with it". I am still gathering my
thoughts about the book, so I am not quite ready to post all
of my thoughts. I would like to recommend the DEPTFORD
TRILOGY to one and all. I read it several years ago and
loved it. I also have THE SALTERTON TRILOGY and BRED TO THE
BONE in my TBR pile. Jane who thanks Teresa Hess for
putting this book on the CR list.
=============== Reply 5 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/03
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 9:51 PM
ROBERTSON DAVIES... greetings.. 1913-195...was born in
the village of Thamesvile, Ontario..the DEPTFORD of three of
this novels..where he lived for five years... his parents
were remarkably like those of Brochwel Gilmartin in THE
CUNNING MAN....great readers...talkers, and singers, but
unhappy in their marriage and eager to win his allegiance.
His father's newspaper interests took the family to the town
of Renfrew ..the Blairlogie OF what's bred I the bone....AND
THEN to Kingston..THE salterton of his first trilogy and of
his most recent two novels.
he attended UPPer Canada College in Toronoto..the original
of Colborne COllege...QUEEN'S University in Kingston and
Balliol College, Oxford, where he took his B.Litt. IN
1938...he then joined the OLD VIC COMPANY for two
seasons..acting bit parts..teaching theatre history in its
school and doing literary work for the director..in 1940 he
married BRENDA MATHEWS who had been a stage manager with the
OLD VIC and returned to Canada.
he was litererary editor of SATURDAY NIGHT magazine IN
toronto UNTIL 1942, then editor of the PETERBOROUGH
EXAMINER...... until the mid 50's he threw his considerable
'leisure' energies into theatre..writing and directing plays
for the little theatre and for several professional
companies...in 1963 he left the EXAMINER and became Master
of MASSEY College in the University of TORONto..the origina
of PLOUGHWRIGHT COLLEGE IN THE REBEL ANGELS.. at the
university he taught in the ENGLISH dept. and the drama
centre until he retired in 1981.
reading the works of jUNG IN THE 50's and 60's changed
Davies' outlook and had a strong impact on his
writing...where earlier he had turned away from the images
and ideas that rose unbidden in his dreams and visions..he
now opened himself up to them...and he came to accept and
value his intuitions...he came to see the novelist and
playwright as givers of shape to the archetypal material
rising from the unconscious..as a result he cased to write
novels that were essentially comedies of manners with
distanced, cool, analytic omniscient narrators....starting
with FIFTH BUSINESS..he began to write ficitonal
autobiographies or confessions in which the underlying
presence of the archetypes is palpable.
tbc
=============== Reply 6 of Note 13 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 06/03
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 10:17 PM
greetings MADEMOISELLE JANE..
years ago when i discovered DAVIES.. i read the deptford
trilogy and mistrials of frailities...
glad to hear you also enjoyed the trilogy..but i truly can't
understand anyone not enjoying them! WORLD OF
WONDERS..THEmanicore..okay....help....i know it was the
first book..the book i flipped over and the title escapes
me!!!
gail..hp..a p r in the middle kingdom of life where
names certainly do escape me regularly!
=============== Reply 7 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/03
From: GJFH50B KATHARINE HIGGINS Time: 10:26 PM
Gail,
It's Fifth Business, the first of the Deptford Trilogy,
a series I enjoyed tremendously when I read it many years
ago. Anyway, I think this is the title you want.
Katy Higgins
=============== Reply 8 of Note 13 =================
To: GJFH50B KATHARINE HIGGINS Date: 06/03
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:47 PM
I'm not surprised to hear he actually had singers in the
family. What he writes of music is quite sound, and, as you
know, that's a sure way to hook me into a novel. I'm
enjoying the theater business, too.
Cathy
=============== Reply 9 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/04
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 9:49 AM
gail & All: I'm only a few chapters into CUNNING MAN, which
I blush to admit is my first Davies, but my initial reaction
is what a hell of a writer this guy is. How audaciously he
invents situations, and takes me willingly all around the
bush to get the details, jumping back and forth in space
time with impunity though never getting me confused.
Reading somebody who's this gifted is a little like riding
in a fine car on a good road with the tires perfectly
inflated. Just settle back and enjoy it.
Dale in Ala.
=============== Reply 10 of Note 13 =================
To: GJFH50B KATHARINE HIGGINS Date: 06/04
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 4:46 PM
greetings KATHARINE...
btw is your name spelled katharine or katherine...noticed on
the address list and now was curious...
tons of thanks for FIFTH BUSINESS...would you believe that
always was the one book of his i could remember..now its the
others... WELCOME TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM!
gail.hp.a p r in the throes of a fascinating book ..
=============== Reply 11 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/04
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 4:48 PM
ROBERTSON DAVIES..greetings.... his many works include
not only plays and novels that won him international renown
but criticism ..belles letttres..stories and speeches..he
was award the GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD..for THE MANTICORE...
the NATIONAL ARTS CLUB..NEW YORK..MEDAL OF HONOUR FOR
LITERATURE....1987.... and was made FELLOW of the ROYAL
SOCIETY OF CANADA....1967.. a Companion of the ORDER of
CANADA 1972..an honorary member of the AMERICAN ACADEMY and
Institute of ARTS and LETTERS..the first Canadian to be so
honored...1980..and in 1986..HONORARY FELLOW OF BALLIOL...
the honorary degrees he particularly treasured are those
from trinity college...dublin .. 1990 and from
OXFORD...1991...
THE CUNNING MAN.. is davies' 11th novel..in it has has drawn
once again on his seemingly inexhaustible hoard of intuition
..formidable memory and astonishing erudition to produce a
truly entertaining story...
Q, you have talked about the way your novels FIFTH BUSINESS
and THE MANTICORE began to take shape with the appearance in
your imagination of a vivid image...how did THE CUNNING MAN
get its start?
well..it didn't get a start in quite such a determined way
as that, but it was an idea which had been in my mind for
many years ..which was the transformation of the city of
TORONTO from being quite literally a colonial capital to
being a metropolitan city.....and the changes that had taken
place..particularly in the world of art..and what had been
gained and also a few tings that had been lost in the
process..
Q. you refer to ROBERT BURTON'S anatomy of melancholy again
and again in THE CUNNING MAN..why does it appeal to you?
sir william osler..a great humanist as well as a terrific
doctor said that it was the greatest book of psychiatry
that had ever been written by a layman...unbeatable for
depth of interest and just sheer wonderous curiosity about
mankind...and that's true..... I WAS fascinated with it
from my school days and have taken pleasure in it all my
life...OLD BURTON'S idea was ne which he doesn't directly
attribute to Paracelsus but it was Paracelsus's idea, that
it's no use talking bout the live and the lungs and so forth
they are your liver and my live and your lungs and my
lungs..and they are never exactly the same in any two
people..and that you've got to find out your person and find
out his feelings and his spirit and Paracelsus would HAVE
said...his soul..if you're going to be able to do him any
good..APParently....Paracelsus was a v ery remarkable healer
but he was, like OSLER ..a charismatic healer...
gail.hp.a p r..reporting from san francisco where my tizzie
lizzie's are finally flourishing bringing me great joy and
beauty...
=============== Reply 12 of Note 13 =================
To: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Date: 06/04
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 11:01 PM
chere petite gail,
Thanks for your very informative notes about Davies. I just
finished THE CUNNING MAN. I loved his main character Dr.
Jon Hullah, because he seemed so human. He was brilliant
and an excellent doctor, but he had his flaws. He was not
totally satisfied with his life: he mentions that he wishes
he had treated kings and other heads of state instead of
ordinary people. He also foolishly falls in love with Esme
at the end, even though he knows that he is much too old for
her. He talks about his lack of feeling when his godson (or
son??) dies. His best quality is that he is very honest
about himself as well as others. According to my copy of
this novel, RD was 81 when he published the book. His
powers of writing and observation of the world certainly did
not diminish in his later years. Jane who loves the photo
of the laughing RD on the back of the book.
=============== Reply 13 of Note 13 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 06/05
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 0:10 AM
Actually, Paracelus etal were right in saying each person's
organs were a little bit different. Several years ago I
read WHERE DEATH DELIGHTS, a biography of the legendary
forensic specialist Dr. Milton Halperin. Dr. Halperin
insisted that of all the corpses he had autopsied no two
were exactly alike. The kidneys would be hung differently,
for example. He really talked with a great deal of awe
about the human body and all its variants.
Cathy
=============== Reply 14 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/05
From: SHMF23A THOM HANSER Time: 3:13 AM
Was it that long ago that we discussed FIFTH BUSINESS?
I think that was one of the recommendations of Michael Mele.
If possible, someone remind me how time flies.
I read somewhere that the likeness of Roberson Davies
has replaces Einstein as the fav poster in college dorms
(fav after Cindy Crawford of course). Thom
=============== Reply 15 of Note 13 =================
To: SHMF23A THOM HANSER Date: 06/05
From: NDKB53A THERESA SIMPSON Time: 3:20 AM
The truth is, Davies is Einstein, but with a beard.
=============== Reply 25 of Note 13 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 06/07
From: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Time: 10:56 PM
I'm about one third of the way through THE CUNNING MAN, and
just wanted to drop in and say how much I'm enjoying it!
For some reason, I wasn't expecting to like this one, yet
it has been interrupting my life for the last few days (and
I have things to do!). Dale's automotive analogy is apt --
Davison could drive me anywhere.
I keep making mental comparisions between THE CUNNING MAN
and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY. Hullah reminds me of Irving's
protagonist (whose last name escapes me, but his first name
was also John) -- a relatively stable man surrounded by
remarkable eccentrics. Has anyone else noticed it, or do I
need to get out more?
Peggy
=============== Reply 26 of Note 13 =================
To: UPDQ58A PEGGY RAMSEY Date: 06/08
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 1:30 PM
Peggy: Now that you mention it, I feel a definite kinship
between Davies' writing and that of John Irving, though it's
hard to pin down exactly why.
As you say, the great collection of eccentrics is part of
it. But I also think both writers are trying to duplicate
the weirdness and synchronicity of real life. Weird events
happen that seem to be unconnected to anything, but just as
you've pushed one of those loose threads to the back of your
mind, something happens that makes it suddenly very
significant. Does that make sense?
Dale in Ala., mixing metaphors without near the elan of
Davies
=============== Reply 27 of Note 13 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 06/08
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:46 PM
Yes, it does, Dale, and in this particular book it seems to
have the trappings of a great murder tale. Other times it's
just one of those "so THAT'S why"s of life, a nice flash of
illumination. Reading THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET years ago (too
long ago to take an intelligent part in the recent
discussions), I began to wonder if anybody ever noticed or
understood more than a fragment of what was going on around
him/her.
Cathy
=============== Reply 28 of Note 13 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 06/09
From: KGXC73A GAIL SINGER GROSS Time: 5:01 PM
greetings CBJ..
OUTSTANDING!
gail.hp..a p r
=============== Reply 29 of Note 13 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 06/10
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 10:56 AM
All,
I finished THE CUNNING MAN last night. Be advised that I'm
going to talk about the ending of the book as well as the
beginning, in other words: spoiler alert. This was the
first Davies I have ever read, but it won't be the last. Some
of you have compared him to Irving. He is much different, to
my mind, but with similar themes. Irving is more caustic,
presents more outrageous situations, or at least frames them
differently. Davies (at least in this one book) seems
gentler, more polite. TCM did indeed seem like a nice
automobile journey through the landscape of a life. Plot was
secondary. Even character seemed secondary to the world of
ideas. Culture, music, beauty, art, conversation,
philosophy. These are the main characters of THE CUNNING
MAN. I know very little about deconstructionism, but didn't
you get a kick out of his description? I think the narrator's
idea for ANATOMY OF FICTION is splendid. I wonder how much
Davies is like the doctor? How much of the doctor's
personality is Davies? He seemed so very comfortable in the
role of the doctor, for that is what it seems like to me
when an author chooses to tell a story in the first person.
Someone mentioned that they didnt particularly like the part
of the story when the doctor fell in love with Esme? It didn
t seem odd to me at all, in fact, it humanized him. He was
so insightful in his role as diagnostician, but that very
role kept him at a distance from his patients. He never
became involved on a personal level, but was always above
that level. Falling in love, literally, allowed him to
descend to a more interactive level. But it wasn't to be. He
fell, but then he got up very quickly.
What do you all think of the scene in the club dining room
after the funeral? I thought it was too too polite. Here
these people had just lost a son, and they chose that time
to tell about an ongoing affair. I suppose that one wound
ripping open would lead to the discussion of other wounds,
but it seemed too civilized. I know how I would feel if a
child of mine had been killed. I would be crazy. These
people just did not seem crazy enough. Am I being too
critical? Is this demonstration of the stiff-upper-lip
syndrome?
Sherry in Milwaukee where its finally spring, and now on to
summer
=============== Reply 33 of Note 13 =================
To: ZRPD32A RICHARD HAGGART Date: 06/10
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:19 PM
I, too, much enjoyed the artistic and philosophical
discussions that were so much a part of TCM. The book will
stay with me a long time, though I'm not sure I'm yet ready
for more Davies.
Actually, aside from Chips's letters, you see the doctor
only as he wants you to see him. I had the wee suspicion
that all that detachment was really a bit of intellectual
cover up for something he didn't want known or didn't want
even to look into himself. For instance, his casual
dismissal of the bit of communion wafer his nurse preserved
for him - there I smelled a great, big rat. He knew what
had happened from the very beginning, though probably not
the actual agent. Would it have made things better if he'd
spoken out? I honestly don't know, though it could have
spared them the manifestations of that irritating Prudence
Vizard and would not have been a more wretched end for
Charlie than he actually met. Maybe he could also have
preserved the wonderful musical service at St. Aidan's a bit
longer - that would be the part that stuck in my mind,
naturally.
Also, I got the definite impression Esme knew who had
killed her husband and why he was in her workroom. All that
business about wondering if his spirit were hovering over
the guilty party, perhaps hoping so. It certainly wasn't
the industrialist she married. I wish he'd filled in a
little more about the sobbing employee with the cane. Yes,
that was a rather bloodless wake and discussion, though you
could charitably put it down to shock. All the characters
seemed to have a marked distaste for chewing up the scenery
with their emotions.
Lots of marvelous tidbits in this one.
Cathy
=============== Reply 34 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/11
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 8:26 AM
Hi, Cathy: "Marvelous tidbits" indeed in THE CUNNING MAN,
which I'm still working my way through. I had the same
impression of the doctor from the beginning as you did, that
he was making this tell-all pretense but at the same time
very selectively choosing what to tell.
Which is what we all do in daily life, of course. But I
think Davies has an unusually keen sense of just how
selective, and subjective, any one version of reality is.
Dale in Ala.
=============== Reply 35 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/11
From: WSRF10B SHERRY KELLER Time: 8:36 AM
Cathy,
He did leave several details hanging, didn't he? I suspected
Charlie done'im in too, but TCM seemed like a different sort
of book, not a murder mystery, so I didn't give too much
thought to my initial suspicion. I thoroughly enjoyed the
medical talk, too, and the psychological stuff. The dreams
Charlie had sure did explain a lot about his life. I can
imagine powerful imagery like that within a dream, within a
lifetime of dreams, can influence a person. I had exactly
the same reaction you did about the weeping man at the
funeral. And they glossed over him so fast when they were
trading secrets, that I'm still confused about him. Was he
Gil's lover? Esme's lover? The bill collector?
So many visceral happenings, but they were described so
politely, that I did intellectual doubletakes.
What do you think the Cunning Man was hiding from himself?
Sherry
=============== Reply 36 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/11
From: KEXT98A TONYA PRESLEY Time: 10:56 AM
Cathy,
You voiced a lot of my thoughts. Kind of neat, since I
thought of you a lot while reading TCM, what with the
attention to the choir and all. The church seemed a very
real place to me, though I've never been to any church like
it.
Strange, but (although I suspected Charlie) I resigned
myself to the idea that he wasn't going to solve the
priest's murder outright early on; but I was sure the son's
murder (being a sub-topic) would be solved. And I suspected
Esme had played a role in his murder, too.
TCM is 6 or 7 books ago, now, and details are fading, but
I thought while reading it that I had enjoyed WHAT'S BRED IN
THE BONE more. (Of course, that book is 60 or 70 books ago.)
It never felt to me like we were getting to the real man, as
in the wafer incident. I wanted Chip to reveal something
juicy, I guess.
Robertson Davies never reminded me of John Irving, but this
book reminded me a lot of a book I read 7 or 8 years ago, a
murder mystery called A COAT OF VARNISH. Can't remember the
author, now I'll have to look it up. It was a good read.
Tonya
=============== Reply 37 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/11
From: KDEX08B RUTH BAVETTA Time: 6:51 PM
Cathy,
I like your analysis of Dr Hullah. As much as I wanted to
like him, he wasn't a man I warmed up to. Despite his
admitted "failings", I felt oppressed by an enormous ego.
Ruth, back from northern California and puzzled as to why
her burglar alarm only false-alarms when she more than 200
miles away
=============== Reply 38 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/11
From: GJFH50B KATHARINE HIGGINS Time: 10:25 PM
Cathy,
For marvelous conversational tidbits, try THE REBEL
ANGELS, my favorite of Davies books. It is a very funny
send up of academic pretensions and university politics. He
also brings in esoteric gypsy lore and the usual Freudian
Jungian psychological spice all of which make for a very
entertaining read. The Deptford Trilogy is also well worth
your time. The Rebel Angels is the first book of another
trilogy, including What's Bred in the Bone and another title
which I can't remember right now. I did not think The
Cunning Man was up to these others.
Katy Higgins
=============== Reply 39 of Note 13 =================
To: GJFH50B KATHARINE HIGGINS Date: 06/12
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:22 PM
Hi everyone,
When I read Charlie's confession, I decided that he was
schizophrenic because he heard voices. What do all of you
think? Jane who has just returned from five days in Indiana
- humid, mosquitoes, etc.
=============== Reply 40 of Note 13 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 06/12
From: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Time: 11:53 PM
It would have had to be a comparatively mild case. If he
were really schizy, he'd never have stood up so well so long
being a priest. He'd have broken under the stress of taking
care of Father Hobbes and God's Poor. There was definitely
a mental problem, though.
As for what the Cunning Man was hiding, maybe it was that
he really DID feel and had been vastly hurt by various of
the events he recorded. Somebody said he was too detached;
I noted he seem to have come from a rather detached family
that held each other (and all emotion) at arms' length.
About the Governor General's question - I was interested
in the naughty little poem by the Earl of Rochester. From
the language, this had to have been John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of
Rochester (1647 - 1680). Obviously, this Restoration rake
didn't live long enough to learn about the problem first
hand! According to my Columbia Encyclopedia, he had a
religious conversion before he died and exhibited a
religious strain even in his rakehelly years, when his
kindly patron Charles II often shoved him into the Tower as
a kind of drunk tank.
Another note - the song "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
mentioned almost in passing - the words to this at least are
a Nashville concoction. The writer was one Beth Whitson,
who had an unhappy love affair. She and her also writing
sister, Alice Whitson Norton, had an office in the same
building as my great-aunt Willie's stenography shop. Aunt
Willie said she knew they were "either writers or bad women
because they dyed their hair".
Cathy
=============== Reply 41 of Note 13 =================
To: YHJK89A CATHERINE HILL Date: 06/14
From: DHGK37A ERNEST BELDEN Time: 4:31 PM
Hi, I read this book about a year ago and then gave it to my
son. I just asked him about it and he loved it as much as I
did when I read it. I have been an admirer of RD ever since
I read his first book and he was almost unknown in the US.
A Canadian friend told me about him and was most impressed
by his first book, can't think of the name now. As I think
about it now in retrospect The Cunning Man is one of his
best books. I read the one mentioned on the board which
shows RD's influence of Jungian Psychology and thought that
this was a comparatively weak work and there was one about
Movies and Death which did not measure up. The trilogies
were mostly great. At his age he is a most remarkable
writer. One of the best contemporary ones! Ernie who wants
to re-read this book.
=============== Reply 42 of Note 13 =================
To: DHGK37A ERNEST BELDEN Date: 06/15
From: VMMN97A FELIX MILLER Time: 8:41 PM
THE CUNNING MAN:
Ernest and all,
I finally finished CM today, and enjoyed it. Not as much
as I enjoyed the Deptford Trilogy, or REBEL ANGELS, but
still it was very good. I found Dr. Hullah something of a
puzzle, as did several of you. He certainly gave a
carefully edited version of his life. I greatly enjoyed
the letters from Chips, and wish that somehow the
caricatures could have been done up by somebody. They
would have added to the flavor of the correspondence.
The picture Davies gives of an Anglican High Church and all
it entails caused me to laugh out loud at many of the
characters. I was raised an Episcopalian, the U.S. version
of Anglicanism, although mostly in a decidedly mid-low
church, but I have seen a bit of the 'bells and smells'
enthusiasts over the years. The internal politics of the
church rang very true.
As is usually the case with Davies' books, the ideas and
synopses of various theories sometimes slowed things down,
although usually they were interesting. Towards the end of
the book, in discussing Charlie's 'voices' and the
suggestion of schizophrenia, Davies (via Hullah) mentions
is passing a theory of consciousness involving voices from
one side of the brain dictating behaviour. I believe this
refers to a book published some years ago by Julian Jaynes,
titled THE ORIGIN OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE BREAKDOWN OF THE
BICAMERAL MIND. Snappy title, eh? The basic idea is that
up until quite recently in human history, people functioned
as a sort of hive population, without individual
consciousness. One side of the brain 'spoke' to the other
side, giving instructions about daily life and decisions. I
thought the idea pretty far out, but I did finish the book.
One of the interesting interpretations of Jaynes' concerned
the ILIAD and the ODYSSEY. He maintained that the ILIAD was
written in the pre-conscious mode, and the ODYSSEY in the
conscious mode. I did not find his arguments persuasive. In
THE CUNNING MAN, I had much the same difficulty with the
bits about magic, intuition and all that. I have not read
Jung, so I speak from some ignorance. Anybody have ideas on
the value of these ideas in this book? Or generally?
Musing fitfully on the mountain,
Felix Miller
=============== Reply 43 of Note 13 =================
To: VMMN97A FELIX MILLER Date: 06/16
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:27 PM
Felix,
I very much enjoyed your note. I bought into all the parts
about magic, intuition, and schizophrenia because these
traits all appear in my family. I guess we all have these
skeletons in the closet somewhere. I also remember the
church politics when I was growing up. I always felt sorry
for the various preachers we had who braved the Presbyterian
congregation in my hometown church. Jane who would rather
have a huge class of teenagers than those folks as an
audience.
=============== Reply 44 of Note 13 =================
To: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Date: 06/17
From: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Time: 0:08 AM
Jane: I also fully bought into the schizophrenia, magic,
intuition, and church politics of Davies's novel. I mean
(except for denominational issues), it's my childhood in a
nutshell, and some day I hope to be wise enough to write a
knowledgeable essay on the numberless parallels between
Southern (American) and Latin American fiction, particularly
the latter's so-called magic realism.
I hope. I think. Oh, just forget I brought it up.
Dale, feeling reverentially guilty in Ala.
=============== Reply 45 of Note 13 =================
To: MXDD10A DALE SHORT Date: 06/17
From: FAVB99B JANE NIEMEIER Time: 9:10 PM
Dale,
Go for it! Anything you write is worthwhile. Jane who
finally mopped the kitchen floor today.
|
Robertson Davies
|
