Product Description

Following the mysterious death of Father Hobbs at the high altar on Good Friday, holistic doctor Jonathan Hullah takes a critical look at his past and at the individuals who shaped his life, and reevaluates his personal philosophies. Reprint. NYT.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54428 in Books
• Published on: 1996-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780140248302
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From Publishers Weekly
Canadian novelist Davies's latest concerning the mysterious death of a Catholic priest, was a PW bestseller for seven weeks.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
It is always a pleasure to read works that manage to be both entertaining and intelligent. Throughout his long career, Canadian novelist Davies (e.g., What's Bred in the Bone, LJ 11/15/85) has successfully combined these two elements. His latest protagonist, Dr. Jonathan Hullah, is a holistic physician-a cunning diagnostician who is often able to get to the root of problems that have baffled others. A young reporter's query about the circumstances surrounding an Episcopalian priest's death at the high altar on Good Friday leads the doctor to reflect on his own life and career. While the issues addressed are those that have long preoccupied Davies-the nature of friendship, religion, faith, and artistic life-the approach is anything but pompous and dry. Davies's characterizations are rich (and just a bit quirky) and his commentary filled with humor (e.g., deconstructionism "comes from France, as so many brilliant and short lived notions do"). One of those rare novels that can be wholeheartedly recommended for libraries of every type and size, including high schools.
--David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
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

Customer Reviews

Canada dry mock
This is my first encounter with Robertson Davies. I had never heard of him, and would not have read him if he weren't noted in the reader's list of the Modern Library's top 100 novels. And how unfortunate it would have been had I not picked up this book!

The Cunning Man is an examination of the life of a doctor, told by himself. Asked to recall the story of the strange death of Father Ninian Hobbes which he witnessed, he recounts his past; his childhood, his schooling, the work of his profession, the influences that have made him who he is. In doing so, he shares with us his observations on the nature of life, love, art, illness, friendship, and many other things. Davies lets us have a picture of life, complete with accomplishments and disappointments, dreams and dreams undone, and makes it real and interesting and intelligent. I can understand the appeal he has for his fans and I will be reading more of Davies' books soon.

Elegantly crafted and narrated
When I read Fifth Business I knew instantly that Robertson Davies would become one of my favorite authors. The Cunning Man has confirmed that opinion. Davies is the master of creating passive observer narrators, characters who are fascinating in and of themselves, but remain just aloof and removed enough so as not to feel like they are influencing the course of events in the story. Dr. Jonathan Hullah, the cunning man, is just that type. Observant, witty, charming, and opinionated (when an opinion is required), he narrates an engrossing tale that spans his entire lifetime. As he beautifully unfolds the mystery behind the death of Father Hobbes, as well as weaving several other elegant plot lines, he reveals throughout his thoughtful insights on humanity. This is a delightful book.

Interesting but not his best
Robertson Davies was a Canadian author, arguably the finest Canadian writer ever, who wrote plays and novels on generally Canadian subjects. The novels fit generally into trilogies: The Salterton Trilogy, The Deptford Trilogy, and The Cornish Trilogy, in order of composition, represent his first nine novels. All his novels, however, can be read independently (although at least The Deptford Trilogy probably reads best in order.) To say, as I have said, that his novels are "about Canada" is a laughable understatement, however. I tried to summarize the subjects which Davies covered once for a friend, thinking it would be a tidy list, and I kept going and going: Theatre, Music, Vaudeville, Toronto, Hagiography, Jungian Psychology, Art (particularly "The Old Masters"), aging, medicine, Canadian politics, war, finance, schools (both Canadian "boarding schools" and Universities), and on and on. Suffice it to say that his novels are fascinating, hypnotic, works, usually centered on an artist of some kind.

Anyway, his last two novels (barring a posthumous work) are Murther and Walking Spirits and The Cunning Man, which appear to be the first two parts of another loose trilogy, although both are capable of being read completely independently. The Cunning Man is the story of Jonathan Hullah, a Toronto doctor of somewhat unusual reputation. Hullah narrates the book, and tells his own life story beginning in about 1920 in a very isolated part of Northern Ontario, and continuing through early experiences with the local doctor, and also a Native American healing-woman (treated with respect but without Political Correctness), boarding school, medical school, World War II, and his postwar establishment of his own rather unusual medical practice, which is treated as a court of last resort for cases other doctors have considered hopeless. The key elements of the book are Hullah`s relationships with various people, in particular his school friends Charlie Iredale and Brocky Gilmartin (the latter the father of the narrator of Murther and Walking Spirits), his English lesbian landladies, called The Ladies (also treated with respect but without PC), and the community surrounding the Very "High Church" Anglican church of St. Aidan`s, next door to Hullah`s practice. At the heart of the story is the mystery surrounding the death of the pastor of St. Aidan`s, Father Ninian Hobbes, and the attempts of Charlie Iredale, now an Anglican priest and Fr. Hobbes` assistant, to have Hobbes declared a saint.

As usual, the main interest of the book is in the characters, and in the curious subjects which come up as a result of the story: medieval saints tales, Anglican ritual and especially Church music, acting, a somewhat psychosomatic theory of disease, church politics, some Freudian psychology, and a great deal more.

For me, this book ranks in the middle range of Davies' work, which of course still makes it highly recommended. However, my interest flagged at times, and the book failed to completely involve me in the way that Davies' very best books do. Also, the central story is less compelling than in most of Davies` books, so the interest devolves even more to the characters and the somewhat arcane knowledge and theories that Davies discusses. These are interesting indeed, but a real gripping story would be still more interesting.