Other editions of book The Cunning Man

"Should I have taken the false teeth?" This is what Dr. Jonathan Hullah, a former police surgeon, thinks after he watches Father Hobbes die in front of the High Altar at Toronto's St. Aidan's on the morning of Good Friday. How did the good father die? We do not learn the answer until the very end of this "Case Book" of a man's rich and highly observant life. But we learn much more about many things, and especially about Dr. Hullah, as the Cunning Man takes us through his own long and ardent life of theatre, art, and music; varied adventures in the Canadian Army during World War II; and the secrets of a doctor's consulting room, his preoccupation is not with sorrow but with the comedic canvas of life.

When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah – whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of folk tradition) – wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truths about being human.

“An amazing coup . . . a brilliant, never less than engaging work of fiction which is also a philosophical meditation on the business of living.”—Financial Times When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah—whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of folk tradition)—wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high-jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truths about being human. “Wise, humane and consistently entertaining . . . Robertson Davies’s skill and curiosity are as agile as ever, and his store of incidental knowledge is a constant pleasure.”—The New York Times Book Review “The sparkling history of [the] erudite and amusing Dr. Hullah, who knows the souls of his patients as well as he knows their bodies . . . never fails to enlighten and delight.”—The London Free Press “Davies is a good companion. Settling into The Cunning Man is like taking a comfortable chair opposite a favorite uncle who has seen and done everything.”—Maclean’s “Irresistible, unflaggingly vital. A wholehearted and sharp-minded celebration of the Great Theatre of Life.”—The Sunday Times “A novel brimming with themes of music, poetry, beauty, philosophy, death and the deep recesses of the mind.”—The Observer

When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah – whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of folk tradition) – wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truths about being human. < /p>

“A delight, a novel that travels 70 years of history on its own swift feet, a book of love and wisdom, loss and irony”—The Boston Sunday Globe When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah – whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of folk tradition) – wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truth about being human. The crowning achievement of “one of the most learned, amusing… accomplished novelists of our time and… of our century.” – The New York Times Book Review

“A delight, a novel that travels 70 years of history on its own swift feet, a book of love and wisdom, loss and irony”—The Boston Sunday Globe When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high alter on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah – whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of folk tradition) – wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling, intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of himself and his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truth about being human. The crowning achievement of “one of the most learned, amusing… accomplished novelists of our time and… of our century.” – The New York Times Book Review

The Cunning Man is a perceptive and entertaining memoir of a doctor’s life, available as an eBook for the first time. When Father Hobbes mysteriously dies at the high altar on Good Friday, Dr. Jonathan Hullah—whose holistic work has earned him the label “Cunning Man” (for the wizard of the folk tradition)—wants to know why. The physician-cum-diagnostician’s search for answers compels him to look back over his own long life. He conjures vivid memories of the dazzling intellectual high jinks and compassionate philosophies of his circle, including flamboyant, mystical curate Charlie Iredale; cynical, quixotic professor Brocky Gilmartin; outrageous banker Darcy Dwyer; and jocular, muscular artist Pansy Todhunter. In compelling and hilarious scenes from the divine comedy of life, The Cunning Man reveals profound truths about being human. In Robertson Davies’ last novel, he returns to those issues which concerned him throughout his writing career–the nature of friendship, religion, faith, and artistic life–with his famous wit and humour and his usual rich characterization.

[Read by Frederick Davidson]From an early age, Jonathan Hullah developed ''a high degree of cunning'' in concealing what his true nature might be. He kept himself on the outside, watching and noticing, most often in the company of those who bore watching. As the cunning man takes us through his own long and ardent life, chronicling his varied adventures in the worlds of theatre, art, and music, in the Canadian Army during World War II, and in the doctor's consulting room, his preoccupation is not with sorrow but with the comedic canvas of life. Robertson Davies intertwines language and story, as perhaps never before, to offer us profound truths about being human.

Finn's not at all sure about the Salt House. Overlooking Westwater Bay, it brings back all her nightmare fears of drowning. Of the ghosts of the dead reaching for her.…And Westwater is dangerous. Countless seafarers have drowned here, their ships lost—broken on the vicious Viper Rocks. Lured by the wrecker's false lights, summoned by the dark enchantments of cunning men—masters of storms and tides. Or so the legends say.…