The Manticore & World of Wonders

I’m going to put these two on the same page, as we’ll probably find that we can discuss them together. Here are some questions from the Penguin Reading Guide for the trilogy:

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: The Manticore

1. David Staunton’s therapist tells him: “I am going to try to help you in the process of becoming yourself” (p. 57). In what ways is David not himself when he begins therapy? What must he do to become a more integrated, authentic person? To what extent is this therapeutic process successful for David? How has he changed by the end of the novel?
2. David has a dream in which he appears as a manticore, and Dr. von Haller tells him that “the Unconscious chooses its symbolism with breath-taking artistic virtuosity” (p. 150). What does the manticore symbolize for David? Why is he able to dream of it even though he’d never heard of the creature before?
3. Discussing his “autobiography,” which Ramsay has written, Magnus tells David that “because I satisfy a hunger that almost everybody has for marvels, the book is a far truer account of me than ordinary biographies,” even though he admits it is largely invented. He claims it is truer to the “essence” of his life than a more factual account would be. Why would an invented story be truer to one’s essence than a more strictly accurate story? Is it true that we “hunger for marvels”? Why is Magnus able to satisfy those hungers? Has David given a “true” account of his life?
4. At the end of the novel, Liesl takes David into a cave, and getting back out proves to be a terrifying experience. Later that night, David feels “reborn” (p. 259). What is the significance of this episode? What is it about the cave that is deeply relevant to David’s relationship to his father and to the bear that he dreamed of early in his therapy? Why is this an apt way to end the book?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: World of Wonders

1. Magnus is raised by a religious zealot father and a mother made feeble-minded by his own birth. He is abducted by a traveling magic show, raped and exploited for seven years. How is he able to overcome these dramatic early misfortunes? What providential helpers does he meet along the way? What character traits enable him to triumph as he does?
2. Near the end of the novel, Magnus says: “Everything has its astonishing, wondrous aspect, if you bring a mind to it that’s really your own—a mind that hasn’t been smeared and blurred with half-understood muck from schools, or the daily papers, or any other ragbag of reach-me-down notions” (p. 321). Why would going to school or reading newspapers ruin one’s ability to see the wonder of the world?
3. The mystery of Boy Staunton’s death goes unsolved, though Ramsay, Magnus, and David Staunton all have their theories about who was responsible. Which of them seems closest to the truth? How would you explain the cause and circumstances of his death? Why does he place the stone on his tongue?
4. What kind of friendship do Magnus, Liesl, and Ramsay share? What do they offer each other? What makes Liesl such a compelling and unusual character?