The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

by David Wroblewski

book data

11,853 ratings, 3.64 average rating, 4,768 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		24%
4		35%
3		23%
2		11%
1		4%

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published

June 1st 2008 by Ecco

binding

Hardcover, 576 pages

setting

Mellen, WI

literary awards

2008 John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize Finalist

isbn

0061374229 (isbn13: 9780061374227)

description

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations,

...more

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07/10/08

Red rated it:

bookshelves: animal, kindle-books

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Red by: newspaper review
recommends it for: Older teens and adults

I'm torn. I'm torn between giving this book 5 stars and 1 star. The book is very thought provoking. It is well written, and very evocative of the time (early 70's) and the place (far northern Wisconsin.) This was a book that I had a hard time putting down, and indeed I stayed up too late several nights, and played hooky on chores an entire afternoon, so I could read it instead. I would give the first 500 pages five stars and the last 66 pages one star.

I went into this book thinking ...more

Like this review? yes (93 people liked it)

71 comments

07/21/08

Dad rated it:

This is a very well written book with serious flaws. I cannot fathom what the point of the book is or why it's getting such good press. The author doesn't seem to understand the relationship between story and the flow of ideas. He skips over important details such as why anyone does anything they do in the story. What does all that dog training have to do with the story? And someone please explain the old woman at the grocery store. Great books, and even just good ones, use incident to ...more

Like this review? yes (45 people liked it)

21 comments

12/30/08

Yulia rated it:

bookshelves: constant-reader-books, criminal-intent, lit-lite, repelled-by

Read in January, 2009

Anyone can base their work on a Shakespearean tragedy. Go ahead: try it. The goal is to make it speak for itself. This novel has no voice. It's stunningly inauthentic in its modesty and brazen in its ambition. This poorly-conceived and executed book may appeal to a shocking number of readers, but it doesn't make it worth one of the dogs that inspired it.

I feel like Joe the Plumber in Israel: I have a thousand questions in my mind yet I can't think of the right one. Well, I can:...more Anyone can base their work on a Shakespearean tragedy. Go ahead: try it. The goal is to make it speak for itself. This novel has no voice. It's stunningly inauthentic in its modesty and brazen in its ambition. This poorly-conceived and executed book may appeal to a shocking number of readers, but it doesn't make it worth one of the dogs that inspired it.

I feel like Joe the Plumber in Israel: I have a thousand questions in my mind yet I can't think of the right one. Well, I can: how can so many people possibly have raced through such a supremely tiresome book? Why does Wroblewski seem more interested in describing the chattering leaves than in explaining how Edgar seems so isolated from anyone his age despite his supposed popularity at school? Was it necessary to include a passage in second-person that had probably been an exercise for an MFA course? Why bring up the implausible news coverage of the Starchild colony only to drop it for more than a hundred pages? (I haven't gotten to where it's mentionned again, but I'm sure it will be miraculously resurrected sooner or later.) Why has nothing yet been said of the type of people who get Sawtelle dogs, for what purpose, and how they learn of them?

Admittedly, I would have enjoyed reading this more had I owned a copy and been able to mark up the margins with my distress calls: Help! SOS! Invisible mother! Starchild colony on TV!

I'm still uncertain as to how I managed to read up to p. 284 without committing an offense against the book (though my pug Sophie did chew a corner of its front cover, which I see as proof this book insulted her intelligence as well). But I will say, it's much more bearable to follow when I'm reading it to myself rather than hearing it read to me, making it easier to hide from his purposeful evasiveness and unnecessary detail--all for what purpose? To blind readers from the cardboard characters and juvenile efforts at seeming literary?

The writing reminds me of a short story I wrote in the fourth grade in which a dinosaur was rescued by a young child, who fed it orange sticks (hint: carrots) and thick white water (nothing dirty, just milk). The book contains so many clumsy flashes of would-be poetry: "The sapphire sky floated clouds made yellow by the sun. The Impala, neon blue" (or some such awfulness). Wroblewski inspired Frank to think up this beautiful garbage: "the pink honesty of the moon's whisper." Think about it: it's meaningless. So is most of this book.

No worries, I'll finish this book the next time I'm stranded on a deserted island. But would someone mind informing Wroblewski that humans, however empathetic of animals, do not trot to and fro?

***********************************************************

I will not think of animal shelters, I will not think of animal shelters . . .

In fact, I did end up finishing the book before I incurred late fees and the wrath of Wroblewski's rabid fans. But no, I don't see how dogs are the future of humanity. My three dogs can't answer that one, either. (less)

Like this review? yes (27 people liked it)

26 comments

06/29/08

Melody rated it:

bookshelves: first-monday-bookgroup

Read in August, 2008

recommended to Melody by: Bobbi B

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I had such high hopes for this book. Just read these descriptive passages:

“This will be his earliest memory.

Red light, morning light. High ceiling canted overhead. Lazy click of toenails on wood. Between the honey-colored slats of the crib a whiskery muzzle slides forward until its cheeks pull back and a row of dainty front teeth bare themselves in a ridiculous grin.
The nose quivers. The velvet snout dimples….
Fine, dark muzzle fur. Black nose, leath...more I had such high hopes for this book. Just read these descriptive passages:

“This will be his earliest memory.

Red light, morning light. High ceiling canted overhead. Lazy click of toenails on wood. Between the honey-colored slats of the crib a whiskery muzzle slides forward until its cheeks pull back and a row of dainty front teeth bare themselves in a ridiculous grin.
The nose quivers. The velvet snout dimples….
Fine, dark muzzle fur. Black nose, leather of lacework creases, comma of nostrils flexing with each breath. …. As slowly as he can, he exhales, feigning sleep, but despite himself his breath hitches. At once, the muzzle knows he is awake. It snorts. Angles right and left. Withdraws. Outside the crib, Almondine’s forequarters appear. Her head is reared back, her ears cocked forward.
A cherry-brindled eye peers back at him….
He pitches to his side, rubs his hand across the blanket, blows a breath in her face. Her ears flick back. She stomps a foot. He blows again and she withdraws and bows and woofs, low in her chest, quiet and deep…..Hearing it, he forgets and presses his face against the rails to see her, all of her, take her inside him with his eyes, and before he can move, she smears her tongue across his nose and forehead!”

I mean, “comma of nostrils”! Such a perfect dog nose description! I expected this stuff through the whole book!

The book opens with a mysterious prologue and even more mysterious description of the farm and particularly the barn. Then an even MORE mysterious kind of wolf puppy is discovered that somehow predicts something then dies. The novel lays out a nice plot – family raises dogs – has created their own breed – not because of the way it looks – but the way it behaves. They won’t sell anyone one until it is an adult and is properly trained. Gar and Trudy try to have children, Trudy has several miscarriages, and finally (after the mysterious wolf cub is found and dies) they have a boy who is not deaf, but is completely mute. He has this marvelous relationship with the dogs, and a particularly close relationship with the above described Almondine. There is a tiny hint of magic as the plot progresses – just enough to make you warm and cautious at the same time. But somewhere between when the watery image of his dead dad appears and Page, the vet falls down the steps and dies and Edgar and 3 of his dogs run away, the book just falls apart for me. And during the rest of the read I hoped that the next page would pull away from the tedium that had set in and get back to business and answer some of the mysterious questions that the author had set floating around in his misty prose. But it did not happen. I either did not get it or “it” was not delivered. I struggled through the last half wishing I had followed Mike’s lead and stopped after the first 100 pages. How sad.

(less)

Like this review? yes (20 people liked it)

17 comments

01/02/09

Ruth rated it:

Read in January, 2009

I guess I have to be the spoilsport here. I did not like this book.

Let me just say straight out that anthropomorphism does not sit well with me. I almost jumped ship on page 30, where the story hopped over to the POV of Almondine the dog and had her thinking and reasoning like a human being. I love dogs. I’ve had quite a few in my lifetime. I speak dog well, we relate to each other well. But I think they lose their own innate dignity when people try to turn them into people. A...more I guess I have to be the spoilsport here. I did not like this book.

Let me just say straight out that anthropomorphism does not sit well with me. I almost jumped ship on page 30, where the story hopped over to the POV of Almondine the dog and had her thinking and reasoning like a human being. I love dogs. I’ve had quite a few in my lifetime. I speak dog well, we relate to each other well. But I think they lose their own innate dignity when people try to turn them into people. A dog is a lovely thing. It is not an inferior human being. It is not superior human being. It is a dog. And that is enough.

However, I soldiered on. To its credit, the book is smoothly written. Serviceable prose, even if one only very occasionally encounters the kind of writing that lifts the heart. Most of the writer’s attempts to wax poetic were so over the top that they created a fog of obscurity that spread over the entire novel. Fuzzy writing=fuzzy thinking.

To hang an inferior book on the bones of Hamlet does not make it a better book. The Hamlet connection is unnecessary and interferes with our ability to see the book for itself,
and unfortunately invites a comparison in which the imitator necessarily comes off far on the short side.

I found the ending particularly irritating. Not the tragedy, but the idea that the hope for the future lies in the dogs. Hope of the world in dogs? That thought wouldn’t have crossed my mind but for the overdone hype of the entire book concerning the characteristics of dogs. Nevertheless it did cross my mind and it diminishes the book by its pat striving for a happy ending.

The part of the book that worked best for me was when Edgar and the dogs were staying with Henry, an endearing man and the most believable and sympathetic character in the book. This was one of the few parts where for the most part I didn’t feel as if I were having to crank my suspension of disbelief ostentatiously into place.

As for the ghosts. Don’t even get me started. Suffice it to say that the book could have been written to work without them. But then the author would have had to drop the Hamlet crutch, wouldn’t he?
(less)

Like this review? yes (22 people liked it)

9 comments

07/15/08

Kristy rated it:

Read in September, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

After reading so many reviews of this book I was excited to start it --- It is very detailed and although I had some chapters I did enjoy reading very much - I thought the story was much longer then it needed to be and was frustrated by the fact that Edgar did not confront his mother when he first suspected his uncle since he and his mother had such a close relationship. It's hard for me to understand how they could be so close then he hides so much from her .. I know Trudy would of believed in ...more

Like this review? yes (20 people liked it)

3 comments

08/28/08

Lisa rated it:

Stayed up half the night finishing it and… I really can’t be objective about this book. I said earlier how I was enjoying it purely as a reader and not a critic, but it goes deeper than that. It’s like Wroblewski had some kind of infrared Jungian checklist and somehow managed to find out all my childhood fantasies: benevolent and wise dog companion/nursemaid? Check. Super-intelligent semi-wild pack of devoted dogs that sleep with you at night? Check. I guess the only thing worse than being...more Stayed up half the night finishing it and… I really can’t be objective about this book. I said earlier how I was enjoying it purely as a reader and not a critic, but it goes deeper than that. It’s like Wroblewski had some kind of infrared Jungian checklist and somehow managed to find out all my childhood fantasies: benevolent and wise dog companion/nursemaid? Check. Super-intelligent semi-wild pack of devoted dogs that sleep with you at night? Check. I guess the only thing worse than being raised by wolves is wishing you were – as a kid I always had a fantasy of a wolf pack appearing on my street to take me away. I wanted a dog who would look out for me like Lassie. So this was like – pardon the crudeness of the simile – finding the porn that gets you off just right.

Even though there were problems – a series of transitions in the last quarter of the book that didn’t work well, and the last part in the barn wasn’t the climax or catharsis that I think the book wanted, and yeah, it was fat as a tick on a dog’s ear. But that didn’t matter much to me, honestly – I was so emotionally involved with the characters it was like being in love, in the way logic just flies out the window for a while. And it’s been such a long time since a book did that to me. I gave in, I did, I swooned.

Plus there’s a lot that was just right. His language is nicely suited to the tale, elegant and tuned into the natural world. Obviously I’m a dog person so I’m slanted that way in the first place, but I thought he wrote the dogs well. It’s always a treat to read someone who’s so carefully observed something that you have too. And much of the book flowed beautifully. But mostly it was the characters that moved me, people and dogs alike. Not necessarily their inner lives or motivations, which fluctuated all over the board in terms of plausibility – just the fact of them. They’ll stay with me a while. Lord, I cried so hard over Almondine I had to go sit outside for a few minutes with my arm around my own flesh-and-blood dog.

And the very last scene just called up my inner 8-year-old and made her happy. I couldn’t evaluate that dispassionately if I tried.

In the end I don’t really know what to say about this book that anyone else might relate to. All I know is it transported me, and it was a good ride. (less)

Like this review? yes (19 people liked it)

2 comments

08/15/08

Stefan rated it:

bookshelves: literature

Read in August, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is the type of book that seems to come along only once and a while. A book that provokes such varied reactions both mentally and emotionally within me is a rare book indeed. Yet somehow I both love the story of Edgar Sawtelle and hate it with a passion. Very few books disappoint me so completely as the story of Edger Sawtelle. Yet there are few books I admire more. The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle was an immensely annoying and irritating in it's vagueness, the disconnected...more

Like this review? yes (17 people liked it)

10 comments

06/22/08

Anne rated it:

Read in September, 2008

Like so many movie previews these days, the book jacket on this one gave away pretty much the entire story. Jake's The book has received an incredible amount of hype (including here on goodreads), and I would not be surprised to see it on the short list for the Pulitzer. But, alas, this is not because I found the book to be particularly enjoyable. Edgar Sawtelle is a mute boy living on a farm with his mother and father. They breed an imaginary species of dog that has somehow been created by happ...more Like so many movie previews these days, the book jacket on this one gave away pretty much the entire story. Jake's The book has received an incredible amount of hype (including here on goodreads), and I would not be surprised to see it on the short list for the Pulitzer. But, alas, this is not because I found the book to be particularly enjoyable. Edgar Sawtelle is a mute boy living on a farm with his mother and father. They breed an imaginary species of dog that has somehow been created by happenstance and intuition through years of mating dogs with characteristics Edgar's grandfather and father just knew would be right. The dogs have an eerie sixth-sense about them, yet it never really becomes clear in the novel why their strange pedigree actually matters. Rather, it all just seemed to be a gimmicky device - perhaps something animal lovers would glom on to. The basic plot is a Hamlet rip-off. Edgar's uncle (conveniently named Claude) comes to town - and in another inexplicable plot device - he has a long-standing grudge against Edgar's father. They argue and fight, and Edgar's mother explains that it all goes far back and has nothing to do with Edgar, but it never becomes clear where it comes from or why the reader should care. Edgar's father then suffers a somewhat mysterious death perhaps involving poison (don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything the publisher didn't already spoil on the jacket). Edgar becomes convinced his uncle played a role, and when the uncle gains the affections of his mother, Edgar becomes hell-bent on exposing the crime. Akin to Hamlet's little play within a play, Edgar sets up a scenario to prove his uncle's guilt, but alas the plan backfires. Edgar is then forced to run away - and we spend hundreds of pages following Edgar and three of his dogs through the forest, as their clothes become dirtier and they all become hungrier. In the end, Edgar returns home, and the overly dramatic ending, I found unnecessarily tragic. This is a strange book because it has so many laudable characteristics - it is at its core, very well written. Because of this, the plot itself is almost irrelevant and I found myself wanting to read more even though I couldn't put my finger on anything I actually found interesting in the narrative. Edgar is a very likeable character - he is quite clever, with an appropriate mix of naivete and precociousness. I also really loved the character of Henry - an older gentleman Edgar meets during his forest wanderings. But, there were just too many aspects of the story that went unexplained, or were too implausible to wrap my head around. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, but the lack of originality coupled with the over the top outcome was a bit too much. (less)

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1 comment

06/20/08

Mike added it

bookshelves: abandoned

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Mike by: every reviewer in the country

Coming from the library. Wish me luck, swimming up the hypestream.

(UPDATED) I nearly drowned, and headed for shore. Or--should I bring in dogs?--I got this hound that I couldn't abide. It's not one you'd put in a bag and drown, and in fact I'd probably spend a lot of time trying to find it a good home, 'cause a lot of people will really like this mutt.

But I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for it. It's exceedingly pretty, exceedingly being the key word in my dismissal....more

Like this review? yes (14 people liked it)

3 comments

07/19/08

Andrew rated it:

Read in July, 2008

Problems with rewriting Hamlet as a story about dog-breeders in Wisconsin:
(1) Hamlet is already pretty good, and most writers don't profit by inviting the comparison.
(2) It makes the plot pretty predictable, which is a problem for what was apparently supposed to be an adventure novel. Yes, Claude did it! (By the way, DW, why did he do it?) No, it's not Claude listening to your conversation with mom! Sigh.
(3) The worst mistake you can make in an animal story, I think, is kil...more

Like this review? yes (16 people liked it)

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07/18/08

Jen rated it:

Read in November, 2008

I feel like I'm one of the only people missing something here. I just finished a book about family, loyalty, dogs, and I just didn't get it. I didn't find myself connecting with the characters and as soon as I was starting to feel a connection (the last two hundred pages), Wroblewski throws out a half-baked ending leaving me saying, "What?". I'm not one that requires a tidy ending, but there should be some well-reasoned meaning.

(Please, Logan, no "I told you so"...more

Like this review? yes (15 people liked it)

2 comments

10/03/08

Cindy rated it:

I was SOOOO disappointed in this book. The only reason I gave it even one star is because of his depiction of the lovely dogs in the story. I felt like the author went overboard trying to 'wax poetic' to the point where I didn't know what he was talking about, even being unsure of what the progression of events was. The entire plot builds to a very important resolution THAT NEVER HAPPENS! What a sell-out. It felt like climbing a long flight of stairs with the anticipation of finding a beautiful ...more

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1 comment

09/20/08

Karen rated it:

recommends it for: Nobody

Don't be sucked in by the hype- it just isn't that good. The story really wanted to be a tragic work of art, but it ended up being a disjointed collection of thoughts. The writing was excellent. There were great descriptions of the dogs and the landscape, but the characters missed the mark entirely. The story of Henry was promising, however after all the build up we find out that inciting turmoil of the character is that he is "ordinary". How heartbreaking.

Like the Winches...more

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06/19/08

Joey rated it:

bookshelves: read-again-and-again

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone who believes in story.

I waged a personal debate for this five-star rating, arguing what exactly makes a book great. With every question, I returned to the story itself has the ability to lift a book above more average efforts.

'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle' is just that, a great story. A modern retelling of 'Hamlet'? Certainly, the author availed himself of the plot to frame his tale of a mute boy and a remarkable group of dogs, but there is much more to be enjoyed among these pages.

There are...more

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06/15/08

Robinson rated it:

bookshelves: literature-fiction

Read in August, 2008

recommends it for: fans of good literature

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle received a lot of advanced hype. The writer was mentored by Richard Russo and Stephen King wrote the mother of all blurbs for the book. While I didn't love it as much as he did, I did like the book very much. I wouldn't call it a classic piece of American literature, but it's probably one of the best books of the year. The story is a retelling of Hamlet, but focuses on an american boy who is mute. He works at his family's farm where they train the finest dogs in ...more

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05/04/08

Jeff rated it:

This book is getting a lot of advance praise and will most certainly be a critical hit. I'm sure many people will adore this book, I am unfortunately not one of those people. The writing is beautiful, the story is ambitious, but I found the book utterly monotonous. I kept reading because I felt I should finish the book, not because I wanted to.

Like this review? yes (10 people liked it)

4 comments

07/26/08

Jennifer rated it:

bookshelves: adult-books

Read in July, 2008

This epic story of a lonely boy, his loyal dog, and his family's betrayal at the hands of his bitter uncle will not only haunt me for the rest of the summer, but will cause all the other books I pick up this fall to pale in comparison, I suspect. Set in a rural 1970's Wisconsin and gracefully hung on the bones of Hamlet, the story explores the inner life of mute boy Edgar Sawtelle and his amazing invented breed of near- mind-reading dog, simply called the Sawtelle dogs. Edgar's life raising and ...more

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

5 comments

07/14/08

Leslie rated it:

Read in September, 2008

Warning: this has a spoiler or two...

I finally finished this book! It took ages... I closed the hardcover thinking: What's the point? There were so many times I felt like the story kept going (it felt terribly strung out -- could tell the same story in fewer -- much fewer pages) and for what reason? I have been taught that every sentence should lead the reader forward and serve a purpose. I kept pulling myself out of the story and saying: 'Why?'

I am not sure why this has...more

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12/19/08

Holli rated it:

bookshelves: book-club-reads

Where to begin with this one.....I honestly would never have read this book if I had not had other's trusted opinions egging me on. I don't normally read animal books, or books about nature and people in the wild, or extremely wordy novels that go on and on about trees and such.

This book was nothing like any of that.

Instead it was magnificently worded with adjectives I loved (I'm big on adjectives) and the characters had personalities that are even now still in my he...more

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quotes from this book

"You put yourself in front of the thing and waited for whatever was going to happen and that was all. It scared you and it didn't matter. You stood and faced it. There was no outwitting anything...it was not a morbid thought, just the world as it existed. Sometimes you looked the thing in the eye and it turned away. Sometimes it didn't." More quotes...