The Story of Edgar Sawtelle in Constant Reader

Dec 30, 2008 Yulia rated it did not like it

Shelves: criminal-intent, repelled-by

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 p 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?

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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. ...more

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Oct 02, 2008 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a spellbinding tale of love and loss, and the ultimate search of finding oneself.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is the most recent pick for Oprah's Book Club and it is a thoughtful literary masterpiece worthy of 5 stars. This is not your fast-paced thriller beach read; this is a novel you want to read carefully and allow to steep and absorb.

The characters are complexly drawn, three-dimensional and the story itself is highly emotional and inspiring. ...more

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Sep 19, 2008 peg rated it it was ok

Shelves: fiction, oprah-book-club

"Let Hercules himself do what he may, / The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.”

Wroblewski's premiere novel is yet another take on Shakespeare's Hamlet albeit many of the Shakespearean counterparts are tail-wagging,four-legged beasts. The story is repleat with ghosts,Oedipal notions,and,of course,tragedy but despite these compelling elements, Edgar Sawtelle just didn't thrill me. At the outset I found the first chapter captivating and was taken by the author's vivid descriptions and elegan ...more

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Jan 04, 2010 Robert rated it really liked it

I really liked this book. I'd have given it five stars, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending, although I will admit to being occasionally cranky and hard to please. Still, it was mostly a joyous story for me, and I loved the narration and the voices from the different character perspectives.

I learned a great deal about dog training, breeding, and gained somewhat of a feel for life in an isolated setting. I'm aware that northern Wisconsin is up there, but I was nowhere near as intim ...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Pamela rated it really liked it

I received this book as a shameless bribe from a co-worker. (It worked--I did all her xeroxing!).

I give it 5 stars for the writing--the guy surely knows his way around a sentence--and 3 stars for the plot. (There were a few unbelievable/serendipitous moments that interrupted the story for me). Almondine broke my heart--amazing characterization there.

Great first novel--I look forward to more from this very talented writer.

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Dec 07, 2010 Andi rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Last week, when Dad and I knew we would be driving to NC, we picked up The Story of Edgar Sawtelleon CD at the library. We got a couple of discs into it, but at the time, we needed quiet and conversation more than distraction I guess because we didn’t listen to much of it.

But as I’ve been driving around the past couple of days, I’ve been listening to the book, and it is amazing. It’s a hard listen for me since the father in the book dies, but it’s profoundly well-written and honest. The basic st Last week, when Dad and I knew we would be driving to NC, we picked up The Story of Edgar Sawtelleon CD at the library. We got a couple of discs into it, but at the time, we needed quiet and conversation more than distraction I guess because we didn’t listen to much of it.

But as I’ve been driving around the past couple of days, I’ve been listening to the book, and it is amazing. It’s a hard listen for me since the father in the book dies, but it’s profoundly well-written and honest. The basic story is that Edgar Sawtelle is a boy who grows up on a rural Wisconsin farm where he and his parents breed and train “Sawtelle dogs,” large dogs that aren’t a pure-bred form. The book tells of Edgar’s experiences on the farm with his dog Almondine and the other pups, including a litter his parents let him whelp and raise until they are placed with other owners. When Edgar is in his early teens, his father drops dead suddenly of an aneurysm, and Edgar and his mother are left to run the kennel.

The tale is sparse in characters – Edgar, his parents, his uncle Claude, a vet, a sheriff – and so it is like seeing a small town up-close where all the people know more than they probably should about each other. The dogs are rich as characters, too; so far, my favorite part of the book is when Almondine, Edgar’s companion dog, is given voice to share her grief over Edgar’s father. She wishes that Edgar or his mother would take her for a walk along the fenceline where the barbed wire had “snagged moments of time” with Edgar’s father. What a beautiful image.

There is another element of the book for which I really respect Wroblewski: he has created a protagnoist, Edgar, who has a disability (Edgar can’t speak) but has written a book that is not at all about Edgar’s disability. At moments, Edgar’s lack of speech becomes important, but only in the way another character’s height or eye color or location might become important. It is not a feature; it is only a fact. That’s really lovely and fresh.

The book has reminded me – yet again – of why I read. It has given me new language and new images on which to lay my grief. I find myself thinking of walking the land here on this farm to see where memories of Mom may have snagged themselves – in the gardens, on a deciduous holly bush, on the eaves of this, her house. ...more

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Jun 28, 2008 Jayne rated it it was amazing

I reviewed [The Story of Edgar Sawtelle] at The Internet Review of Books:

http://www.internetreviewofbooks.com/... ...more

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May 10, 2009 Joyce rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, set-in-the-midwest

Several friends told me they loved the book, hated the ending. Then I read or heard that it was an American "Hamlet," which pretty much told me how it could end. I may have spent too much time noting the ties to Shakespeare and not enough just enjoying the tale. There are some astonishingly beautiful scenes in this book. His descriptions of rural life remind me of my own farm upbringing. I think this is probably a good one to re-read at some point and I'm not a dog person. ...more

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Dec 08, 2008 Rashida rated it it was ok

Shelves: disappointed

I just did not like this book. But I think that it is the kind of book that you either love or hate (as so many people, some whose opinion I value greatly, love this book), so don't take my dislike as an indicator to stay away. I didn't particularly go in for the anthropomorphization of the dogs. Much overdone, and not necessary if you're a lover of dogs, in my opinion. This book is overly long. By the end, I was screaming at the book to stop with all the useless extra words and just end already ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Jennifer rated it really liked it

The main character is a mute boy growing up in remote northern Wisconsin. His family raises a fictional breed of dog they have created through years of breeding. A beautiful book but so sad through most of it.

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Aug 19, 2008 Kate rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this book, which is loosely based on "Hamlet." And even though I knew what was going to happen in the end, it still surprised me. ...more

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