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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
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Linda
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Oct 11, 2008 12:51PM
Kate, I was mesmerized by the book. I "really" did not want it to end.
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Moving this to the general folder.
It wasnt a group read, so it cant sit here.
Dont hate me...
Organization is an obsession of mine....
:)
LORI...You have been busy today.
I like what you've done!!
Oh..shoot.I meant to comment about this book.
I have not read it yet, however, it was the only book I wrote down after going thru this month's issue of Bookmarks.
It sounds really good.
I am hoping to read it soon!
I am only on page 199 so far but I am loving the story and can't bear to put it down. I'm glad someone else has enjoyed it because my friends have had mixed reviews!
I've been looking for a place to discuss this novel. I finished it last weekend and like Kate and Linda, couldn't bear for it to end. A friend of mine who read it made a very interesting comparison which I thought was brilliant - Edgar was born unable to "speak", just as dogs are unable to "speak".
It's a great novel for discussion because so many people have different thoughts on it.
SPOILER ALERT QUESTION, THIS DISCUSSES THE ENDING: At the very end, I felt that the dogs were heading back to Henry. Thoughts?
SPOILER ALERT COMMENTS-Yes, Kate Tinder stayed with Henry (her injured paw) and Baboo went back to Tinder (Edgar learned that it was Baboo's choice to remain with Tinder. At the end,it was Essay who led the Sawtelle dogs away from the fire - I felt that because Essay saw Forte at the end, we knew that Essay was on the same trail that led to/from Henry.
Remember too that when Edgar and company first arrived at Henry's, Henry knew nothing about dogs (the first morning, Henry was afraid to enter the living room where Edgar was sleeping). By the time Edgar and Essay departed, Henry had learned about the training and developed a deep relationship with the dogs.
SPOILER ALERTI was happy to find this thread. I just finished this darn book and I feel cheated. Need to talk about it.
I was really disappointed in the end. I was floored by the fact that Claude killed Edgar. After reading 562 pages and pulling so hard for Edgar, I couldn't believe this was how it was going to end. I felt a little satisfaction that Claude was pulled into the fire by Gar's ghost but not enough to feel good about reading this book.
I didn't like how the author wrote Glen's character. He was totally seduced by Claude's lies. That is why he did what he did. I don't understand why the author punished him by making him blind. I thought he would have played more of a role in helping Edgar get the vile or something like that.
I thought Essay was headed back to Henry. She was giving the other dogs the option to follow her.
And finally, what about Trudy? The book ended with her finally released from Glen's hold watching the fire. Not enough closer here. I hold her responsible for doing damage to the relationship between her and Edgar because of Claude. I just thought there should have been more about her at the end.
This was a very interesting book. I can't say I didn't enjoy it. It was beautifully written. I just absolutely despised the ending!!
I'm not sure how I wanted it to end, I'm just sure I didn't like how it did end. From about the middle of the book I had a crawling feeling I was hanging in there to be dissapointed and I was right.
I feel better. Someone feels the same about it as I do.I'm still stewing over it.
Kellie,
I just finished the book, and like you I was very disappointed. It was such a tragedy, and it all seemed pointless. The writing was beautiful but it was a little too slow for my taste.
I just don't know about the books Oprah recommends, they all seem so morbid. I really need a feel good book now!
I actually didn't know it was an Oprah book until I brought it home from the library.I am not surprised....
Would it kill Oprah to find us a nice happy go lucky book to read???
Yeah because then nobody would need to come on her show for therapy because our lives are so depressing from all the sad books she recommends!!
I'm afraid I was also one of the ones who didn't care for the ending at all. This book was way too literary for me....I like to read for pleasure. Had all my textbooks years ago in college.It WAS brilliant writing, I absolutely LOVED the dogs, but at the middle I felt it began to drag and I was scanning and skipping pages. And the ending? Sorry....not satisfying for me in the least.
Somebody told me it's supposed to be a "modernized version of Hamlet" and after learning this, the book made more sense to me. Didn't make me like it more, but made sense. As I said, my college reading days are over. I read for pleasure now.
I love that you agreed with me Terri. I hate feeling like one of so few who felt this way about the book.
I have about 70 pages to go in this book. I have really enjoyed it so far. This is only my second Oprah book club read (I love Oprah). Has anyone checked out her website section about this book? There is a whole hour where she and the author talk about the book. As soon as I am done with the book I am going to watch it.
Terri - I picked up on the Hamlet thing right from the beginning! That might have been my problem with it. I had such a hard time getting through it and maybe it was because I knew what was going to happen in the end. SPOILER:
I mean it was so obvious from the beginning that Edgar=Hamlet, Trudy=Gertrude, Claude=CLAUDIUS(that's the one that really made me go OH, right, of course), Gar=Hamlet's dad, Dr. Papineau=Polonius, Glen Papineau=Laertes, Almondine=Ophelia, and Forte=Fortinbras. I also thought that Essay matched up nicely with Horatio. It was just so neatly tied up that I couldn't stand it. I've read Hamlet so many times for classes that I could have just read the beginning and then told you the basics of the plot.
I did love the dogs. That was my favorite part. I'm a huge dog-lover so all the stuff about training and the kennel really intrigued me.
Overall, I didn't hate it, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone.
Finally people who agree with my feelongs about Oprah and her choice of books!!!You are right ... they are all emotionally devastating, and alot of her authors do write uplifting and/or warm, humourous novels. Sometimes it seems as if the more intense and excruciating, the better off your chances of being chosen are.
Okay, I vented ... gosh!
:D
Spoiler AlertI rated the book a one star. It was not what I expected it to be. It started out kind of Stephen Kingish for me. So was Claude premeditating his actions all that time? I did find the dog training interesting. But it turned out to be a hugh disappointment . I felt he was fishing for an ending, and he was stumped as how to pull it together. I felt he threw Gars ghost out there as an after thought.
I just couldn't get thru this one. Just adored the beginning, but then lost all interest in the characters and the story...I may come back to it if I can find it in the library here (I read it as a bookring), but then again I may not...
SPOILER ALERTWow a place to talk about this book!!!!
I absolutely didn't like it!!! The ending killed me...
I did see the parallel between Edgar not speaking and the dogs mot speaking. Since I never read Hamlet I didn't catch that.
I get that the brother,Claude was a loser and he wanted to be the alpha dog and the only way that could happen was to take over his brother's life, wife, child and other"dogs" He premeditated killing his brother made it a cool twist but really....
At the end with the dogs running off - I am not sure they are running off to go back to Henry. I think they have become "human enough" - like Edgar to go off and start a new life on their own...But I am stuck if it was metaphorical for something.......
I know the author was not going for a happy ending (Oprah's book rarely end happy- another subject) but to my mind the dogs and Trudy end up finding Henry and live happily ever after - I just wanted Edgar to live too...
the whole part about killing the doctor... what was that about?????
SPOILER ALERTMarti wrote: "SPOILER ALERT
Wow a place to talk about this book!!!!
I absolutely didn't like it!!! The ending killed me...
I did see the parallel between Edgar not speaking and the dogs mot speaking. Since I..."
That is exactly the words I wanted to use, but about the whole book. I thought it was going to be better. The beginning started well,but it fell apart when Edgar left and went into the woods. I think I like your ending. I don't think Trudy will do that ,she was shattered. I find her in a mental institution for a few years. Do you really think Essy will take the dogs back to Henry's? That was not the feeling I got. I thought they would stay in the woods(jungle). I say jungle ,because for me the book went from a spooky theme ,to a jungle book theme. Essy and her family live in the forest happy everafter.
The only joy in the book for me was thinking that Essy and the other dogs did find their way back to Henry. I think that was the reason why Henry's character was in the book at all. And how he was so fearful of the dogs when he first met thme...the turnaround in that situation was, I thought, beautiful. Otherwise the story was so depressingly evil, meaning Claude specifically. But I loved the book, thought it was so well written.
I didn't get the feeling that the dogs went back to Henry either. I got the feeling that they were so self actualized that they were like super dogs and no longer needed human companionship...I am afraid that Trudy was shattered too, but - this is going to sound weird - she was the alpha female that went with the alpha male.. Like the whole book was about the people going to the dogs and the dogs were going to people...
Claude was truly a evil person.
I was not pleased with Trudy sending Edgar off to the woods after killing the Doctor.... Trudy didn't seem to have any backbone.
Marti wrote: "I didn't get the feeling that the dogs went back to Henry either. I got the feeling that they were so self actualized that they were like super dogs and no longer needed human companionship...I ..."
There you go going to the dogs. accurate
I also knew that the story was Hamlet-based, but since I had never read Hamlet, I had no idea how the story was going to play out. Trudy was such a disappointment! No backbone, good analogy.
I was also disappointed with this book. At least there could have been a romance between Edgar's mom and Henry to sort of make up for the fact that our hero died. -.- I felt cheated.
