The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

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It's a hit!

Okay, so add me to the apparently short list of people who were NOT blown away by this book. I think it was way overhyped, partly because of the Op... (show more)

Okay, so add me to the apparently short list of people who were NOT blown away by this book. I think it was way overhyped, partly because of the Oprah connection, partly because of the idea that it is a recast telling of Hamlet. For starters, it's about twice as long as it needed to be. It's not terribly ambitious in structure--straight and linear, the only tiny deviation being the few short chapters that we're supposed to believe were written by the dog.

And yeah, way too much of the dog stuff, and the training, and the commands, yeah, yeah, we get it--they're smart. I thought it was an interesting story that features pretty ordinary prose and perhaps somewhat better than average imagery, but not even close to the quality of, say, Cold Mountain or The Kite Runner. Just my POV.

I wouldn't say don't read it. Just don't believe all the hype and don't get your sights set too terribly high. (show less)

 

 

by Brian Kenneth Swain

No, it's a flop!

I didn't know about the Hamlet connection when beginning the novel, nor does the new knowledge of this inspire me waste anymore time reading it. I... (show more)

I didn't know about the Hamlet connection when beginning the novel, nor does the new knowledge of this inspire me waste anymore time reading it. I already know how it ends.

However, the more I think about it the more I'm annoyed by the Hamlet connection, which begins more than half way through the book on page 233! I've been reading 233 pages of back round, Sawtelle lineage, and letters from other dog breeders for what!?! So half way through Wroblewski can say 'Shit, I don't feel like this is going anywhere and if something doesn't happen soon my readers are gonna catch on to that. Look at this, my daughter left for school without her Hamlet Cliff Notes," (light bulb).

The most annoying part about this is that nothing in the preceding 233 pages indicate that what occurs in part two is even possible. At no point does the writing hint at the development of a metaphysical character. Babies and dogs have died up to this point and managed to stay dead. Nothing about Claude thus described indicates he might secretly get off on murder and even have an interest in Trudy. The set up of the first half of the book in no way justifies or supports the introduction of a Shakespeare play in the middle of the novel.

All this aside, I tried to pick it up once again after a week and a half of being too irritated to look at it. The first chapter of the third part had me throwing it on the floor. I find his writing lacks fluidity and clarity. When describing Edgar's walk back to the house, Wroblewski does not apply emotion to movement but simply a confusing mixture of changing direction and pace. What should I derive from this? Is Edgar sleepy and confused? Is he angry? Does he have to pee? Is he drunk? All I know is that he keeps switching his direction and pace. OCD? I understand the general gist but am I feeling what Edgar feels? No, because I'm not even sure what that is. I feel comfortable arguing that this in no way resembles good writing and it is useless abuse of words. The last straw was the last half of this same section. Why, why, why switch to 2nd person narrative? It's not only incongruous with way the entire first half of the book has been written but it also has no use. It doesn't reveal anything more than the normal narrative would have. And the structure of part 5 is just another example of the incongruous and uncreative story telling Wroblewski has shown up to this point.

All and all, I've decided I will not pursue this novel any longer. I've already read Hamlet and the one I read was actually good. Waoblewski's writing is choppy and worst of all hollow. The story he sets up for 233 pages is not the one he ends with and I find it ill conceived and cheap. In his attempt to emulate several authors and styles, he has failed. He has instead cluttered his novel, created a collage of crap and aborted the promising story that was the first 233 pages. (show less)

 

 

by Jessica Rogers

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  I'm wary of any book that is so obviously a retelling of another story - in this case, Hamlet. But Wrobleski's story is so exceedingly well crafted, its details so stunningly original, it didn't matter that I knew what would happen next. The brilliance was in how the author took us there. He made this story about the power and elusiveness of language, about the complexity and fragility of our relationships, about trust and sociopathy, the importance of names and naming (a favorite theme of mi... (show more)

  I'm wary of any book that is so obviously a retelling of another story - in this case, Hamlet. But Wrobleski's story is so exceedingly well crafted, its details so stunningly original, it didn't matter that I knew what would happen next. The brilliance was in how the author took us there. He made this story about the power and elusiveness of language, about the complexity and fragility of our relationships, about trust and sociopathy, the importance of names and naming (a favorite theme of mine) and, of course, about dogs - always about the dogs.

  Some dogs, lovable and wonderful as they are, are just dogs. And others are more - they look us in the eye, they listen to us - and expect us to listen to them in return. I was fortunate enough to share a brief span of time with Eppie, our lab dober mix who was eerily brought to mind by the Sawtelle dogs, giving the book yet another level of connection.

  I love sharing literature with my friends and family. But while I was reading this one, I wanted to protect my dear ones from it, instead. Now, of course, I want everyone to read it, so we can all talk about it together. To say that the book pulls no punches is an understatement at best. But it gave me a deeper appreciation for so many things, not the least being Shakespeare's story. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Jan 02, 2009 at 07:32PM

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  At first I thought the book had a little too much about the dogs and their training. I almost stopped reading it midway because of that, but then I got to the part where Edgar ran away and I couldn't put down the book. I so wanted to know what would happen next and I loved how the author developed Edgar's character through his experiences with the dog's in the woods and then with Henry. The mystery behind what truely happened and what may have happened and not knowing if we would ever true... (show more)

  At first I thought the book had a little too much about the dogs and their training. I almost stopped reading it midway because of that, but then I got to the part where Edgar ran away and I couldn't put down the book. I so wanted to know what would happen next and I loved how the author developed Edgar's character through his experiences with the dog's in the woods and then with Henry. The mystery behind what truely happened and what may have happened and not knowing if we would ever truely find out. The slight hints as to what may happen next and how Edgar would finally come to terms with all that had happened kept me reading. Loved and hated the ending, if that is possible. Some people on here have said that it is for dog lover's, but I think anyone would enjoy the power of this book. If there is a sequel I will definitely read it. (show less)

   

  by Facebook User on Feb 22, 2009 at 02:23AM

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