• Hardcover
• 566
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
• David Wroblewski
• English
• 06 October 2020
• 9780061374227

David Wroblewski ñ 4 review

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle review ↠ 4 Him But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward David Wroblewski is a master storyteller and his breathtaking scenes the elemental north woods the sweep of seasons an iconic American barn a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain create a riveting family saga a brilliant exploration of the limits of language and a compulsively readable modern classi. 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 companionnursemaid 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 rightEven though there were problems a series of transitions in the last uarter 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 swoonedPlus 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 dogAnd the very last scene just called up my inner 8 year old and made her happy I couldn t evaluate that dispassionately if I triedIn 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

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle review ↠ 4 Born mute speaking only in sign Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin For generations the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine Edgar's lifelong friend and ally But with the unexpected return of Claude Edgar's paternal uncle turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home Whe. This is an extraordinary novel Hamlet in the North Woods of Wisconsin Wroblewski was very fond of the stories of Shakespeare as a kid if not necessarily the actual text and it is clear that he carried with him the knowledge of tragedy Edgar opens with a mysterious transaction in the Orient in which a man seeks out a purveyor of a particularly effective poison That will feature large later in the story Edgar Hamlet is a boy born without the power of speech to a family father Gar and mother Trudy engaged in the business of raising very special dogs so called Sawtelle dogs The author made up the breed Edgar is accompanied by his faithful companion Almondine born only a short while prior to the boy She is a wonderful character and I wish there was of her in this book She is Ophelia Edgar is a hard worker who manages to become uite adept at his dog training It is his life There is a mystical seer in the village Ida Paine who can be counted on to say some sooths She is so spooky she is almost comedic but her purpose is other Finally the household is joined by Claude Claudius Gar s brother He very much reminded me of Iago and even a bit of Richard the Third as well as of his Hamlet inspiration Claude and Gar never got on well and we can expect of the same even though they are teamed for a time at least in working the dog business The authorThis is one of the most moving books I have ever read Edgar is an immediately sympathetic character beset by malevolent forces and unable to make himself heard While one can see early on that the Shakespearean DNA will lead to a dark place the journey there is magical Do not be put off by the impending troubles There are triumphs as well as defeats in store Wroblewski was also very fond of Kipling s Jungle Book as a kid and Edgar takes on the role of Mowgli as well as that of Hamlet There is immense charm to accompany the danger when EdgarMowgli is afoot in the woodjungle with his personal pack It is shocking that this is Wroblewski s first novel It sings with the language of a master Read it aloud and hear for yourself You will come to love Edgar ache for Almondine weep for some smile at the kindness of a few rage at others This is not just another book but an emotional engagement that brings with it the satisfaction of literary content and beauty of language If you have not had the opportunity to travel with Edgar seek him out and howl with joy and sorrow This is a great great bookEXTRA STUFFLinks to the author s personal website His Twitter account does not appear to have been touched in a couple of years and I found no FB page by him In his site you might enjoy the tangents page for a diversity of interesting information and links PS Wroblewski will be returning to the North Woods in his next book telling the story of Edgar s ancestors Edgar took him ten years to write I don t think the preuel will take uite so long as he will hopefully have made enough money from Edgar to allow him to spend full time writing I can t waitPPS I happened across a very nice interview with Wroblewski on Bookbrowsecom And several years later I stumbled upon this interview with OprahOne final interview on Vulturecom

review The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle review ↠ 4 N Edgar's father dies suddenly Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm and into Edgar's mother's affections Grief stricken and bewildered Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death but his plan backfires spectacularly Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm Edgar comes of age in the wild fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow. 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 itI feel like Joe the Plumber in Israel I have a thousand uestions 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 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 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 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 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