Elisabeth's Take on 'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle'

At first I was charmed by this book, the author (David Wroblewski) has an easy to read style, and I was quick to care about its main characters. Wroblewski also had the unique idea to write part of the book from the viewpoint and in the voice of a dog - which I thought was handled successfully and believably.

Set in Wisconsin, you follow Gar, Trudy, and eventually their son Edgar, through the triumphs and failures of their dog breeding business. Sometimes, as I mentioned earlier, experiencing the story through the eyes of one of these dogs, Almondine (confession - she was my favorite character).

There's tragedy interwoven throughout the book, but Wroblewski starts leaning on that option a little too heavily right about the middle of the book. I'll admit right now, I am not the kind of person who enjoys reading really dark, tragic books that 'examine and highlight the plight of the human condition' - and I started asking myself - 'do I really want to finish reading this?' But I hiked up my big girl shorts and pushed forward in the spirit of the book club. I'm proud to say I finished it.

And promptly threw it across the room.

Ok, maybe not literally (that would be childish). But I wanted to. Oh yeah, it's THAT kind of ending. Why? Wroblewski? WHY?!! What was the POINT?! I hear he took 10 years to write the book, and it's my personal opinion that he created this world he didn't know how to end - so he sent it up in completely unsatisfying smoke.

So there's my warning - if you're into 'that' kind of book, by all means dig in. But, if like me, you like to have some feeling of happiness, or at least satisfaction, at the end of a good read - avoid at all costs.

It did however, as I think my fellow Book Babes will agree, lend itself to a very lively book group discussion!

My Valuable Opinion On Edgar Sawtelle

I thoroughly enjoyed three-quarters of this novel. The author made it easy to connect with the beautiful, sweeping, rural landscape of Wisconsin. I found learning about something I had no previous knowledge of, training dogs, very fascinating. I had also never thought about how someone with a handicap, such as being mute, would handle an emergency situation. Poor Edgar couldn’t even make a phone call to help his dying father.

However, for how long David Wroblewski invested in writing this novel, I expected a better ending. One can only assume that the last quarter of the book was written quickly; perhaps Mr. Wroblewski was up against a deadline, just ran out of time? Or got bored and hired someone else to finish the book for him? The quality of writing just doesn’t mesh with the rest of the novel.

The truth is, the first thing you generally remember about a book is the last thing you read. If anything should be weak, it should never be the introduction or conclusion of a story. That being said, I would read another novel by David Wroblewski, because I really did enjoy his style of writing. Surely he wouldn’t make that fatal mistake again. Would he?