About this title: A riveting family saga, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" explores the deep and ancient alliance between humans and dogs, and the power of fate through one boy's epic journey into the wild.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. A former library book with the usual identifiers in a damaged protective glossy dust jacket covering. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Missing Dust Jacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: Good. Cover and pages may have some wear or writing. Binding is tight. We ship daily Monday-Friday. Delivery Confirmation included on all domestic orders. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: Good. Bumped corners clean pages good condition overall minor shelf wear tight spine All new inventory received to basement All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061768064ISBN:0061768065
Description: Very Good-Used in Very Good jacket. / 9780061768064. Like new. Minimal shelfwear. Inscription inside only flaw. Pages are clean and bright. Binding is tight. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780007265077ISBN:0007265077
Description: BRAND NEW PAPERBACK. 384 pages. A literary debut of stark and striking brilliance--a coming-of-age story, set in the remote wilderness of northern wisconsin. (Paperback) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780061374227ISBN:0061374229
Description: Good. Dust jacket included and shelfwear Goodwillnyonline carries a wide range of quality new and used items at competitive prices. Goodwillnyonline is operated by Goodwill Industries of Greater New York & Northern New Jersey. A major provider of services for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Ecco
Date Published: 9/19/2008
ISBN-13:9780061768064ISBN:0061768065
Description: Fine. 0061768065 Hard cover copy with a dust jacket which has been used gently in like new condition. The book is tight and clean with no markings. We ship fast and package well. Expedited shipping is available. read more
"The story of Edgar Sawtelle has many twists and turns. Our book club had an excellent discussion of it because there is so much to talk about. If you know that it it is loosely based on Hamlet, then you won't be too surprised that the ending is not going to be a happy one."
"I get nervous when the NY Times raves about a novel and admires its “free-roaming, unhurried progress.” Edgar Sawtelle is, indeed, a long multi-generational novel rich to excess in detail but grounded to earth with plot, character, surprise and amazing prose. While it drags in the beginning, it slowly draws the reader into its fully realized, timeless world. Invoking ghosts and oracles, dreams and visions, Sawtelle is a heartland Hamlet—a mute boy (voiceless in his family) seeking transformation but bound by the constraints of his lineage.
Aptly, the family business is dog breeding and their goal is to create a new breed of dog. The theme of inheritance, nature vs. nurture, and destiny gets a thorough treatment both in the breeding of dogs and the play of family dynamics. There is much going on in this novel. A short synopsis doesn’t even begin to invoke the threads and symbolism that runs throughout the story. Unlike some other NY Times favored authors, however, Mr. Wroblewski stands out because, in his hands, things actually happen. Murder, wilderness struggle, deceit, vengeance all slowly build to a cumulative, Shakespearian climax.
This is a book you’ll think about long after you’ve finish it. Highly recommended."
"I guess I have to be the spoilsport here. I did not like this book.
Let me just say straight out that anthropomorphism does not sit well with me. I almost jumped ship on page 30, where the story hopped over to the POV of Almondine the dog and had her thinking and reasoning like a human being. I love dogs. I've had quite a few in my lifetime. I speak dog well, we relate to each other well. But I think they lose their own innate dignity when people try to turn them into people. A dog is a lovely thing. It is not an inferior human being. It is not superior human being. It is a dog. And that is enough.
However, I soldiered on. To its credit, the book is smoothly written. Serviceable prose, even if one only very occasionally encounters the kind of writing that lifts the heart. Most of the writer's attempts to wax poetic were so over the top that they created a fog of obscurity that spread over the entire novel. Fuzzy writing=fuzzy thinking.
To hang an inferior book on the bones of Hamlet does not make it a better book. The Hamlet connection is unnecessary and interferes with our ability to see the book for itself, and unfortunately invites a comparison in which the imitator necessarily comes off far on the short side.
I found the ending particularly irritating. Not the tragedy, but the idea that the hope for the future lies in the dogs. Hope of the world in dogs? That thought wouldn't have crossed my mind but for the overdone hype of the entire book concerning the characteristics of dogs. Nevertheless it did cross my mind and it diminishes the book by its pat striving for a happy ending.
The part of the book that worked best for me was when Edgar and the dogs were staying with Henry, an endearing man and the most believable and sympathetic character in the book. This was one of the few parts where for the most part I didn't feel as if I were having to crank my suspension of disbelief ostentatiously into place.
As for the ghosts. Don't even get me started. Suffice it to say that the book could have been written to work without them. But then the author would have had to drop the Hamlet crutch, wouldn't he?"
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