Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski


Publisher Comments: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. When 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 him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
My thoughts: This book is breath taking, the characters developed so they were friends, it was stunning, extraordinary, beautiful. The development of the dogs and their awareness sparked my imagination and caused me to look at my dogs in a new light. There was evil, betrayal, love, trust, friendship, & mourning. There was even a little of the supernatural. I loved this book all the way till the end then I wanted to cry and throw it across the room. My heart crashed and burned with the barn. How can a book that is so wonderful end so badly?
See and interview of the author on the Today show.
Read an interview with the author here and here.
Read about the real Hachiko here.

3 comments:

The Oceanside Animals said...

Interesting! This is on the shelf waiting for its turn to be read, so we'll see how I react to it!

ANovelMenagerie said...

I read this book last year and liked it. Here's my review if you're interested in reading it:

http://anovelmenagerie.com/ghost/2008/10/07/another-menagerie-the-finest-dogs/

Dennis' pic is very cool!

Anonymous said...

I haven't read it yet but any book that you want to throw against the wall at the end is one that I'd be curious about!