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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle [Large Print] [Paperback]

David Wroblewski (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: Sep 2008

A literary debut of stark and striking brilliance – a coming-of-age story, set in the remote wilderness of northern Wisconsin.

Born mute and able to communicate only by sign, the brilliant Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents Gar and Trudy. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomised by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong companion. But when his beloved father mysteriously dies, Edgar blames himself, if only because his muteness left him unable to summon help. Grief-stricken and bewildered by his mother's desperate affair with her dead husband's brother, Edgar's world unravels one spring night when, in the falling rain, he sees his father's ghost. After a botched attempt to prove that his uncle orchestrated Gar's death, Edgar flees into the Chequamegon wilderness leading three yearling dogs. Yet his need to face his father's murderer, and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs, turn Edgar ever homeward. When he returns, nothing is as he expects, and Edgar must choose between revenge or preserving his family legacy…

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product details

  • Paperback: 904 pages
  • Publisher: Harperluxe; Lrg edition (Sep 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061691623
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061691621
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15 x 4.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)

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More About the Author

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Review

‘I read it last summer and I could not stop. It’s also a first novel, a true labour of love.’ Audrey Niffenegger, Guardian (Books of the Year)

'Stately and expansive narrative. Wroblewski's story builds on foundations provided by past literature but has an originality all its own.' Nick Rennison, Sunday Times

‘It must be the closest anyone came in 2008 to writing the “Great American Novel”.’ Guardian (Books of the Year)

‘[A] most enchanting debut novel. A great, big, mesmerising read. Pick up this book and expect to feel very, very reluctant to put it down.’ New York Times

‘A big-hearted novel you can fall into, get lost in and finally emerge from reluctantly. Tender and suspenseful … grand and unforgettable.’ Washington Post

'I flat-out loved “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”.’ Stephen King

‘An incredible journey that seems to have everything going for it; the beauty and flair of a great literary novel, the scale and pacing of a fantasy epic, and the absorbing thrill-ride of any glorious rites-of-passage adventure from our collective childhoods.’ Sunday Business Post

Scotsman (Books of the Year)

‘Remarkable.’ Uncut magazine (Books of the Year)

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

David Wroblewski lives in Colorado with the poet Kimberly McClintock. ‘The Story of Edgar Sawtelle’ is his first novel.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 55 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I have read this year - maybe this century - maybe ever 17 Aug 2008
By littlepig littlepig
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I'm not going to write a long review because I don't want you to spend hours reading it. I want you to go off and read "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" instead and I can't help thinking every second you're not doing that, you're missing out.

This is a book of incredible power: it is beautifully almost poetically written, yet it is also very raw and personable. The plotline follows Hamlet, so you can guess vaguely what is going to happen, yet every page delivers a shock. As the denouement came ever closer I found myself reading more slowly, feeling sick with nerves.

Edgar, the protagonist, is a mute boy living in a closeknit family which breeds and trains dogs. The happy unit is blown apart by the sudden and shocking death of his father. As his uncle becomes ever closer to his mother, Edgar becomes more and more isolated. Upon his return, justice is served in a most unexpected fashion, no matter how well you know The Bard's story.

I will be buying this book for everyone I know. It left me breathless, tearful and overwhelmed; a real rollercoaster of a novel, the like of which I have not read in a long time. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, fascinating, wonderful 15 Aug 2008
By H. B. Hosegoood TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This is one of those rare books that stays with you for weeks after you've read it. It's the story of Edgar Sawtelle, a young boy who can't speak but is very intelligent and strangely good with words. He lives happily on his parent's farm where the Sawtelles breed a special type of dog for its intelligence rather than for looks or obedience, and Edgar communicates very well with the dogs using sign language. All is well until the arrival of Edgar's uncle, who has been away for many, many years. Can his uncle be trusted? Why does the psychic old lady at the local stores tell Edgar to run and not return, and what is the secret she claims God has told him? Will Edgar's ability to communicate with ghosts help him prove the truth?
The cover of this books compares it to Hamlet, and this is a good comparison because the book is clever and dramatic in the same way, though the comparison led me to read slower as I neared the ending for fear of what might come. Dog lovers need not fear.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A sweeping saga that's both captivating and flawed 30 Dec 2008
By Julia Flyte TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
It took me a long time to get into the book - even at the hundred page mark I didn't feel particularly interested in it. Eventually, however, it pulled me in and it became a book that I was picking up at any given opportunity. I thought the way that it parallels Hamlet was very clever, from the obvious (Gertrude = Trudy, Claudius = Claude) to the more obscure connections that I enjoyed spotting along the way. But more than that, I loved the way that Wroblewski puts so much thought and time into pulling you into the world of Edgar Sawtelle. Not just the physical landscape, although that is beautifully drawn, but all the thought that he's put into things like the family's philosophy of dog breeding and how Edgar is going to communicate with those around him.

The tension builds slowly but relentlessly, right up to the final pages. From the moment that Claude first appears in the book, you know that something bad is going to come of it. There's a scene when they are playing canasta together and he says to Edgar "You can get anything you want in this world if you're willing to go slow enough". At the time Edgar thinks little of it, but to the reader it's a red flag screaming "Alert! Alert!"

Having said that, there were also many things that annoyed me about the book. Maybe it's me, but every time something pivotal happens it seemed to be written in such an obscure way that I was never quite sure what had actually happened. These were major plot points and I would have to read and re-read them to decipher what had taken place. There was SO much about dogs (which I was okay with for the most part) but the two sections written from the point of view of one of the dogs felt like overkill. I would instead have liked to understand Edgar's mother Trudy better.... Read more ›
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea ... but did it have to be so long??? 3 Aug 2008
By Cee-Gee VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
It seems a little unfair to give this book just 3 stars, it was an original idea and I was interested by it, but it wasn't for me an amazing 5 star, and it fell short of the almost perfect 4 star rating. Perhaps 3 and a half stars would be more appropriate.

Like I've said, the concept for the book was great. A mute boy and his dogs, a ghost story, things not quite as they seem, all very intriguing and I did want to keep reading, but at times it was a chore.

At over 550 pages, this is a long slog and it suffers for it. The book moves at a snail's pace at times. Far too long was spent dwelling on Edgar's early life before the story picked up around the middle of the book. But even then it was dragged out. I read a good book in a few days, but I had to force myself to keep picking this up over a few weeks, although I did read that last 150 or so pages in one afternoon because the pace picked up dramatically.

You should also beware if, like me, you like to know how a story ends. I don't want to be left guessing, but for me there were huge question marks at the end and I felt a bit cheated after having put so much effort into reading it! This is quite a personal point of view, however, and so you should bear that in mind.

All in all I am glad to have read the story because it was interesting but you have to be prepared to knuckle down and put the effort into reading it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Too many words.....
This was a reading group choice - so probably not a book I would have picked normally. "It's Hamlet with dogs - you will love it!" I was assured. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Wynne Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant book
It is based on the story of Hamlet set in a farm for dog breeders! I know it sounds weird but it is beautifully written and is for everyone not just dog lovers. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mel F Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars I devoured this book.......
I was bought this book as a Christmas present having not heard anything about it. The summary on the back intrigued me and I was itching to start reading it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by SJL
2.0 out of 5 stars Hard going
A bookclub recommended reading but oh such a struggle. Had it 6 weeks and only half way through. Difficult to get into the story and not a comfortable style of writing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by oakycoaky
1.0 out of 5 stars Spend your time doing something useful.
Read this book because it was recommended. Wish I hadn't , kept going because I believed that it must get somewhere eventually but it didn't! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lindy H. Ower
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappoints
This one tried my patience a bit, it's too flawed to to be enjoyable despite some engaging parts. Definitely too long and ultimately unsatisfying. Read more
Published on 25 May 2011 by Miss Smith
1.0 out of 5 stars It may be amazing, but for me it's amazingly dull
I have had this book for nearly 2 years and i'm ashamed to say I just can't do it. Lord knows I've tried and tried and tried some more but I just can't get into this book it just... Read more
Published on 21 April 2011 by Lilyfae
3.0 out of 5 stars A highwayscribery Book Report
To call "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" a tragedy is to give the thing away, but there is no path around it. Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2011 by Stephen Siciliano
2.0 out of 5 stars Engaging but the end is a huge disappointment
I was really enjoying this book - it is engaging, well-written and had me completely absorbed for my daily commute. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2010 by Wilber
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and emotive
Not something I would normally have read but so glad I did. Nothing really happens in this book apart for what's in the blurb which makes the fact that its impossible to put down... Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2010 by Thomas J. Curtis
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