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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

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Author: David Wroblewski
Publisher: Ecco
Category: Book

List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $13.65
You Save: $12.30 (47%)



New (39) Used (31) Collectible (34) from $12.95

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 856 reviews
Sales Rank: 2335

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 2

ISBN: 0061374229
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061374227
ASIN: 0061374229

Publication Date: June 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-35 of 856
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3 out of 5 stars bummer ending   January 2, 2009
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

Well written enough for me to keep going to the bitter end, no pun intended. The ending is such a disappointing bummer, almost as much of a sucker punch as "The Sopranos" finale. At least the dogs didn't die at the end, that would have killed me.


2 out of 5 stars The dogs are interesting...   January 2, 2009
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Well, I was beginning to think I was the only person having read this book that ended up quite disappointed in it...I figured it must just be my own fault for listening to all the hype and press and getting my hopes built up too high. I'm glad to see that it is NOT just me, but still completely disappointed that the book didn't offer me more.

I will say that I truly enjoyed the sections in the books that related specifically to the dogs. The more I read, the more each dog had a "voice"...and the more I wished that these dogs truly existed. The perfect marriage of brains, heart and loyalty - what more could any dog lover ask for?

The writing is beautiful in and of itself -- very poetic and terrific at creating the images in ones imagination. However, the story left me wanting more. It didn't feel...finished. So much didn't quite make sense to me regarding the storyline. And the whole "Hamlet" thing felt forced, not smooth and cohesive. Almost like the author was insistent upon writing yet another version of the famous story, even though the story itself wanted to go in another direction. It feels like the book would have been much better if the entire story had been about the dogs...the most successful parts of the book were centered around them, not the people.

All-in-all...it was not worth the time I spent reading it. I read the whole thing thinking that it HAD to get better because so many people said it was simply amazing. But - it never got better.



5 out of 5 stars Loved this book   January 1, 2009
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Wroblewski's use of language created a world that was irresistable to me. I devoured this book. When he writes his next book I will be first in line at the Kindle store!


5 out of 5 stars A modern day Hamlet   January 1, 2009
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

**Spoiler Alert**
Although this is not a spoiler if you know the story of Hamlet. I just finished the book last night and it's important to put the story in the context of Hamlet. There are no happy endings in Hamlet either and the Mother and Glen would have died had he followed the Hamlet plot more closely. I think it's even more tragic to have Trudy live and Claude's assessment of Glen driving himself crazy over his blindness is probably true too. Once you realize the Almondine was Ophelia then you realize she and Edgar are never going to be reunited. I think I was more bereft realizing Almondine was going to have a similar fate to Ophelia but the telling of it in the story is not as tear jerking as I thought it would be. I was more in love with the passages in the beginning of the book when Almondine realizes her job was to be Edgar's voice.
There are side plots but again you have to realize that ghosts have a role to play here. Edgar does not know his fathers fate except for the haunting which was beautifully written and the plot that leads to the letters about a dog in a train station are there to prove to Edgar that his vision of his father was true.
Even if you are not familiar with Hamlet you can find a synopsis online and then the story and it's ending will make more sense. Yes it's tragic but whether Claude or Claudius [Hamlet] is searching to power or wealth or just a resolution to his lifelong jealousy the end is always senseless and tragic. Those who do not like the ending are just ignorant of the Bard's original tale. Even Forte is Fortinbras and Essay is Horatio. Just read Hamlet...
It's a great and tragic story and I would highly recommend it to anyone.



2 out of 5 stars Not worth the time to read!!   January 1, 2009
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This was a big disappointment. I agree with other reviewers that say that there were many unanswered sub-plots. The ending was so melodramatic, it almost seemed that the author ran out of sub-plots, and decided to stop writing. Too bad he didn't stop about 200 pages earlier!

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