This week I’m making the jump to Word from Notes, trading places with Kent. So if you were looking forward to his post, hopefully I will not disappoint and you can catch Kent the next time around.
This summer I read a book which moved me more than any other I have read in quite some time – or maybe ever. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is a tale about the human condition, of physical handicap and mental illness and revenge. The main character, Edgar, is a young boy who is mute and who lives and breathes for the special breed of dogs to which he and his family have devoted their lives.
But, alas, this is not a book report, so I will digress from telling the story and hope that you, reader, will make it a priority. (To steal a line from Bronte…..). Rather, I will say how fascinated I am when an author can speak so clearly to the human condition through a work of fiction. Half the time while reading Edgar I felt like I was reading some self-help book through which I could sort out my emotions and responses to life. Was this book fact or fiction? Or both? Now, granted I'm not versed in all the in's and out's of literature (remember, I belong on the Notes blog), but I have to wonder and the ability of an author to weave such truth into a story.
For instance, my favorite character in the book is one of the Sawtelle dogs – Almondine. Just saying her name brings comfort and sadness, even now. She is this sensitive, loyal dog who adores Edgar and almost takes on a human persona – and you find yourself rooting for her and thinking that if she were just there in moments of Edgar’s distress that somehow things would work out okay. How can an author take an animal and make it so human while still allowing it to keep it’s canine characteristics?
Then there is Edgar himself – this beautiful, mute child who ends up dealing with great tragedy in his life which in the end shapes him and causes him to grow and make difficult choices which will ultimately shape the outcome of the story.
Oh! I wish I could give away the ending – but that would spoil it. I will say that I grieved the ending of that book for a few days. I read faster and faster as I neared the ending – pacing the floor for the last few pages, hoping and willing the outcome to be what I wished for.
You’ll just have to read it for yourself – and I do hope you will.
Okay, I'm convinced!! I will put it on my list!
ReplyDeleteHi, Ann,
ReplyDeleteI have had this title filed away in my mental to-read list, as well as on my Good Reads account ever since reading your review.
It was as if the planets aligned last month: I found the book on sale in a catalog for $7 so I bought it.
And then, a week and a half ago, while attending a writing conference in Tulsa, I got to hear the author read the scene in which Edgar is lying on the branch of the apple tree looking in the window. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that book! If only I'd had it at the conference to be autographed!
The book came Monday, and I am savoring each line while I speed ahead to find out what happens to these already beloved characters I've only known for two chapters.
Thanks, and thanks, and thanks again for the recommendation.
(What are you reading now?)