Until page 37
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski was horrendously boring. I couldn’t wait until page 50 so I could put it down. Then, on page 38, I was hooked. And I stayed hooked until 50-ish pages until the end. Then I couldn’t wait until I finished and could PUT IT DOWN! But pages 38 through 512? Wow!
Basically, it’s your standard boy-meets-dog story, seasoned with tinges of
Hamlet. I’ll let the overall go with that and concentrate on specifics.
1) There’s no particular quote connected with this specific, but
Edgar Sawtelle is one of the few books containing a series of events so gripping that I literally
HAD to turn a few pages ahead to see what happened. From me that’s high praise. I’m pretty sure I can count the number of books where that has happened on one hand—excepting the Nancy Drew series, of course. (Blame those on youth.)
2) Edgar Sawtelle’s father dies as the result of an accident. While trying to help him make sense of the event, his mother says, “Things always change. Things would be changing right now if your father was alive, Edgar. That’s just life. You can fight it or you accept it. The only difference is, if you accept it, you get to do other things. If you fight it, you’re stuck in the same spot forever.” (page 228) Yep. I’ll buy that. And try to remind myself of it—at least twice a day.
3) Interesting comment on animals, IMHO at least: (Almondine is one of Edgar’s dogs) “Wind she distrusted. Wind could come into the house and slam doors.” (page 262) I’ve noticed that about my cats. Something feels different, but nothing looks different. Then, a door slams. Yeah. Scary.
4) Hamlet element: a bit from Trudy’s (Edgar’s mother) POV. “Things with Claude (Edgar’s uncle) had just, well,
happened one morning—a breakdown on her part, a strange, momentary kindness on his. It hadn’t felt wrong; afterward she’d felt as though a great burden had been lifted—as though she’d been given permission to carry on with a different life. What Edgar didn’t understand was that was that it was all going to be a compromise from then on out. This wasn’t something she could say, not to Edgar, not to anyone, but she knew it was true. They’d (Trudy and Edgar’s dad) had the real thing, the golden world, the paradise, the kingdom on earth, and you didn’t get that twice. When the second chance came, you took it for what it was worth.” (italics his) (page 299) The above sure provided me with a new view of Hamlet’s mother.
5) An absolutely wonderful sketch of a minor character—Ida, the clerk in the general store.
"That’s it?” she would ask when she’d totaled their items, cocking her head and fixing them with a stare. ‘Anything else?’ The veiny digits of her left hand punched the keys of the adding machine and leapt onto the lever. Thump! The thump really startled them. Or maybe it was the head-cock. You could see people stop to think, was that really it? The question began to reverberate in their minds, a metaphysical conundrum. Wasn’t there something else? They began to wonder if this could be their Final Purchase: four cans of beans and franks, a bag of Old Dutch potato chips, and half a dozen bobbers. Was that it? Wasn’t there something else they ought to get? And for that matter, had they ever accomplished anything of significance in their entire lives? “No,” they gulp, peering into Ida’s depthless black pupils, “that’s all,” or sometimes , “Um, pack of Luckies?” This last was issued as a question, as if they’d begun to suspect that an incorrect answer would get them flung into a chasm. Cigarettes often came to their minds, partly because Ida herself smoked like a fiend, a white curl always streaming from her mouth to rise and merge with the great galaxy of smoke wreathing over her head. But mainly, when the uninitiated stood before Ida Paine, they found themselves, they found themselves thinking that the future was preordained. So why not take up smoking? (italics his) (pages 302-303)
Of course the description is about way more than Ida Paine. That’s why it’s good.
6) A farmer befriends Edgar. “From the look on his face I could see he was one of the lucky ones, one of those people who like doing what they’re good at. That’s rare. When you see that in a person, you can’t miss it.” (page 416) I think I’m one of the lucky ones. I can at least say that if I haven’t liked what I was doing, I moved on. That’s comforting.
7) And there a chapter from Almondine’s POV that will tear your heart out.
Do I recommend? Yes, if you like long books that start slowly. Will I read anything else by Wroblewski? Only if it’s shorter. Same length? Maybe. Longer? No way in hell.
