Wrap Up of "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle"

[Kerry]

The group had mixed feelings about this book. While some enjoyed
Edgar's journey and Wroblewski's believable personification of the
Sawtelle dogs, others found the pace stilted and Edgar's personality
unlikely.

-The group agreed that Wroblewski's descriptions are vivid and lovely,
though Claire and Eoghan felt frustrated at times that the book seemed
90% description, 10% action.

-The group was divided about our thoughts on Edgar. Some believed his
emotions were believable as a 14-year old, others thought he came
across as wrathful and crazy. His rage-fueled charge at Dr. Papineau
made some consider him a little unhinged.

-We agreed that Wroblewski made some typical first-novel mistakes. For
example, he often over-explains a scene or action, giving the
impression he doesn't trust his reader to understand him the first
time. This is particularly ironic considering the novel's theme of
trainers trusting their dogs. He also is inconsistent with some ideas.
Claire points out the rules that apply to Gar the ghost don't apply to
the Farmer ghost (he can't be seen, can read sign, etc.). We felt
Wroblewski could have done a far better job of editing the book as
well.

-We discussed how frustrated we were as readers that Edgar was killed.
We talked through the literary purpose of the author's decision, but
found ourselves even more frustrated. Beyond the homage to Hamlet, we
couldn't acknowledge the event's importance.

-The group was divided on the story's treatment of Trudy Sawtelle.
While some of us saw her as a woman in a tough situation, others saw
her parenting of Edgar as too lax and a bit selfish. We were also torn
on how to interpret Claude. While he did kill Gar and Edgar, he also
never really lied in the novel (he told Glen the truth). We proposed
that maybe Claude isn't meant to be read as purely evil, but a
combination of bad traits, a bad situation, and wrongful
interpretation by Edgar.

-We liked that Edgar was a mute character, linking him more indelibly
to the dogs and the wild. Rosalyn and Tessa really enjoyed the dogs,
in particular Almondine, who was a character in her own right. We
liked the allusions to the Jungle Book and Eoghan understood them to
mean that when Edgar left home and met Henry, calling himself
"Nathoo", he went from boyhood to adulthood, the wild to civilization.

-Overall we liked the setting and acknowledged that Wroblewski writes
in a classically American style. We compared this to the writing of
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Junot Diaz and Ian MacEwan and discussed
themes in literature from authors of different nationalities and
backgrounds.

We've had a fantastic year of literature. Have a great holiday and
we'll see you in January! Nollaig Shona Duit!