Book Review- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

This lovely book just came out in paperback, which means that the general public will start reading this in droves.  Or, you can do what I did and borrow it from the library.  Now that I’ve read it, I would absolutely consider buying it because it’s going to be one of those books that I pick up again and again, if only to read certain passages or watch the skill in which the author describes a scene.

 The book follows Edgar as he matures into a teenager.  He’s born without a voice, utterly mute.  He learns to sign at an early age, and even signs to the dogs that his parents breed.  The story mainly follows Edgar, but there are chapters that allow the reader to peek inside the minds of the other central characters, which includes Edgar’s dog, his “soul mate” Almondine.

 A tragedy spins Edgar’s life off the steady comfort he’s always known, and thus the real motivation for the story draws breath.  There’s an Oedipal twist that doesn’t become fully fleshed out until the very end, which keeps the reader hanging. 

I’ll admit that it took about half the book for me to get really involved.  I couldn’t tell where it was going at times, and wasn’t paying close enough attention to the book to remember what I was supposed to be paying attention to.  Something “clicked” midway through though; that “ah-ha!” moment allowed me to finish the book in a single day.  Would that I had understood the complex Shakespearean parallels when I started reading, this story would have been vastly more understandable.  At book club one evening, Jacqueline spoke at length about the parallels of this tale to the characters of Claudius, Oedipus, and Gertrude.  Her interpretation and explanation really helped my understanding.

Now that I’ve read it, the last few chapters are repeatedly playing through my mind.  It’s a story of love, on so many levels.  Love for the dogs, love for breeding, love of an idea, love of people and understanding of the fallacies of life.

I’m trying desperately trying to not give away the ending, or even the gist of the story.  This is a fabulous book to lose yourself in; you won’t regret it.

Rating: Great