Dogs, Hamlet, and Lessons Unlearned

Weeks ago I read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Well, most of it. I got bored at about page 300 and skipped to the end. Once I read the end, I found no reason to go back and read the part I skipped. (So if there's anything questionable in that last chunk, I can't tell you.)

The writing is what makes the book worth reading. Wroblewski obviously beat his draft over and over until it came out shining. Here's a sample from page two: "Past the turn he spotted the lantern, a gourd of ruby glass envined in black wire, the flame within a rose that sprang and licked at the throat of the glass, skewing rib-shadows across the door."

"Gourd of ruby glass?" "Envined?" "Rib-shadows?" Who is this guy? Marvelous.

The other thing I liked was the development of the dog characters. Surprising, since I don't even think pet stories are all that funny.

So good book. Well written. Worth reading. If you need a plot summary, go to Amazon. I wouldn't do it justice.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! I am now going to spoil the book for you. Turn back if you don't want me to do so.

There were two things I did not like about the book.

1. The main female character, Trudy, is married to a good man (not perfect, but good). They have a good (not perfect, but good) marriage. They are the parents of Edgar, the main character. But then Edgar's father, Gar, dies mysteriously. Spoiler: Gar's brother, Claude, killed him.

Claude is slimy. Claude is a liar. Claude leeches. Claude is a jerk.

So then, with Gar gone, Trudy hooks up with Claude. The author gives all sorts of excuses as to why Trudy made this decision---she needs a man to help her run the farm, Claude reminds her of Gar. Claude is fun.

No excuse. I wanted to yell at her. Didn't she learn anything in her dating years? Stay away from men who lie. Don't stay with someone who cons you. There are really good guys in the world---those are the ones you count among your dearest friends. Eventually, you marry one of them. And there are other men who have the integrity of jello (wobble, wobble)---those are the ones to kick in the shins. Run away! Run away!

And after being married already to Gar (a good guy), why on earth would she saddle herself with someone less?

Didn't make any sense to me. Not at all. Any woman of sense knows it's better to lose the farm than to lose her dignity.

2. The whole plot was too Shakespeare for me. Uncle. Nephew. Mother/Sister-in-Law/Wife. The men kill each other in the end.

It was like Hamlet, only with some interesting dog characters thrown in.

(pause)

Yet still, I leaf through the pages and I know that I liked reading this book. Too long, yes, (thus the Deborahskip), but a stellar first work for Wroblewski. I hope to see more from him. I'd expect great things.