I just finished reading The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle. It’s a book I resisted for quite awhile, at least partly because Bookdwarf was so enthusiastic about it, and I just didn’t want to admit that she’s always right about these sorts of things.
Another factor that scared me off was that the book contains dogs. That immediately makes me think it’s one of those dog books – you know, of interest only to dog fanciers. It’s not. I’m pretty sure that people who like anything with dogs in it will like this book. After all, it contains dogs. But it’s not the sort of thing that appeals only to them. It will also appeal to novel-lovers. It’s a tale of family and secrets and betrayal, a northern Wisconsin sort of Hamlet mixed with Lear, a story of almosts, of near-breakthroughs in communication and understanding and perfection.
“The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle” uses the relationships – sometimes beautifully tender and joyful – between people and dogs to reflect more clearly the relationship between humans. Just as even imperfect communication between humans and dogs requires years of training and practice, the mute Edgar is stymied by his own imperfect understanding of the world and by other people’s inability to grasp what he’s saying. And of course, more generally, everyone fails to communicate or hides what should most be unearthed and shared.
No, there’s no happy ending there. Nice dogs, though.
Secretly Ironic 
I thought this book was very confusing at first and was having a hard time continuing to read it. Then Edgar ran away and I couldn’t put it down. It all began to come together for me, especially towards the end. I was so enthralled in the book. I fell in love with Edgar, Almondine, and all the dogs. I hated how the book ended. I was so hoping that Claude would stab himself with the needle on accident and Almondine would come back and Trudy would find out the truth. I did love the book but was so enraged by the ending. I also want to know where the dogs decided to go; I was hoping they would go to Henrys house.
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In keeping with the spirit of this book, I think Claude should have lived happily ever after on the farm with his new barn.
Seriously, though, Glen’s nickname after getting his police officer’s uniform, “Babe the Blue Ox”, was hilarious!
Claude became Trudy’s black vine.
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One more thing, the dogs choose to live life “in the wild” but get picked up by Popcorn Corner’s Animal Control Unit.
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Seriously? I don’t care if it mimics Hamlet. Why did he have to die? And my favorite dog too? That broke my heart. I’ve had a few teens try to read this and the points of view are confusing for them and they stop. And these are serious readers. Sorry, but I am not recommending this book. And I know if it had the power to break my heart I should acknowledge it is a powerful book. But frankly the ending pissed me off.
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This is one of the most moving and tragic books I have read in a long time. I too will have to reread it to truely understand some of it’s deeper meanings. The ending is indeed very sad. I kept reading hoping for a happy ending. But in reality life can be unfair to good people who deserve better.
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Never have blogged…, but had to this book/ending irritated me to no end.
I agree w/all the unanswered questions.
One other…I thought Edgar named Forte? I guess he was a ghost bc he couldn’t be alive that long.
What was the significance in having the photo of Claude and Forte? Was Forte abused by Claude bc he kept his distance??
When Claude shot the deer, he couldn’t shoot Forte because he was a ghost??
I too skimmed parts, didn’t need to be so long!
Meery Christmas!!
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I have never blogged either…..This wonderful book took me for a ride. It so touched my heart. Yes, there was plenty of tears. I know in my heart that Mr. D.W. will not just leave it there. There has to be more to it & I’ll be waiting with baited breath. Thank you so much for a wonderful book. My husband is reading it now.
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I feel so lucky to have discovered this blog! I just finished TSOES. I loved the lyrical writing, but as for the plot: I’m very familiar with the plot of Hamlet and I think I would have been very disappointed with the book if I wasn’t familiar with it. I half-expected two of the puppies to be named Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern. Having said that, I think the most inspired Hamlet-plot parallel was the puppies acting out the “players” scene. Here’s my question to you Shakespeareans: who was Henry? Was Essay the Horatio character?
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I didn’t read this book–I inhaled it. (Now I’ll have the pleasure of rereading it without the suspense.) I,too, found the ending devastating, but curiously satisfying. I think the key resides in the comment from the correspondence between the two breeders: “To deserve a better dog, perhaps we need to become better people.” (I’m paraphrasing here. I lent my copy to my daughter.) I can imagine Essay, Forte, and all the rest of the Sawtelle dogs living in the wild, breeding, developing that decision-making capacity the grandfather was so intently intuitive about…and waiting for us to catch up.
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I just finished the book too over Christmas vacation. It was recommended by a friend. Loved the connection portrayed in the book between people and dogs, and how it showed the enormous place in our hearts that animals can fill, but HATED the ending. OK, let Claude die, maybe even Trudy and Glen, but not Edgar & Almondine. Just a bit too tragic for me. The jarring ending took away from some of the haunting nature of the rest of the book. I don’t have to have a happy ending to enjoy a book, but when the whole world blows up at the end of book… it diminishes the sense that you have grown as a result of reading the book.
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Just read this book on my new Kindle and I loved it. If you have a teenage boy in your house you can definitely relate to Edgar in the book. There are so many things that Edgar saw, thought and did that is so typical of the way a boy that age thinks. Perhaps this book will inspire others to actually train their own dogs – the Sawtelle dogs were not that unique – they had unique trainers. Do you think that perhaps the dogs went to Henry’s and that he finds his way back to Trudy via them? After all his lamenting about Belva, maybe Trudy and the dogs are his way of achieving something unordinary? Henry was a bit like Gar in a way – in that he couldn’t forget the past but choose to preserve it. In any case, you didn’t have to read far in this book, ie. Chapter 1, to know it wasn’t going to be a Disney ending.
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I was not surprised at the ending. The first chapter sets it up with the purchase of the poison( As Marilyn noted). It was Hamlet and as such no other endng would serve. Very well written. I enjoyed matching Hamlet’s characters to these characters. It was thoght provoking and satisfying.
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Does anyone have an answer to the chronological mistake cited by DD on october 9? It’s true, Edgar is born in May of 1958, yet the 3rd miscarriage was in April of 1958. Strange if the author and editors missed this, yet if it was intentional I don’t get it. Also Linda (Oct. 24) asked about the old man and Claude discussing an antidote in the prologue. It wasn’t an antidote. They were discussing the penicillin that Claude traded for the poison. The old man needed the medicine for his grandson.
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I am so glad I found this site. I did not like this book. Too long and drawn out and didn’t say anything. I love dogs, and that part of it wasn’t the tiniest satisfying to me. The detail was lovely, but it was ALL detail – no story. Was there a point to all of this? I didn’t see it. It got bored with the book half-way through it but continued on because it was a gift. I finally jumped ahead to the end and even then never really got my head around what happened and didn’t have the patience to try to go back and figure it out. Bomb!
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I enjoyed many aspects of this book- the lyrical style of writing, the shifting points of view, the human drama, the new twist on a great classic of English literature. I more or less expected the final outcome, given the basic Hamlet structure of the story, and was only surprised by how the characters met their fate, not by what their fate was. The fact that the outcome was both tragic and predictable to me didn’t diminish my admiration for the book, any more than Hamlet’s death detracts from that classic. But here’s the thing that disappointed me – the dogs! I loved the telling of the relationship between Almondine and Edgar, and I especially admired the author’s poignant description of Almondine’s grieving over the loss of Gar, and then even more intensely the loss of Edgar. But the whole conceit of this special line of “Sawtelle Dogs” just didn’t ring true to me. The author never sold me on what was so special about them. The level of training they received? C’mon. Despite the characters’ stated contempt for “show dogs” very single thing that was described as part of the dogs’ regular training was just the sort of mostly novice level training that any obedience trial dog receives. There was nothing in the description of the training that any respectable dog trainer isn’t already familiar with, although many would advocate very different techniques now days. As for the quest for the “next dog” that is capable of making choices, the author should follow a well trained Search and Rescue dog sometime, or better yet watch a working sheep dog, or better still follow behind a guide dog. The next dog, capable of making intelligent independent choices clearly has existed for centuries. Sorry to get all dog nerdy here, but as much as I admired many aspects of the book, every time the Sawtelle line was portrayed as something unique and special just took me out of the story and made me roll my eyes. In my opinion, this book is highly successful as a re-telling of a classic human drama; but if you want to read about a quest for the next dog, read Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men by Don McCaig, and compare that to the quest for dogs that can, uhm, choose to obey recall and stay commands.
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This story was breathtaking. At first, I was turned off by the fact that Edgar was mute, but the writer was able to get around that and did it with style. I loved this book–that is right up until the ending. I knew that he had to die, but I was hoping it would go a different way. So, in the end this book left me feeling totally depressed albeit more appreciative of all the wonderful dogs I have had the pleasure of owning.
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I love to read but thsi book was a waste of time and effort. Once again I fell for an Oprah book. NEVER AGAIN !! I do nt mind tragedy etc. but all the symbolism and unanswered questions make me furious. I am giving the book to Goodwill ! Yuck !
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Denise…the beauty of the author is that he got you (I assume) to read all 500+ pages. Never say never! Books that I don’t like I put aside in the first few pages.
I just finished the book last night so I’m a virgin…I keep thinking there is a deeper meaning to what happened…what do the Sawtelle (or any other) dogs have to teach us? Patience, unconditional love; the fact that there is no difference between this dimension and the next; that dieing doesn’t have to be a tragedy.
I am concerned, however (!) for Trudy. How did her life go after this? Did she restart the business after months of emotional recovery? We KNOW Essay led the dogs to Henry. Did Henry lead them back to Trudy?
And so it goes….
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I kept wanting a description of the dogs…what breed were they like? How do they look?
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I just finished reading this book and I, like so many other folks who have commented here, was very upset by the ending. I had read the inside cover of the book but did not know that the story was compared to the story of Hamlet. I am very glad I didn’t know that. Perhaps if I did I would have been less devastated by Edgar’s death but I would have been more anxious as I read. I was impatient enough as it was wanting to know what was going to happen next and reluctant to put the book down to take care of “ordinary†life at my house. Perhaps I was more philosophical as I read the book. I was looking for clues about the words such as “Saw,†“Tell,†(Tru)dy, Iris (as in an eye), Essay, Ida Paine (the pain of knowing and not being able to tell or being believed), and there were probably more but I didn’t jot them down. Then there was the symbolism of John, Mary and Adam(ski) for the beginning of the story. If John had been Joseph, that would be even better. There was Henry Lamb when Edgar was “On the Lam.†Tinder hurt his foot and they had to stay with Henry the “Tenderfoot†with dogs.
I saw a parallel with these things to Edgar’s job of naming the dogs and trying to make the names fit the dogs perfectly. I must admit I have never read “Jungle Book†but I know that there are moral stories contained within each of the stories. I also know that each animal is given human abilities and so when you do that with the dogs and especially with Almondine it tugged at my heart and made me grieve for my deceased dogs even more. That grief extended to my lost loved ones as well, especially my parents. I think I related to Almondine more emotionally than to anyone else. How she must have felt at the loss of both Edgars and no one bothered to console her! This played into the whole picture of communication or lack there of among the people as well. They practiced communicating with the dogs but not with each other.
People have been asking what is the message? Somewhere I have heard that one’s life isn’t measured by the length of time on earth. Its direction and value are determined by the choices one makes and what one does with the time one has. I think the author put those thoughts very well when he talks about Tinder and Baboo’s decision to stay with Henry and Essay’s decision to go with Edgar. He says that life is a swarm of accidents and we cling to the happiest ones and let the rest float by.
Coming full circle Edgar is feeding fish to Essay just as his grandfather had done with Gus, the first Sawtelle Dog. He is doing this as he is going home to face Claude and as he is discovering what his grandfather and dad had been trying to produce in the Sawtelle Dog. A dog that could make intelligent decisions on its own. Was this not what Forte II had done? Is this not what most people try to do? So it had come full circle? Then I was left wondering for what?
I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. It was just too sad. It was consuming me. I know that my male family member say that this is just a story and these people aren’t real so “just forget it.†But I couldn’t.
I too think that Trudy is alive. Her life was so full of tragedy already that this would be the last straw. So with my overwhelming grief for my loss and her loss I had to write a different ending in a sequel that would show that Edgar hadn’t died after all. He had been knocked on the back by Claude but the needle missed him. What made him collapse was fatigue and smoke. The image he saw was Trudy and she rescues him. Here’s where Hamlet stops.
Since it was Essay that went off with the other dogs maybe that’s what was intended all along? For the reader to write his or her own essay.
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I bought this for my boyfriend for Christmas. He finished it in three days and passed it on to me. I just finished it. As a high school English teacher, I was immediately struck by the parallels to Hamlet and was gratified to see so many readers here who validated this for me ( thank you! sometimes I think I imagine paralles because of my job). I am impressed with David W.’s skill as a writer but am upset with the conclusion of the novel. I can handle characters dying but I see no point in the plot being strengthened by Edgar’s death….I wanted things to go better for him and Trudy. Perhaps this points out the finesse of the author — that so many readers became that captivated by Edgar that they are reacting so stronglyu to his death?
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I have just recently become an avid reader. For that reason I thought maybe I just didn’t get the book. After reading the majority of the posts I am relieved that I am not the only one to feel this way.
The book to me was very hard to “want” to read at the beginning. It felt like each chapter was a random list of meaningless events.
After I felt the story really started I pretty much finished the book without many breaks.
As with everyone’s concerns mine are with the fact that there were way too much meaningless details. I have no problem with the ending and assumed the worse would happen. My gripe is with the fact that all the work Edgar did was for not with his death.
TOOO MANY details and no resolution to anything.
I will say that if there is a movie or sequel I will watch or read it.
Thanks,
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As life consists with so many unanswered questions like this novel portrayed, some answers by Wroblowski himself can be found at oprah’s website.
As far as the ending is concern, it is LIFE as intended, it ends with death-sadness and tragedy.
For you who dump this book at ‘goodwill-related’ shop…Thanks for your generous donation!
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I’ve just finished reading this book and totally amazed at the talent of the author. I have a 19 yr old son who has just written a book- with a very dark side to it. I want him to read this book – it is brilliantly written- even tragedy, paranormal has to be written cleverly, gracefully. I think it was all of that. I have actually started to reread it- because i loved it and some things i didn’t understand.
Claude was a liar – about the story of Gar shooting forte- later in the story Claude says (about the stray) shoot it Gar you’ve done it before… I think he replied ‘so you tell me’? (maybe remembering that wrong. In the letters edgar read- there is mention of the lady he bought with him to the bar when they were discussing dogs/breeding etc.. who was that?
How did Trudy and Gar really meet or is it not significant.
I really must read a bit closer! I gobbled it up too quickly!
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I thought this was the Story of Edgar Sawtelle, not the story of his dogs therefore we’ll write a sequel. And by the way, if it was about communicating who is going to tell Trudy about what a scumbag Claude was. If Gar was killed by Claude and no one knows it, how is anyone going to know that Edgar was killed by him also. I hated the ending. I feel like I read 540 pages for nothing as it ended without resolution…except for the dogs going into the sunset…just awful!
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I have a question that no one has addressed yet. It bothered me from the beginning. Why was Almondine a house dog? She obviously was living with Trudy and Gar in the house and not in the kennel before Edgar was born and she was still quite young. All the other dogs rotated through house and then back to the kennel.
I knew the Hamlet connection but had forgotten that EVERYONE died. The ending was disappointing because of all the unanswered questions. I don’t like the way most modern literature/films make every connection so obvious, but this one didn’t seem to provide even hints for the readers’ interpretation.
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I’m not sure how I feel about the story yet, but one thing for sure, it provoked enough emotion that I had to keep reading to find out what would happen each new sunrise whether I liked it or now. I believe that makes a good book, regardless whether we like the story (the inability to put it down). The Sawtelles were dog breeders and dog experts, so I couldn’t help but wonder how Essay wasn’t impregnated by her brothers…except that we assume she was never in heat during the period they were always together. She was old enough.
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This book will be one of my top ten. The beautiful portrayal of the countryside, the sincere, honest and heart-wrenching development of both the human and dog characters, the haunting connections to mistakes of the past and choices for the future..sigh..I, too, inhaled this story. Like Aaron’s wife, I thought that Dr. Papineau had a motivation for ridding the world of Gar. He and Claude were old pals as Claude worked in the vet’s office as a teen. I think that Edgar thought it was Claude’s shadow in the stairway vestibule… I wasn’t expecting the ending to be so tragic. I am an avid reader, but missed the whole Hamlet connection. I’m actually kind of glad I didn’t pick up on that anyway. Having only read the book on the recommendation of a friend, I didn’t have any preconceived notions. Of course I was upset that Edgar had to die, but I was comforted by Almondine’s and Gar’s ghostly final moments with Edgar. It was my understanding that Essay developed the ability to choose. She chose Forte and the wild. I thought that Trudy survived, but I might need to reread that part.
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I agree with all who feel the end of the book was excessively dark. The darkness of the book was at least balanced by the beauty of Edgar and his relationships with his parents and the dogs. The evil of Claude and its annhilating impact on all the good around him was too much. A great excess from the author.
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Thank you, jjk–I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments!
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I finished this book 3 hours ago after reading all night. One of the thngs that I liked about the book was the other worldly ghosts and the refernces to an afterlife. We got to see Gar, Edgar, Alomondine in their heavenly afterlife and we got to see that creepy,nasty Claude in his hell–constantly turning left and finding himself in a cage at each turn. It didn’t make the ending happy but it was sweet justice for Claude.
I thought that Trudy was a weak character. Did she lose her mind or die (Ox clutching at her too tightly?)? She chose Claude over Edgar and young Edgar thought that his Almondine had done the same thing. He came to understand but it was confusing for a bit. I did not get that ALmondine was hit by a car-thanks.
No sequels. Too gruesome; especially since Essay and Forte were already feral and she had become the Alpha Female.
I do think that the essence of a good book is to create thought and emotion. From the comments, this one suceeded with us all.
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Apparently, Wroblewski is working on a Prequel, not a Sequel. This might be interesting and would explain some of the above mentioned questions regarding Claude and his relationship with Gar and Dr. Papineau, etc.
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I just finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. The ending was devasting, and I needed to process it. So I googled and found this message board. What a great resource–I’ve never seen one before! I used to teach middle school English and have read many “coming of age” novels…which, I suppose, is what I was expecting. Generally, the protagonist gains experience and understanding, enabling him to work through a central conflict. With this book, I held out hope that Edgar’s sensitivity and intellect would enable him to triumph in the end…that Hamlet would finally have a “happy ending.” Or at least a just one. Sigh. Not so… With a book like this, where is there hope or redemption? Very troubling…
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Oh my God, I gave this book to two friends as a Christmats gift. I have never before not read a book before giving it to someone. I felt confident since I had many good reviews from close friends. Then, I wondered by it was the only book Steven King would read twice. Well, now I know.
I have been a dog person and had close relations with many magical dogs. I really liked the story at first – expecially, about all the in and outs of breeding and training dogs. I loved the story – then came the ending.
There are so many good endings that couold have come about. Why would the author leave us so sad and despondent.
I finished reading it this morning, and I have been in depression all day.
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I’m so glad I found this blog. Listened to the last 7 hours of the audio book today and, like everyone, felt stunned at the end — had forgotten the Hamlet connection or I would have expected the deaths. I, too, question whether Trudy is alive at the end — just not certain. What an incredibly DEEP and ingenious novel..reminds me of Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, one of my favorites. I have to face my book club tomorrow night, and I know many will be furious about the ending. I am not, for all the reasons listed above — and because it is a BRILLIANT and complex retelling of a classic with incredible depths that Shakespeare would have admired. Though I’m not always a huge fan of everything written by Stephen King, I am a fan of him as a writer and I agree with his assessment. WOW…this one will stick with me a long, long time.
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I’d like to add another aspect to the ending of the novel by death of all characters. It is a way of avoiding confrontation, discovery, reconciliation or retribution. It is a way for Edgar to never really confront Claude and his evil; for his mother to never be able to articulate her transformation at discovering the evil of Claude, the goodness of her son. There are many realities that are buried alive by the writer. A creator who is unable to deal with the consequences of the characters’ actions. A writer who leaves the world he has constructed, paralyzed by the evils he has conjured.
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This book was beautifully written, making creative use of simile and metaphor and wonderful description. However, I found the ending surprisingly tragic and disturbingly disappointing. Was this a cruel joke by the author? As my son would say, “The ending sucked, big time!”
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Yes, John, my comment, just above yours, shares the disappointment and disillusion you feel, and offers some explanation for why we all feel this.
I would hope the author will take these comments to heart in the spirit of integrity and authenticity.
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I too was extremely disappointed by the ending of this book. It seems to me that life is not so black and white; therefore, an ending so dark is just as false as one that is outrageously positive. I feel I could have gained just as much insight and perspective of the world without such a crushing ending.
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John, I think you’ve hit it on the head with the idea that the ending was a cruel joke by the author, except it’s no joke–just cruel. How could anyone deliberately make so many readers so miserable? Especially after the pain and sorrow we’ve all had to endure for the past 8 years as we watched our beloved earth and its inhabitants slowly dying . . .
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Too grand, too self important. The magical realism was a cop out.
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Yes to “Bob”: a magic wand: doesn’t wave away the realities that the author does not confront within the structure of his characters.
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I cannot agree with you, Liz (Jan. 12). This novel cannot come close to “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” Not at all. After finishing the novel last night, I went to the internet to see what others had to say about it. When I first read reviews of Edgar Sawtelle, I was wondering if I was the only one who didn’t like it. Well, I liked it enough to finish it – partly because a friend gave it to me with her glowing recommendations. I think it dragged on in parts with long detailed descriptions that were not necessary to the story. While his literary style and language were pleasing, some of his passages were just too detailed. I found I had to go back and reread to get a better understanding of what he was saying. And of course, there’s the ending. Very unsatisfying, indeed.
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What if David Wroblewski had written The Wizard of Oz instead of Frank Baum?
The Castle scene: The witch’s guards have Dorothy, Toto, Tinman, Scarecrow, and Lion trapped in the highest turret with no chance to escape. The witch slowly, menacingly advances on our heroes. She pauses, lifts her broom to the lighted torch, and thrusts the burning broom at Scarecrow, setting his arm ablaze. Dorothy instantly grabs a bucket of water and douses Scarecrow’s burning arm. There’s a horrific explosion, flames everywhere, the tower collapses, for what she thought was water, was gasoline! (or ether) Everyone dies; Dorothy, witch, guards, Tinman, Lion, and Scarecrow, they all die, and… Toto, too, and Toto, too. THE END……..roll credits.
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I just finished and yes I too am unhappy with the ending but more unhappy rather with all the unanswered questions. When did Almodine die? And how, I really want to know. And what about glen he went blind yes but did he and trudy both burn also? And where are the dogs crossing over to? I get the symbolism but really!
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Though I was generally engrossed and impressed by the book, I (like others) was ultimately disappointed not by the Hamlet connection but Wroblewski’s slavish adherence to the events of the play. Is sprawling and innovative a setting and set of characters he created, why lock them to the fates of the characters for whom they stand in in another artwork? Give them the freedom to find their own destinies. As soon as he forces them into Hamlet’s plot turns (esp. the vet’s death) the book begins to feel inauthentic, like a literary exercise gone awry. Of course, it becomes more apparent what’s going to happen to the main characters, if not exactly how, and that’s too bad, esp. as so much of the book is so satisfying.
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Edgar ignores Ida’s warnings about the wind, finding the bottle, not returning. So what’s the point?
Ida’s granddaughter talks about “a secret” born with Edgar; is it that ghosts walk among us? He doesn’t “tell” the secret to Trudy or Henry though he could. Okay….now what?
Here’s a smart guy who hides and survives, can break into houses without leaving a trace, but can’t see his sociopath murderous uncle coming at him with a syringe? C’mon.
For all Trudy’s great love for her son, she is a weak, selfish woman who couldn’t knee the blind, writhing, blind Glen to help/save Edgar.
I’m not a dog lover but I ended up preferring the brave, loyal, sensible canines to the homo sapiens.
And for those who think Anodine is alive (and maybe Edgar too!), Trudy married Henry and Essay and Forte come to live in the fabulous rebuilt kennel. The End.
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I was unsatisfied because the author went to such length to give Edgar a future to begin with. The psychic sends the signer to the home to war Trudy that Edgar needed instruction in the “window” of time. Why throw it all away. The combination of surreal and realistic fiction became very confusing and I feel was the downfall of this interesting but very frustrating piece of fiction (fairy tale). The victory of the underlying, although opaque, evil was so jarring. I agree with I.P. Freeley, why couldn’t the author used the Hamlet premise without destroying anything good in the novel?
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For those of you surprised by the references to Hamlet – there are more here than may first meet your eye. Hamlet (Edgar), after killing Polonius (Page)is sent away by his mother Gertrude (Trudy); he is accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Tinder and Baboo). In Hamlet, the trip is associated with a pirate attack; in comparison, Edgar has his overland adventure. Hamlet (Edgar) later returns to Denmark (the farm), under secrecy, in time to attend Ophelia’s (Almondine’s) funeral and is accompanied there by Horation (Essay). In both cases, the main character (Edgar/Hamlet) first comes upon a grave. Edgar “killing” Page was a mirror of Hamlet killing Polonius. Both thought it was someone else – Edgar thought it was his uncle, Claude, and Hamlet thought it was his uncle, Claudius.
I haven’t read through all of the responses; however, did no one else see the importance/relationship of the Forte in “Edgar Sawtelle” to the Fortinbras from Hamlet. Fortinbras Sr. is killed ans ucceded by his son, also named Fortinbras. Fortinbras (the younger) is the only character who seems to be free of the corruption found in Hamlet, just as Forte is the only “character” who seems to be free of corruption in Edgar Sawtelle.
For those of you who are upset about the ending… That’s how life can be. Is everything resolved – no. In real life not evertything gets resolved; things are left unknown, unsaid. To me, Edgar found what he wanted, what he needed, at the end when he was reunited with Almondine. Claude dies a horrible death, not because he can’t escape but because he was busy planning how out how he was going to make himself look good. Trudy knows Claude messed up and had something to do with Glen and Edgar, and whether she survives or not (a moot point) got to see Edgar working to save the things his father felt were important.
I don’t see a sequel. Interesting to think about who will play the parts in the film (someone will snap up the rights to this one.) If he weren’t so old I could see Sam Shepard as Gar.
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Was Wroblewski consciously fashioning his characters in this way?
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