Edgar, a farm boy who is mute, who's best friends seem to be dogs, tries everything he can to prove that his uncle is behind the death of his father. This fiction book is very differently written, with lots of detail through out the whole book. Despite the climax, it wasn’t very intense. Although I did like this book, not much really happens, and it’s a little hard to say what the characters are like. Many people say that this book ties with Hamlet, but I have not read it so I wouldn’t know. I suggest maybe you should read Hamlet first?

Great read. Loaned from SLL. Tough ending, but the dogs know the way.

This book was actually an audiobook that I finished. I think the audiobook was well done with Richard Poe (the person who read the book) although it took me a while to get into and concentrate on this new process of visualizing with someone else's voice reading the words. Now the story itself, I personally found it long-winded and no real point of the story. Although the ending was sad, some parts of the story that didn't add value or give the story any more insight. The story sort of just drifted off like ashes from fire of the barn.

I wanted to LOVE this book, but it didn't happen. Nothing happened. I read, and read, and read some more, waiting for a significant event to occur or for some THING to happen. I read the whole thing and while I feel slightly guilty saying this, I really wished I'd given up on it sooner.

I couldn't figure out if this was a mystery, story about man and dog, story about the supernatural...what? It was beautifully written and could have been any one of these but I felt the author was pretty unclear himself and couldn't decide which, of course, leaves the reader confused. All in all, disappointing since it COULD have been really good, in my opinion.

This was an enthralling book which I truly could not put down until it was finished. The author describes the relationship between a boy and a dog in intricate detail with an intuitive understanding of what can be felt but not necessarily easily expressed. The plot and the interrelationships between the family members is complex and fascinating.

i see a lot of people complaining about the ending to this book. did they not realize that it was based on hamlet? remember how hamlet ended? i loved this book, it was heartbreaking but so well written. i was desperately hoping it would turn out differently from hamlet, but knew that a tragedy was inevitable.

I do not usually go for Oprah's picks but this was amazing. Her talk with the author is also available on youtube. Wroblewski also talks about the prequel and sequel to this book which I found most fascinating. The most vivid image of this book which I still have in my mind is Effie standing on the hill, on the very last page deciding where to go next. Real tear jerker and very hard read if you are a dog lover.

I'm still trying to process how I feel about Edgar Sawtelle. I found myself racing through the book to find out what happened next - I felt a certain urgency to do so. Like other commentators, I felt the ending to be a bit of a shock and felt a bit cold about it - like the climax reached its apex, but didn't come back down enjoyably. I enjoyed the characters, and I had a bit more respect for the novel when I found out about the ties to Hamlet (I hadn't read that play in high school), but to tell the truth, I still don't know how I really feel about this novel!

For a first time novel, David Wroblewski has written and excellent piece of fiction. It's very different and certainly unlike any book I've ever read before. So much detail, but it never seems tedious to read. I was interested through the whole book. The end was surprising and not what I expected. But again, it matched the overall tone of the book which was very different, indeed.