The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: First Impressions?

[Rachel-K]

Our chilling prologue, set in a back-alley herbalist's shop in Korea during the war, then our shift into the first part of the story--with the background for the Sawtelle family and farm--offer us dramatically different settings and characters to shape our expectations for the novel!

What are you lead to suspect from these early pages? Which hints and stories are you most drawn to?

What do you make of John Sawtelle? Why do you think we are given some history of Schultz?  What kind of character do you imagine he was?

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has been widely reviewed and discussed--if you came to the novel after reading a review, are you surprised by your first impressions?

Please remember to be especially careful of spoilers in this thread--we are only talking about the early pages here--the first chapter or two.

[vivico1]

1. I suspect in the very first part that something wicked from the past will reappear again later in the story. Also that these intereactions with the dog Cappy and how he affected John Sawtelle, was the beginning of something he was looking for to breed for some reason.

2. John seems an interesting man. Why Shultz's history? It was somewhat interesting in the telling of how John came to own the place but other than that, it seems just descriptive background for those who like that kind of extra info to expand the story.

3. I didn't read the reviews, just the synopsis and recommend that if you liked "The Art of Racing in the Rain" which I did, you would like this book. From the synopsis there seem to be no surprises so far, its very early in the book.

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rkubie wrote:

Our chilling prologue, set in a back-alley herbalist's shop in Korea during the war, then our shift into the first part of the story--with the background for the Sawtelle family and farm--offer us dramatically different settings and characters to shape our expectations for the novel!

What are you lead to suspect from these early pages? Which hints and stories are you most drawn to?

What do you make of John Sawtelle? Why do you think we are given some history of Schultz? What kind of character do you imagine he was?

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has been widely reviewed and discussed--if you came to the novel after reading a review, are you surprised by your first impressions?

Please remember to be especially careful of spoilers in this thread--we are only talking about the early pages here--the first chapter or two.

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[Lago]

I think it was important to identify Shultz's hopefullness and haplessness, his crude carpentry skills, the roughshod workmanship of the house and barn. In 1973 there was a tragic but eerily beautiful work published titled Wisconsin Death Trip by Micheal Lesy, which recounted the despair of isolation and cruel weather in a small Wisconin town of the 1890's. Shultz's journey skated that thin ice until he smelled the sweat of that fear and ran away. Contrasted with the meticulous record keeping of John Sawtelle, despite his inclination to run with his intuition on breeding his dogs, the minutia of his memory and ability to adapt and thrive in what Shultz had so reckelessly created and I find it a extarodinary double helix of the lives to come. We need Shultz to ground us to the pathos of the terrain and we need John to celebrate the feral for its unique qualities. 

Best,

Lago

[brontyman]

Thank you! Great comment...it helps me understand the early part of the book more.

[Rachel-K]

Thanks, Lago! Wonderful reading of how Schultz fits into the background of the novel!

[David_Wroblews…]

Hi Lago, thanks for your post. I've run into references to Wisconsin Death Trip many times before but have not read it, though it is always spoken of quite respectfully. Last time I saw it mentioned was in the Acknowledgements to Gil Adamson's book, The Outlander, which I enjoyed reading tremendously. I see a trip to the library in the near future, I'm going to have to fill this gap in my knowledge.

As for your comments about Schultz: right on. I hadn't thought in so many words about the contrast between the hapazard construction of the buildings and the "meticulous recording keeping" that John Sawtelle (and, eventually, Gar) undertake, but of course you are right. Within the chaos, there's order. Within the order, there's chaos.

Double-helix: as in twisted, interdependent. That's wonderful!

-d 

[Lago]

David,

Thanks for your approval of my thoughts. Sometimes book discussions can become deconstructions of a work and in no way did I ever want to present that. In rural life, the ravages of an abandoned farm can find themselves transformed into a work of great beauty in the form of a painting or photograph. Having a background in media arts, I couldn't help but appreciate the strong visual metaphors you established within the first pages and will patiently await your next efforts. Thanks for the impeccable writing of Edgar's story.

Best,

Lago