Edgar Sawtelle

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by genuine, wwt, welcomer on May 26, 2010 at 4:11pm

Just now saw this post ....
I am almost to the end of the book; I will let you know.

Permalink Reply by genuine, wwt, welcomer on May 26, 2010 at 4:11pm

Another member, Jane, recommended this book.
She said she didn't like the ending.

Permalink Reply by Malinda on May 26, 2010 at 5:46pm

I agree completely - the ending was VERY disappointing.

Permalink Reply by genuine, wwt, welcomer on May 27, 2010 at 4:57pm

Finished the book. Not sure WHAT to say about the ending ... I do think it was disappointing, but in a way it did keep with the rest of the book.

Remember way at the beginning when Edgar learned the story of how his parents had lost and buried a baby and then they'd found that little pup and it too had died. Edgar said he'd learned something about the world from that story, that before that story he thought there was some sort of balance in the world. I think some people might refer to it as learning that "Life's not fair."
Though a part of me wished for a happy ending; I don't think that would've been quite right.

You know who I really felt for? Trudy, Edgar's Mother.
Edgar seemed to be so happy at the end, with Almondine ...
But his mother: losing that baby, losing the pup, and then losing her husband (Gar), and finally losing both her son and Claude (who was really her one source of comfort after Gar died) ... and the barn burning too ... she lost everything important to her. I can't imagine watching that happen or going on with things afterwards. Yes, life's not fair. (I am told that nobody ever said it would be).

You know what else I'm left wondering? How did Edgar's parents actually meet? He never did learn the truth, said he didn't really want to because then their game would be gone. I'm still curious.

Permalink Reply by Jane on May 28, 2010 at 7:54pm

Genuine -- Thank you. Your review of the book Edgar Sawtell - has taught me something about myself. You see... having giving birth to deaf son (although it is genetic -- all through my husband's family), I feel responsible. These feelings made me dislike Trudy. Is that how I feel about myself? After the kids are raised, I'll go see an expert. But the truth is, until you wrote the last message to me, I never sympathized or empathized with Trudy. But now --- I do.

I can relate to the visual world and physical world in which Edgar communicates to Almondine and his parents. Although my son, Clement, is completely verbal and you would not know he was deaf, the truth is he and I communicate better nonverabally. And dogs also share a better understanding of sign rather than the spoken word.

I have always known life was not fair and have raised my kids knowing this as well. It's all about how we deal with it.

Thanks Genuine! -- What are you reading? (I recommend the Big Short by Micheal Lewis. You won't believe how Wall Street and greed brought down our global economy. I also recommend John Adams -- by David McCullough, made me so proud to be an American. But after you read it, you and your family have to come visit Phila -- so I can show you around all the places where our nation was born!).

Permalink Reply by genuine, wwt, welcomer on May 28, 2010 at 9:03pm

isn't it interesting how two people reading the same thing get something completely different?
Did you get anything out of the significance of Forte in the book? The old forte, Claude's or his father's and the "new" Forte who Edgar tried to get to come? I wasn't sure what to make of all that.



as far as not liking Trudy goes ... I didn't like how she took up with Claude after her husband died, but towards the end of the book there's a part that makes me understand it more. She talked about how hearing him talk about Gar helped her ....... I think it's the same way continuing working with the dogs (as if everything was "normal") helped her. Both gave her a way to hold on to what once was, the way things used to be (with her husband and their dogs).
It turns out she was wrong to trust Claude, but how would she have known that?

I have to give Trudy credit for taking Edgar to that woman at the store, remembering how she said "he can use his hands," and listening to that/following it ... after a complete stranger came out to her house and explained signing and taught her some signs. Trudy went on to teach sign to Edgar and they developed their own world of communication.

I suppose I did not like that she slapped Edgar ... but really no parent is perfect. I think in a way she was really trying to slap away the truth, which she didn't want to know.

I think Trudy did her best by Edgar, as I'm sure you do by your son, Jane. Why the guilt? You said it yourself that life's not fair and it's all about how we deal with it .... surely your are dealing with it in a positive way, doing the best you can for your son. Nobody can expect more than your best from you.