The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - the book

A friend had highly recommended 'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle', so I put it in my book queue at the library. It was an Oprah bookclub pick and the waitlist was more than 100 people long. I finally got it last week and finished it in a few days. I was not as enthralled by the book as my friend had been.

First, there were a number of subplots within the book, some of which could have been cut out entirely, in my opinion, which made the book longer than necessary. And since I wasn't *that* into the characters or plot to begin with, I didn't welcome these asides.

Second, I dislike when fiction incorporates small science fiction elements. To me, science fiction can be as out-there as the author likes, but fiction should be true-to-life with some spirituality/mysticism if necessary. As soon as one of Edgar's recently deceased loved ones began sharing knowledge and secrets with Edgar, I liked the book a bit less than I had before.

Third, and most importantly, but perhaps most difficult to quantify, I wasn't drawn to the characters or the plot. Had I cared for the characters, I could have overlooked the minor things that bothered me about the book.

I do give the author credit for writing for an intelligent reader - he expects the reader to draw his own conclusions at times and to pay close attention to what is written. A few times I caught myself having sped-read through a chapter and having to reread it to fully understand something. I can even imagine that it would be possible for two people reading this book to have different understandings of certain passages. I like that it in a book.

After I finished the book, I poked around the internet and found that the book mirrors Hamlet quite closely. I have never read Hamlet, but I think I would have found that aspect interesting, if I had.