ReadingAnimals

In case folks are still looking for summer reading titles, I wanted to write a quick post about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  I’d been thinking about posting on the book since hearing about it in a podcast last week, and was finally convinced it was necessary after seeing Lisa’s recommendation on animalinventory.net. Here’s a summary of the novel that appeared in a recent Boston Globe article:

Wroblewski’s 562-page novel tells of a mute boy in rural Wisconsin devastated by the death of his father. Together with his wife, the father had bred a mysterious kind of dog, especially intelligent and intuitive. The story closely parallels Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (complete with ghost and a sinister uncle), and also has echoes of “Macbeth,” “Romeo and Juliet,” and “Othello.” It explores deeply the ancient kinship between people and dogs. It’s about bitter grief and rage, with a desperate flight into a wilderness, and a fateful return.

Sawtelle was also featured in a recent podcast about animal minds from  To the Best of Our Knowledge. {I have plenty to say about the rest of the material - believe me - but will save it for another post!} The portion of the show dedicated to Sawtelle was interesting. Specifically, the author of the novel, Wroblewski, mentioned how Vicki Hearne’s work (see link below) influenced him. While I have my reservations about relationships built around extensive training because training creates many possibilities for abuse via domination, I recognize that it is not a necessary outcome of the practice.  Breeding kennels, on the other hand, construct and commodify dogs in ways that I think are irreparably flawed.

Because The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is about a boy who does not speak, observing and non-verbal communication can take center stage.  In the interview, the role of observing is emphasized.  Observing is clearly at the heart of ethology: we watch, listen, smell, move along with other animals as they live their lives.  Perhaps the book and the interview give us a reason to think about practicing observation in our daily lives more often or and with animals practicing it more carefully.  Because I hope that both are true, I plan to add this title to my already long list of books to read!

Books mentioned in this post:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

Adam’s Task: Calling Animals by Name