Reader reviews posted by this company comprise the 3rd batch I have read concerning this book; reviews from Barnes and Noble and Amazon are similar, though some more positive. I love this book, really loved it, and was disenchanted by people's hangups with the ending. I long to have the author respond to queries about the ending.
My point of view, at the age of 77, having been a reader and lover of dogs forever, is that the book is a glimpse of life. The setting, characterizations of family, townsfolk especially the doctor folks who befriended Edgar and the noble dogs was that of life, a depiction of life. Most of the time, life ends; it just ends ~ few of us have resolved issues with everyone who has had a part in our lives. Oh, God, how I wish I could have, with some, but it doesn't happen; people die, often unexpectedly, most often so. I had days and weeks of warning when my father was ill, but was young and didn't want to distress him with searching questions. My mom died totally alone, in a place she didn't want to be on the word of an insensitive doctor. Would I have had it different? Of course, but it wasn't to be. The precious boy in this story searched and suffered as most of us do; he did have a "Hamlet" kind of existence, with devoted parents and a bazaar and evil uncle, but the latter's character and plans are predicted in the "prologue" to the book. I have read the love/hate response by reader/reviewers. I'm on the side of the praise and pleas for more from David Wroblewski.