My rating: ★★★★★
Recommended for: Anyone and everyone. This is not a very long read, and the chapters are relatively short. I was able to finish it in one sitting.
I picked up this book not quite sure what to expect.
It wasn't very thick, the print was large, and the text widely-spaced. It was a children's book.
A children's book about a china rabbit, of all things.
I've read Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux. It's an all-time favorite and proved to be a formative read for me at an early age. In spite of my slight misgivings, I decided to give this book a chance because I wanted to familiarize myself with the rest of DiCamillo's bibliography, in hopes that I'd find something I'd like.
And The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane did not disappoint.
"'Open your heart,' she said gently. 'Someone will come. Someone will come for you. But first you must open your heart.'"—The Old Doll to Edward Tulane
Edward Tulane was a china rabbit.
He lived in a house on Egypt Street with a girl named Abilene who loved him very much. Life was amazing for Edward. He had everything he could possibly want, and a girl who loved him more than anything in the world.
But there was one thing he didn’t have, and it was the only thing that ever meant anything. He didn’t have love. Abilene loved him, but he didn’t love her back. At least not as much as he should.
Yes, life was going wonderfully for Edward. Until that one day when fate decided to take charge. It was on a trip across the Atlantic with Abilene and her family that the deep, blue chasm of the ocean claimed him. He fell into an adventure, quite by accident. It was through this adventure that he’d meet an old grizzled sailor and his wife, a hobo and his dog, and a sick girl and her devoted brother. He had no idea yet, but it was during this adventure that he’d become a puppet, a scarecrow, and a doll. Adventure had found him, without him looking for it.
And thus began The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
DiCamillo has crafted a story that feels so lifelike, so tangibly real and poignant. Her characters are appealing and compelling, each with their own distinct voice and personality. (DiCamillo’s propensity to create engaging, realistic characters so amazes me.) The attention she pays to the details of even minor characters is astounding.
Edward Tulane is a relatable protagonist. He starts out as an egocentric, thoughtless rabbit who’s only concern is himself, not having the slightest curiosity or care about others in the least. Overtime, though, as the people he meets open up their hearts to him, he finds he can’t help but reciprocate. And he discovers that it can be painful to do so, because one can be separated from the people one loves, whether by death or by other circumstances (and unfortunately for him as a china rabbit, he never has much choice in the matter).
What I like most about this book, though, is that it echoes the Apostle Paul’s fundamental belief about love, as expressed in his First Epistle to the Corinthians:
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
This is the truth that DiCamillo echoes so artfully in her telling of Edward Tulane’s story. Each of us, I think, needs to learn that while love can hurt, it’s the only thing that makes life worth living. So while this is Edward Tulane’s journey, it is just as much mine (and yours) as it was his.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is a journey we all need to take.