Edward Tulane is a china rabbit cherished by a ten-year-old girl until he was accidentally detached from her to start a long, long journey in search of learning how to love. The journey was implied in the fairy tale told the girl by her grandmother. Was Edward cursed by the story? Then, will he get free from the curse? Let’s follow Edward’s journey.

Well known as a theme book in a Korean famous TV drama, the original work of ＜The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane＞ is considered a book recommended to age 7-10. Age 7-10? Yes, I’m serious. Age 7-10. Soon after you start reading this book, however, you’ll find it’s for every age. As for me, I deeply sympathized and empathized with Edward’s emotions. The author may have intended to focus on love, the feeling I was trapped in was solitude.

While spending so many days in the abyss of the deep see, under the trash, and on the toy store shelf, Edward had to exhaust his feeling of solitude until he is dramatically “saved” by somebody. Those solitary days are described briefly like “Hours passed. And then days. And weeks. And months”, “On his one hundred and eightieth day at the dump”, or “Seasons passed, fall and winter and spring and summer”. However unwittingly those days have passed in the text, we can fathom hopelessness and helplessness Edward might have felt. Those simple sentences represent “art of restraint”. More restrained, more sorrowful.

Since he is a doll, Edward’s feelings are unsaid. Most of his speeches are not in quotation marks. Not in quotes, his speeches are very short and succinct. Even in a dream where he has walking feet and flying wings, Edward cannot speak. Unsaid short, succinct speeches make Edward’s feeling even more sorrowful.

After a series of unexpected encounter during the journey, how did Edward change? The cover picture reminds readers of something beyond expression. Does the rabbit, Edward, look like a magical, funny rabbit like in ＜Alice in Wonderland＞? Or, does he look sad? Or, does he look tired? Or, does he look determined? As contrasted to the tranquil, dim colors of the house occupying the top half of the cover, tiny Edward is walking toward it wearing a vivid red-colored suit. The walking feet seem to symbolize Edward’s activeness and the red color his heart full of love, both of which he had lacked before he started his long journey. That is, at the end of the long journey, Edward became an active lover.

Going back to the solitude Edward may have felt, this book reminded me of ＜One Hundred Year’s Solitude＞ by Gabriel Marquez. The difference is that immortal Edward had to endure all the solitary years by himself.