What do you think?
Rate this book
The Diary of Edward the Hamster 1990–1990
Published in memory of poet, thinker and noted rodent Edward the Hamster (1990-1990), this gothic hardback edition of his personal journals constitutes a celebration of his (very) short life.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published August 30, 2012
19 people are currently reading
945 people want to read
About the author
Miriam Elia
12 books34 followersMiriam Elia MA RCA is a visual artist and Sony nominated surreal comedy writer. After graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2006, her diverse work has included illustrated books such as ‘We go to the gallery’ and ‘The Diary of Edward the Hamster,’ as well as prints, drawings, short films, radio comedy and animations. She frequently writes in collaboration with her brother Ezra Elia.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 319 reviews
July 24, 2024
I thought this was pretty hilarious. The Elias actually had a hamster that they named Edward. They found him to be particularly gloomy. He lived and died in 1990, as the title suggests. They wrote this book as if Edward had kept a diary, a deeply existential and of course gloomy and grim reflection on the empty, hopeless existence of a hamster. Edward, in the course of his life, encounters two other hamsters, a cat, his owners, but not much happiness, of course.
Edward makes these brief observations and these little daily reflections. It's of course a satire about owning a hamster for a pet (a pet!?) and also a satire on gloomy, overly philosophical people. I guess I might say it is not that varied as a story, a kind of one-note joke, but I still thought it was very funny. Hilarious, even. Read it! Then light a cigarette, have a Scotch, take out your Rimbaud and read. . . ah, what's the point, after all?
Edward makes these brief observations and these little daily reflections. It's of course a satire about owning a hamster for a pet (a pet!?) and also a satire on gloomy, overly philosophical people. I guess I might say it is not that varied as a story, a kind of one-note joke, but I still thought it was very funny. Hilarious, even. Read it! Then light a cigarette, have a Scotch, take out your Rimbaud and read. . . ah, what's the point, after all?
June 30, 2020
this was another one of those netgalley impulse-grabs. i was just popping on there to leave a review for a different book, and i thought, "i know i have one thousand books i have promised to read, and this is a terrible idea, but let's just see what new things are available…" this impulse gets me into trouble all the time, and pushes back my "to be read immediately" books into "to be read…someday" territory awfully quickly.
basically, i saw a hamster, and i said "cute!!" and i clicked the button because it is way too easy to commit to books on netgalley. and i lack impulse control.
fortunately for me, this one is just a little quickie of a book, mostly pictures with very little text, and i was able to read it on my glow-in-the-dark reading machine while walking to and then back from connor's.
and it's cute - i have never owned a hamster (as much as one can "own" a hamster, especially a gloomy philosophical type like this one), but it really brings the plight of the pet hamster to light, much like the completely differently-toned Caged.
edward is like a creation of dostoevsky - contemplating the meaning of existence, the banality of the quotidian, reaching out for inter- and intraspecial connections, being denied companionship, and yes, freedom. and much like a russian novel, before the end there will be murder, love, self-denial and capitulation, hopelessness, death, and many musings.
Why write? Life is a cage of empty words.
it is very gloomy, indeed.
particularly when a new hamster arrives, and edward experiences the soaring of hopes, and then a crushing dose of reality:
it is so hard to meet like-minded individuals.
overall, it is very cute, if brief, and edward's constant struggle between resisting the lure of the "bastard" wheel and then giving in to the tyranny of the wheel is funny, but not as funny as his battles between his political hunger strike and the mocking availability of the seeds.
The seeds. They are taunting me!
he is an adorable little prisoner.
and now i have to read Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat
come to my blog!
basically, i saw a hamster, and i said "cute!!" and i clicked the button because it is way too easy to commit to books on netgalley. and i lack impulse control.
fortunately for me, this one is just a little quickie of a book, mostly pictures with very little text, and i was able to read it on my glow-in-the-dark reading machine while walking to and then back from connor's.
and it's cute - i have never owned a hamster (as much as one can "own" a hamster, especially a gloomy philosophical type like this one), but it really brings the plight of the pet hamster to light, much like the completely differently-toned Caged.
edward is like a creation of dostoevsky - contemplating the meaning of existence, the banality of the quotidian, reaching out for inter- and intraspecial connections, being denied companionship, and yes, freedom. and much like a russian novel, before the end there will be murder, love, self-denial and capitulation, hopelessness, death, and many musings.
Why write? Life is a cage of empty words.
it is very gloomy, indeed.
particularly when a new hamster arrives, and edward experiences the soaring of hopes, and then a crushing dose of reality:
I tried to goad him into a debate on the nature of our captivity, on the emptiness of life and our irrational will to live.
He burped, laughed and defecated in the food tray.
He is either mad or profoundly stupid.
I am crushed.
it is so hard to meet like-minded individuals.
overall, it is very cute, if brief, and edward's constant struggle between resisting the lure of the "bastard" wheel and then giving in to the tyranny of the wheel is funny, but not as funny as his battles between his political hunger strike and the mocking availability of the seeds.
The seeds. They are taunting me!
he is an adorable little prisoner.
and now i have to read Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat
come to my blog!
November 3, 2013
A Eulogy for Edward
Dearly beloved,
We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Edward. Though he was but small of stature, he was mighty of spirit.
I first met him shortly before his untimely passing and though I didn’t know him for long, he made a lasting impression upon me. Edward was a thinker, a philosopher, a poet. He was an artist. He delighted in the possibility of intellectual debate and was a man…er…rodent that held firm to his convictions.
Many a nights we sat up until the wee hours contemplating the meaning of life. We discussed the monotony that seemed to plague him, the freedom that seemed forever out of his reach. You see, Edward was caged. Both physically and mentally. His mind became his jailor, the wheel his tormentor.
His human captors mistreated him, the cat misunderstood him, and Wolf, his cagemate, lacked the intellectual fortitude to challenge him. After Wolf passed I began to worry for my friend. He seemed to be waning. He no longer got on his wheel, his writing became erratic and his body slow and lethargic.
But this is not a story of loss, my friends, this is a story of love. For just a short time after Wolf’s passing, Edward met Camilla. She was a dreamer, a fellow artist, and theirs was a love found once in a lifetime.
She tragically passed just days before Edward and I truly believe that it was his heartache that led him to do what he did.
So goodbye dear Edward, I know that you’re in a better place, reunited with your true love. You may be gone but you will never be forgotten.
This review is also available on BookLikes and my blog.
Dearly beloved,
We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Edward. Though he was but small of stature, he was mighty of spirit.
I first met him shortly before his untimely passing and though I didn’t know him for long, he made a lasting impression upon me. Edward was a thinker, a philosopher, a poet. He was an artist. He delighted in the possibility of intellectual debate and was a man…er…rodent that held firm to his convictions.
Many a nights we sat up until the wee hours contemplating the meaning of life. We discussed the monotony that seemed to plague him, the freedom that seemed forever out of his reach. You see, Edward was caged. Both physically and mentally. His mind became his jailor, the wheel his tormentor.
His human captors mistreated him, the cat misunderstood him, and Wolf, his cagemate, lacked the intellectual fortitude to challenge him. After Wolf passed I began to worry for my friend. He seemed to be waning. He no longer got on his wheel, his writing became erratic and his body slow and lethargic.
But this is not a story of loss, my friends, this is a story of love. For just a short time after Wolf’s passing, Edward met Camilla. She was a dreamer, a fellow artist, and theirs was a love found once in a lifetime.
She tragically passed just days before Edward and I truly believe that it was his heartache that led him to do what he did.
So goodbye dear Edward, I know that you’re in a better place, reunited with your true love. You may be gone but you will never be forgotten.
This review is also available on BookLikes and my blog.
September 9, 2022
"Viața e o colivie de cuvinte goale."
February 21, 2024
TO BYŁO NAJSMUTNIEJSZE CO CZYTAŁAM 3
May 24, 2013
Seriously the funniest book I've read in a really long time. I was weeping because I was laughing so hard.
A small teaser - " Thursday, May 8th - The vet came today. He touched me. Apparently, I'm a woman."
A small teaser - " Thursday, May 8th - The vet came today. He touched me. Apparently, I'm a woman."
October 15, 2012
Hey, this is the cutest book I read this year. It is about a hamster... Oh wait. No.. it is about you. It is an essentialized account of the human condition. Just read it.
November 17, 2015
Never knew how much I would relate to a hamster.
December 20, 2012
Edward is not my usual cup of tea, just something my mother sent me across 3,000 kilometers (about 2,000 miles) with a short note: "This was touching". So I "read" this tiny booklet in between a sandwich and opening another book and, what do you know?, my mom (who rarely if ever guesses what I like) got this one right indeed. (Should I mention this is not my usual cup of tea? Because I would have never guessed myself.)
OK, so now about the book. There isn't much to say and there isn't much of a book, but it's a roller-coaster and I alternated laughing with feeling really touched. So how did the authors do it? The prose is terse and the graphics are simple, so this shouldn't count. It's perhaps that the booklet is cute and tender, and Edward is grumpy and moody and fighting for his freedom. And he gets it totally wrong every time, but his thoughts are so naively enthusiastic or touchy-feely that you get sucked in and root for Edward. Did I mention Edward is a hamster?
Overall, just read this, it's pulp emotion.
OK, so now about the book. There isn't much to say and there isn't much of a book, but it's a roller-coaster and I alternated laughing with feeling really touched. So how did the authors do it? The prose is terse and the graphics are simple, so this shouldn't count. It's perhaps that the booklet is cute and tender, and Edward is grumpy and moody and fighting for his freedom. And he gets it totally wrong every time, but his thoughts are so naively enthusiastic or touchy-feely that you get sucked in and root for Edward. Did I mention Edward is a hamster?
Overall, just read this, it's pulp emotion.
February 14, 2017
L'idéal serait que tu le lises pendant que tu bois ton petit café, tu ferais une pierre deux coups.
Je te présente donc Eddie ( de son petit nom).
Il est bien plus sérieux que ce que tu peux penser, il se demande à quoi peut bien servir la vie, la mort aussi. L'enfermement. Aura des doutes sur sa santé mentale, et sur la tienne.
On peut dire ce qu'on voudra, ce livre ( pour peu que tu aies un peu de sensibilité ; et je ne te jugerai pas si tu n'en as pas) est plus profond que le puits dans le jardin normand de ta mamie.
Tu m'en donneras des nouvelles.
Et, au fait, bonne Saint Valentin, et bon Noël si je ne te l'avais pas déjà dit.
Je te présente donc Eddie ( de son petit nom).
Il est bien plus sérieux que ce que tu peux penser, il se demande à quoi peut bien servir la vie, la mort aussi. L'enfermement. Aura des doutes sur sa santé mentale, et sur la tienne.
On peut dire ce qu'on voudra, ce livre ( pour peu que tu aies un peu de sensibilité ; et je ne te jugerai pas si tu n'en as pas) est plus profond que le puits dans le jardin normand de ta mamie.
Tu m'en donneras des nouvelles.
Et, au fait, bonne Saint Valentin, et bon Noël si je ne te l'avais pas déjà dit.
November 3, 2024
Acum câțiva ani am ajuns să dețin zece hamsteri, începând cu o femelă și un mascul:)
Deci, nostalgic!😂
P.S. Acum am doar un câine:)
Deci, nostalgic!😂
P.S. Acum am doar un câine:)
August 5, 2024
Dacă ajungi într-o librărie și vezi jurnalul ăsta, musai să-l citești. O să-ți ia mai puțin de 15 minute și o să rămână povestea lui Edward cu tine o viață ❤️
December 19, 2015
This one is fun. Edward's a bit of a one-trick-hamster, but this is for sure the closest literature has come to producing a love child of the icecapades and Camus, so I'll take it.
I think my favorite part of the book might have been "Translated from the original hamster by Miriam Elia and Ezra Elia."
The Elia siblings are doing a lot of work these days it seems. There is their podcast, a series of psychotic episodes (though I think they're finished with that and focusing on books.) Below is the first one, which has some Edward Hamster in there, which is fun to hear in narration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQvV...
Also Miriam Elia has recently encountered the wrath of Penguin (who, interestingly, published Edward), because she took popular British old-school kids books (Ladybird books with Peter and Jane) and spoofed them. But it looks like she'll be okay in the end.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...
http://miriamelia.co.uk/we-sue-an-art...
I appreciate the sensibility of the Elias siblings. It's not the kind of art that feeds my soul, but it's enjoyable and hopefully they will continue to grow and explore new paths as artists.
I think my favorite part of the book might have been "Translated from the original hamster by Miriam Elia and Ezra Elia."
The Elia siblings are doing a lot of work these days it seems. There is their podcast, a series of psychotic episodes (though I think they're finished with that and focusing on books.) Below is the first one, which has some Edward Hamster in there, which is fun to hear in narration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMQvV...
Also Miriam Elia has recently encountered the wrath of Penguin (who, interestingly, published Edward), because she took popular British old-school kids books (Ladybird books with Peter and Jane) and spoofed them. But it looks like she'll be okay in the end.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...
http://miriamelia.co.uk/we-sue-an-art...
I appreciate the sensibility of the Elias siblings. It's not the kind of art that feeds my soul, but it's enjoyable and hopefully they will continue to grow and explore new paths as artists.
June 24, 2013
A quick short read, written by a philosophical, bitter hamster. For some reason, I read this in a French accent.
Read
January 11, 2015Bleak yet somehow inspirational; a classic of prison literature.
May 22, 2025
Ohne Worte.
April 29, 2022
Super short, likeable read. But I'm afraid I'm going to forget almost everything about it in a very short amount of time. (So, for me, not so memorable. But I did find myself thinking about the book twice yesterday after finishing it. So, hope is not dead.)
For being so short, it has good chances in my *book* to be picked up and reread at some uncertain point in the future.
For being so short, it has good chances in my *book* to be picked up and reread at some uncertain point in the future.
April 16, 2025
Darf in keiner kultivierten, ernstzunehmenden Büchersammlung neben Werken wie denen von Dostojevski, Camus und Kafka fehlen 🚬
Ernsthaft: Ich habe lange nicht mehr bei einem Buch so gelacht (auch wenn es manchmal traurig war)
Ernsthaft: Ich habe lange nicht mehr bei einem Buch so gelacht (auch wenn es manchmal traurig war)
March 18, 2024
I have no hamster, this hamster is scary, I probably no get hamster
May 22, 2025
Absolut wild joa.
October 22, 2024
Bestes Buch jemals, muss man gelesen haben
December 24, 2013
Diary of Edward the Hamster (1990-1990)
Miriam and Ezra Elia
I didn’t think anyone anthropomorphized animals more than me until I read this diary, translated from the notes left behind by Edward the Hamster. Much like the Marquis de Sade, who wrote extensively while in prison and only achieved literary fame posthumously, this artifact of Edward’s incarceration is certain to elicit pathos in readers.
It’s clear that Edward has studied the likes of Heidegger and Sartre. His reflections are wrought with defiance, despair and existential angst. He searches for meaning within his cage. There is food, water, a wheel.
“Is there nothing else!” he cries.
Filled with wit and wisdom, this graphic novel is a black comic tribute to a beloved hamster—the most existential beast within the animal kingdom. The drawings are cute, the entries are funny, but sprinkled throughout the book are philosophical nuggets like, “Why write? Life is a cage of empty words,” and “Is this cage of my own making?”
Along the way, we follow Edward through failed escapes, domestic discord and bliss and a final, bloody insurrection. This is a quick and playful read, with clever artwork, and will bring a smile to the philosopher in your life.
Miriam and Ezra Elia
I didn’t think anyone anthropomorphized animals more than me until I read this diary, translated from the notes left behind by Edward the Hamster. Much like the Marquis de Sade, who wrote extensively while in prison and only achieved literary fame posthumously, this artifact of Edward’s incarceration is certain to elicit pathos in readers.
It’s clear that Edward has studied the likes of Heidegger and Sartre. His reflections are wrought with defiance, despair and existential angst. He searches for meaning within his cage. There is food, water, a wheel.
“Is there nothing else!” he cries.
Filled with wit and wisdom, this graphic novel is a black comic tribute to a beloved hamster—the most existential beast within the animal kingdom. The drawings are cute, the entries are funny, but sprinkled throughout the book are philosophical nuggets like, “Why write? Life is a cage of empty words,” and “Is this cage of my own making?”
Along the way, we follow Edward through failed escapes, domestic discord and bliss and a final, bloody insurrection. This is a quick and playful read, with clever artwork, and will bring a smile to the philosopher in your life.
June 9, 2022
Le Journal d'Edward Hamster Nihiliste est un livre qui te rend pensé. En gros il s'agit de la vie et tout ce qu'il contient. Il parle du quotiden, l'amour et le sens de la vie même si c'est un histoire d'hamster.
La plupart de l'histoire se déroule dans une cage dans laquelle il est conicé. C'est là il passe ses jours. Edward le hamster est un caractère qui essaye de remplir son temps et pour le faire Il écrit un journal qui parle de tout ce qu'il pense et ce qu'il passe.
Tantôt l'auteur écrit juste un phrase simple dans des panneaux mais ça donne en fait beaucoup. Par example " À quoi bon exister" page 15, c'est fort et ça te rende compte vraiment juste ce qu'il a dit.
Il y a beaucoup d'images qui m'a amusé beaucoup. Le style artistique est assez simple et il n'y a que des images en noir et blanc mais tous correspondent très bien avec l'ambiance de livre.
À mes yeux c'est un œuvre très bien écrit et je vous conseille de le lire!
La plupart de l'histoire se déroule dans une cage dans laquelle il est conicé. C'est là il passe ses jours. Edward le hamster est un caractère qui essaye de remplir son temps et pour le faire Il écrit un journal qui parle de tout ce qu'il pense et ce qu'il passe.
Tantôt l'auteur écrit juste un phrase simple dans des panneaux mais ça donne en fait beaucoup. Par example " À quoi bon exister" page 15, c'est fort et ça te rende compte vraiment juste ce qu'il a dit.
Il y a beaucoup d'images qui m'a amusé beaucoup. Le style artistique est assez simple et il n'y a que des images en noir et blanc mais tous correspondent très bien avec l'ambiance de livre.
À mes yeux c'est un œuvre très bien écrit et je vous conseille de le lire!
April 1, 2013
"Iona" from a hamster's perspective
May 2, 2023
A meditation on the nature of captivity, solitude, love, and cage bedding. Edward left this world too soon.
Too soon.
Too soon.
September 17, 2022
Great short story. Takes like 5 minutes to read, but still makes you feel emotionally engaged.
I would have it as a coffee table book, if I had a coffee table.
I would have it as a coffee table book, if I had a coffee table.
June 8, 2025
Love it. Einfach und doch tiefgründig. Hamstertastisch!
Read
July 6, 2023this was just about the most profound thing i’ve ever read
March 19, 2024
"Thursday, May 8th - The vet came today. He touched me. Apparently, I'm a woman."
Edward the Hamster only speaks the truth.
Edward the Hamster only speaks the truth.
April 2, 2020
The most hauntingly profound book I've read all year
Displaying 1 - 30 of 319 reviews