Rating: 
Summary: A worthwhile read, but overrated.
Review: This book is good for a few reasons, mostly Ms. Proulx's exceptionally vivid imagery. She creates colorful pictures with, it seems, great ease, by stringing together a few words in short, efficient sentences or in sentence fragments. She's also very funny. There's a line I won't soon forget, at the novel's start, about how the pathetic Quoyle spends his nights: "Dreamt of love. Why not? A free country." My problem with the novel is its slowly paced, predictable plot: Likable guy goes from an unbelievably miserable life to an unbelievably sweet and happy one. That's not to say the idyllic ending in itself is bad; it was the long, slow progression to the happy ending that I object to. I didn't expect that particular problem. The novel starts off strong, witty and sharp, not taking itself too seriously and presenting an instantly sympathetic protagonist, whose life is summarized neatly with the telling of a few heartbreaking, absurd events. Once Quoyle gets to Newfoundland, however, the story grinds to a virtual halt. The clarity of the early chapters is gone. Suddenly, it seems you're trudging through a series of vignettes that have little to do with one another: Quoyle's daughter has irrational fears; she gets over them. An unhappily married couple visit the harbor; weeks later, the man's murdered body drifts ashore by Quoyle's house. Life on Newfoundland can be dull; the assistant who works for Quoyle's aunt is desperately trying to get a job elsewhere. Fascinating. Some of these anecdotes are amusing, but they don't weave together to create much of anything, certainly not any explanation of the fairy tale magic that transforms Quoyle from a pathetic oaf at the novel's start to a robust self-assured man at the end. At the same time, the writer has an annoying tendency of skimming over events that are significant to Quoyle's development as a character. For instance, he apparently witnesses some sort of mishap with an oil tanker that heightens his appreciation for the island environment. But we're not there when it happens -- we learn about it during a newsroom conversation days after the fact. Similarly, Quoyle's friendship with Dennis and Beety seems to be significant; after all, back in upstate New York he was a social moron, unable to maintain any normal relationship outside of his friendship with the pitying Partridge. But again, the reader doesn't really see the new friendship being formed -- one day Quoyle meets Dennis and Beety, then suddenly they're all sitting down to dinner like long lost relatives at holiday-time. I found these omissions a bit frustrating, and they made me less tolerant of Ms. Proulx's endless digressions into the history of old sea storms and oddly shaped rocks in Newfoundland waters. I don't mean to sound too critical -- the book is definitely worth reading. It's a sweet story and, again, the descriptive writing is fun. I'm just surprised by all the unqualified praise for this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully crafted, stunningly good novel
Review: This is one of the very best novels I've had the chance to read. It's not just that the story is rich in and of itself - and it is - it's that the words themselves are so artfully assembed that they provide layers of undercurrents that add depth and emotion to the narrative. This book reads like a symphony, with many intertwined themes and narratives all woven together into a whole, unified picture.
Proulx writes in choppy short sentecnes. It's akward and clumsy language viewed against the littered murky landscape of personal failure and Mockingbird, NY, where the story starts. But when the story shifts location - in the first of several deeply satisfying views of fair-handed fate - the choppiness of the words begin to work in concert with the setting. Words that sounded unnatural and coarse describing suburban life are perfect when describing the Newfundland coast line and the direct, honest, self-possesed people who live there. As the characters grow and gain depth, the language fits them more and more clearly.
Proulx describes a world that could hardly be more concrete and weaves in thrilling bits of magic. She doesn't water down an incredibly hard life but weaves in the certainty that it's a also a good life. In the end, she's created a lovely, satisfying book without the slightest hint of syrup, contrivance or manipulation. Lovely, lovely, lovely. I hated to see it end.
Rating:
Summary: Returning to a simpler lifestyle for a happier existence
Review: This is the story of Quoyle, a total loser whose life has been so dysfunctional that he has come to expect nothing but ill treatment and ridicule. His father rejected him and preferred his brother, his career is a disaster and his wife flaunts her promiscuity in his face and eventually leaves him, taking the children so she can sell them. Following the deaths of his father and his wife, the loss of his job and facing a future as a single parent of two young daughters, Quoyle decides to return with his aunt to Newfoundland, where his paternal family had its roots. It is here in a small town that Quoyle at last finds a place for himself and discovers the true meaning of community.
As well as being the story of a man's journey toward inner peace, "The Shipping News" is packed with sometimes really comic descriptions of small town life in more remote areas, tidbits of Newfoundland history, asides about seafaring and the demise of the fishing and sealing industries. The quick, short sentences in the first part of the book reflect Quoyle's crazed life, later as his life becomes more relaxed the story also flows more smoothly.
I did not see the movie, but the characters on the video box covers are way too good looking to have been characters from "The Shipping News", the novel. The main character, Quoyle is an obese man with red hair and an unusual chin that juts out like a shelf, his appearance is a part of this story.
Rating: 
Summary: A truely amazing love story
Review: This novel, although a little boring at first to me, was simply an amazing love story. Quoyle wanted to give up on love altogether, but he met an amazing woman who loved him for who he was, and he, again, believed in love. Although it was extremely difficult, he wouldn't let a shallow woman and a broken heart ruin his life. He realized that his life didn't end with the death of his wife and end of his marriage. It was simply time for him to start over, and find someone who really did love him.
Rating:
Summary: The style, not the story
Review: While the style of Annie Proulx's prose gripped me immediately, the story never did. The prose is very carefully crafted and is worth taking time over. She writes very methodically using metaphor very skillfully and creatively.
Unfortunately, this is not a story that will move you too deeply. Sure, the characters can be related to and in particular Quoyle is depicted so clearly you feel like you are very involved in his life. But I finished the book wanting more and wondering what, in fact, the story had really been about.
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