Rating: 
Summary: A Sense of Place and People
Review: I just finished this--one of those novels to which I've been meaning to get to for about five years now. The story of a man named Quoyle, forced by circumstance to return to his ancestral land, writing for a small local paper...Trying to fit back in, as no outsider would be able to, learning the language of boats, local cuisine (squidburgers?!?), superstition and journalism. I really, really liked this book. A distinct narrative voice, a complex plot-matrix (nothing so simple as a plot-line), and the whole thing well and truly anchored in a place. A concrete and vivid depiction of a Newfoundland seaside town. And the quotations beginning each chapter were nice, too, mostly from The Ashley Book of Knots, with directions for tying--and by chapter's end, I picked up each knot's metaphor. I'd read Annie Proulx's short story collection, Heartsongs, and enjoyed that, too. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this really fine novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The Shipping News
Review: One of the more average Pulitzer prize winners I have encountered. What I feel the book lacked was depth of character, the characters are touched upon but not fully explored, even Quoyle I do not now feel that I know much about. The story wends and falls a few times, just as you think the author could be creating something dramatic it stops and turns another direction, much like the Northerly polar winds. The main theme of the book, Quoyle's plight, I enjoyed. From hopelessly desperate and unrequited love and then to eventually find happiness again is well handled, the final paragraph excellent, but this theme too could have had more depth. The book is different with a refreshing style of writing, for which I will long remember it, but lacks what I would expect from the company it keeps in the annals Pulitzer winners.
Rating:
Summary: The Shipping News
Review: GREAT BOOK! Most of the negative reviews are by people who have trouble comprehending the book, which is NOT all that difficult to follow. Definitely not for the "lazy" reader who needs everything spelled out for them like a "Hooked On Phonics" book. Stick it out, enjoy the pace, and you will be rewarded!
Rating:
Summary: Immense Insight and Rich Color
Review: First of all, I don't think that a review should "give" the book away. This review should just give you an idea of how good this story is. The Shipping News was recommended to me by a friend with a taste for the unusual. This was certainly fitting. This book is really well written as the story is immensely colorful and yet dreary at the same time. Through the use of picturesque metaphors Annie Proulx really draws up our imagination to help us see the world in Newfoundland through the eyes of a nieve 36 year old man growing up with his 2 young daughters. Most of the world he sees is a grey, cold waterfront home to some strange and all-to-real characters. He watches them living their home-town lives from behind his desk and camera; and slowly finds himself brought into the picture. The author desribes everything with such colorful detail that you can't help but picture the beauty of the writing in your mind...even when she is simply describing a red sweater. One interesting aspect of the book is that each chapter begins with an insightful quote from The Ashley Book of Knots or the Mariner's Dictionary. I recommend you re-read this quote at the end of each chapter to see how foretelling they really are. This is just one part of the uniqueness of the story. Overall, this is well thought-through and richly written book. The details are really what make this book so fascinating. You get a real sense of regular people bracing their homes and lives against the oncoming windy storms...as well as being able to taste homemade jelly drapped over burnt toast with a side of fried bologna.
Rating: 
Summary: The Shipping News-More Similar To Us Than We Think
Review: Quoyle, a father of two sets forward to Newfoundland where he finds a new life. Full of bumps and twists, this book is a book for anyone who enjoys reading about adventures. The Shipping News is a book that is not slow; rather it's a fast read even though it has a good number of pages in it. One different thing that the author does in the book is that she starts each chapter with a quote from The Ashley Book of Knots or the Mariner's Dictionary. This gives the book something different and it adds to the book. Annie Proulx did a great job of using great detail and good imagery to show and not tell how the story goes along. Proulx adds many details that apply to our everyday lives. This book is easy to relate to which makes the book so good. The main character, Quoyle goes through many things to become a better person just like we have to. I found this book enjoyable to read.
Rating:
Summary: Newfoundland stole the show
Review: E. Annie Proulx's intimate descriptions of Newfoundland made it a character in The Shipping News as much as Quoyle and the rest. It was full of something ghostly and beautiful that made me feel as if I, too, had roots there. It was a place of working class people living an antiquated life that made it seem like something from a skewed fairy tale -- a Never-neverland of salt-of-the-earth tragedy and darkness rather than childhood fantasy. The human characters were equally fascinating, particulary Quoyle, whose psychological transformation was a joy to witness.
Rating: 
Summary: Missed the boat!
Review: I was looking forward to this novel with great anticipation. I felt like I saw the lives of the characters only in glimpses... controlled by an author who did not develop them fully. Disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: The Shipping News
Review: GREAT BOOK! Most of the negative reviews are by people who have trouble comprehending the book, which is NOT all that difficult to follow. Definitely not for the "lazy" reader who needs everything spelled out for them like a "Hooked On Phonics" book. Stick it out, enjoy the pace, and you will be rewarded!
Rating:
Summary: Funny!
Review: THE SHIPPING NEWS by E. Annie Proulx The winner of the 1994 Pulitzer for Fiction, THE SHIPPING NEWS is a story that stands out and will be remembered in this reviewer's mind as something that cannot be imitated or copied. Annie Proulx created a set of unique and quirky characters and fit them into the setting that is the cold north of Newfoundland, centering on the sorry life of one man named Quoyle. His life changes when he moves himself and his two young daughters from Brooklyn to the land that was home to his ancestors. His memories of his own immediate family are not happy ones. But family ties are strong. Life for Quoyle was never good. He never heard a loving word from his parents or brother. As an adult, life was not great either. He goes from job to job, doesn't have many friends, and lives the life of an outcast. One day he meets a man named Partridge at the local Laundromat, and the two become fast friends, despite their differences in background. When Quoyle is unemployed once again, Partridge helps him get a job at a local newspaper where he also happens to work, and soon Quoyle is working semi-regularly for this newspaper, but isn't doing that much better. He's not "getting it" and is not what one calls a great asset to the company. He gets fired and rehired seasonally, and then Partridge and wife Mercalia announce they are moving to California. Quoyle feels his life is about to end, his only friends leaving to move across the country. Then, Quoyle meets Petal in a bar. Their relationship starts off on the right foot, but soon they are married and things fall apart fast. He now has a wife that cheats on him openly, a wife he loves with a passion but Petal looks down upon him with disdain. The more he loves her, the more she stays away, flaunting her lovers in his face. And now with two children, Quoyle rarely sees Petal at all. A few years of unhappy living, and he receives word from his father that both parents are on their last legs. With the death of both mother and father, and a brother that doesn't seem to care, it is the last straw when Quoyle finds out that his wife has taken off with the kids. Petal's car is in an accident, the children are missing, and his wife is dead. Quoyle is beside himself, and the last thing he wanted to hear was that the children had been sold to some man. What else could go wrong in his life? Amazingly enough, this all happens within the first 26 pages of the book. Quoyle soon finds his two daughters, and is now on his way to Newfoundland with them and his father's sister Agnis and her dog Warren. The life they lead in his family homeland is quite a difference from what they experienced in New York. It's rougher, tougher, but yet Quoyle adapts. With the help of Partridge, Quoyle is hired by the local paper THE GAMMY BIRD and as the reader discovers, Quoyle transforms from a pathetic loser to someone that has merit and credibility. And he also finds love. THE SHIPPING NEWS was a somewhat funny look at a man who needed just a little push (or a big boost) in the right direction to get his life on track. Written in a style that may put off some readers, this novel was enjoyable and the story always kept this reader wanting to read more. It's a story of love, life, and the need to be loved back, all told through the story of Quoyle. The interesting characters throughout the book enhance his story, and one comes to love each one. This reviewer highly recommends THE SHIPPING NEWS but with a word of caution: although it can be a fast read, one needs to adjust to the style of writing that Proulx uses to tell this tale.
Rating:
Summary: Rooting for Quoyle
Review: I know alot of people had mixed feelings about this book - but the law of averages with a widely read book such as Shipping News says the reviews will run the gamut. For myself, I love books where I feel real emotions for its characters, whether it ranges from compassion to disdain. Quoyle is immediately loveable - which is ironically one of his downfalls. I couldn't help but root him on the whole book through. This book is neither suspenseful nor exciting - but it's about human emotions and the realities of life. If you keen on feeling something when you read then this novel is certainly worth your time.
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