Rating: 
Summary: Characters, plot, atmosphere
Review: Rich characters and a compelling storyline make this a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Feat by a wondrous writer
Review: Some books, like valued friends, are a constant source of support. E. Annie Proulx's "The Shipping News" is such a book. A first reading introduces a magician of language, a unique style of communication, and an almost unbelievable mastery of descriptive information about a place little known to most readers (Newfoundland). Opening this book before it won almost all the prizes available to writers was a fresh introduction not unlike reading Melville or Conrad the first time. Proulx plunges us so convincingly into new territory that turning the pages is like walking in a foreign land, meeting compelling characters, discovering the raw life of the pioneer psyche. Writing in terse sentence fragments, spinning elegies when a character encounters the sea, the cold, the delicate hidden secrets of the past, describing the smells and tastes (like fried bologna and screech) and the manners of the bizarre townfolk of this strange place.......Proulx has few equals in the field today. The evidence of extensive research is everywhere and yet never flagrantly intrusive. Just comfortable.Re-reading, and YES I do encourage visiting this old friend again, only serves to enhance the impact of the first time 'round. How she is able to populate this story with the variety of people she does, making us want to penetrate the interstices of their lives beyond the hints given us, is a question that doesn't beg an answer: it is enough to just marvel. Curl up, cup of hot tea at hand, and travel to the special place Proulx has created. A magnificent book with incredible staying power.
Rating:
Summary: The novel that got me to read fiction again
Review: I started reading fiction again after reading The Shipping News. It was so good that I wanted to find more contemporary fiction of this caliber. The novel's a main character is a loser who is hard to love because he is so unbelievably inept and knows it. The background is maritime Canada with all the romance of the sea and of small town life. Proulx studs the landscape with some grotesque characters and others who are extremely real. The writing is sharp as a razor; a single word used in one chapter had me astonished at how apt it was, creating an entire (sordid) scene with a single syllable. The theme of the book is redemption and learning; the main characters learn and change. This is what makes this book worth reading. Without it, the bad stuff would have remainded the type of thing you'd hear about on daytime TV. Instead, it becomes a journey from night into daylight.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful to read
Review: Watch "Ishtar". Get your teeth drilled. Anything else is less painful than reading this stinker. Harry Potter, To Kill a Mockingbird, and 1984 may be fiction gods, but how Shipping News received a Pultizer is beyond even my keen powers of deduction. The whole book. Reads. Like this. There is not a single correct sentence; it's all in fragments. Everything you learned in sixth grade English class goes right out the window, so you'll strain you eyes just trying to figure out what's going on. Quoyle, the book's central character, is the underdog. The first chapter or two are so promising: he gets married to a horrible woman (named Petal Bear; don't ask, I didn't get it either), has two little girls, and ponders his seemingly meaningless existence. After Petal Bear dies in an accident (and after selling their daughters to a pedophile in the bargain), Quoyle moves to Newfoundland and goes through an entire 'rebirth'. Or at least that's how Proulx wants you to see it. In truth, the book is painfully slow, much like getting a nail through the foot. You don't care about Quoyle; there are few redeeming qualities besides his awful shyness. You don't care about his family either, or the quiet Newfoundland seashore where absolutely NOTHING happens (except for the occasional finding of a human head or wooing a local girl, but other than that ... nada, zippo, zilch). This book almost reminds me of such movies as Hannibal or Girl in Gold Boots; it wanted to be good, it tried to be, and it failed miserably. I gave this 1 star only because the ratings system on amazon.com doesn't descend into the negatives.
Rating:
Summary: Book Full Of Newfoundland
Review: I am actually from Newfoundland, where this novel takes place, and I am impressed by the accuracy of which my homeland is depicted, and also by the dark Newfoundland humour which flavours the book from start to finish. Ms. Proulx certainly deserved her award for bringing such real, poignant characters to life!
Rating:
Summary: It's all in the word pictures.
Review: The best thing about Shipping News is savoring the word pictures that Ms. Proulx paints throughout the book. It is indeed the writing that makes this book a real jem. I think the story must take second place to the genuine art of her pen. This is a must to read and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: The Shipping News
Review: E. Annie Proulx's novel The Shipping News has won a number of prestigious awards, including the Irish Times International Fiction Prize, the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and these awards were undoubtedly well-deserved. The story is an unforgettable mixture of history, culture, relationships, and love, and is truly in a league of its own. Quoyle, at thirty-six years of age, decides to start his life over, fleeing from the memories of a dead two-timing wife, a countless number of third-rate jobs, and being "...a failure at loneliness..." who "...yearned to be gregarious, to know his company was a pleasure to others." Quoyle decided to abandon his life in New York and return to his ancestral roots in the decollate coasts of Newfoundland, along with his two daughters and aunt who grew up on these coasts. In Newfoundland, Quoyle meets a number of characters that eventually become a major part in helping him rebuild his life. Quoyle also begins to learn who he really is and that love, although it has been nothing but hurtful his entire life, in fact may "...sometimes occur without pain or misery." Considering that Proulx lives part time in Newfoundland, she was able to capture the everyday lives of people who live there. This book gives the reader an idea of what the quaint town in this part of the world is like, where everyone knows each other and what is going on in every other person's life. A vivid picture is gradually painted in the reader's mind of what the different characters look like, and Proulx achieves this with thorough detail and description. "A stubbled chin, slack neck. Jaggled hair frosting down. Fingers ochre from chain-smoking..." However, not only is imagery used, but distinctive personality traits as well that makes the reader feel they know the characters. Relationships are also prtrayed in this novel. One in particular is a father/daughter relationship. Quoyle is raising his two daughters, Bunny and Sunshine, as a single parent. "Worried sick, in fact...feared that loss, the wretchedness of childhood, his own failure to love her enough had damaged Bunny." Quoyle is constantly worrying about whether or not he is making the right decisions for his children and is worried about how they will adjust to their new surroundings. This is just one example that is shown throughout the novel, and these relationships are what add to the plot and tie the characters together. The writing in this novel is somewhat choppy with certain sentences that some readers may feel are unnnecessary or distracting, yet these sentences add to the feeling and mood of the novel. All in all, The Shipping News is thoroughly entertaining and meaningful, and many readers are sure to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: She writes with a style that is utterly unique...
Review: E.Anne Proulx (no, I don't know how to pronounce it) has written a fine story, even interesting at times, but it is her style that makes this a great book. The Story is set in the modern era in New York and mostly Newfoundland and revolves around a hard luck character named Quoyle which is a word meaning "coil of rope". There are a lot of nautical terms used in this book, and they almost always are entirely appropriate and interesting. Anyway, Quoyle is a sad character who was neglected as a child, abused by his peers and rejected by his wife. He finally leaves his old life to start anew. More tragedy results, but he is a survivor. In the end, he reaches a point where one might almost think he has made a success of himself. This novel was fun to read, full of surprises and provided lots of interesting, nasty little characters... that are written with honesty and frankness. I learned a lot about life in a nautical community and how strange and pathetic it can be.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book...
Review: ...because it let me witness the transformation of a man in a way that few works of literature allow. Purposely choppy and discomforting at first, Proulx's writing style evolves and expands as Quoyle opens up and comes to accept himself.
Rating: 
Summary: barely redeems itself
Review: The Shipping News is a big disappointment. Proulx gets too 'cutesy' with her writing and as one reviewer pointed out, shamefully neglects pronouns...why does she do this? it's as if she's trying to create Faulkneresque local color by chopping her sentences...the characters, for the most part, are uninteresting and the plot is nonexistent...a spirited ending saves this novel from oblivion...
|
