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Summary: Wish Authors Would Write More Books Like This One!
Review: Just finished E. Annie Proulx's "The Shipping News." Only disappointment in this book was having to read the last page. I wanted the story to go on and on. Proulx's characters were so believeably real that they became like old friends, and like old friends, you hate to say good-bye. Along with writing about in depth characters, the author manages quite nicely and very enjoyably to educate the reader with boating terminolgy , the history of the declining fishing industry in Newfoundland ,and the problems incurred during severe winter storms, Can't wait to read Proulx's next book.
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Summary: how imaginative!
Review: each character in the book has such a distinct personality. I loved it. The "knots" in the title of each chapter went quite well with the plot of each chapter.
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Summary: Last best book I've read in years
Review: Writing in limited narrator, present tense is such a challenge. It forces the reader to open the pages and open the world one, often painful, experience at a time. It does not allow us the comfort that everything is past, that someone has survived to tell the tale. I loved this book for its vividness, for it's empathy, for its mastery of narrative. I wish Jay Leno could act.
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Summary: Fabulous! Beautifully written. A MUST read!
Review: I have just thoroughly enjoyed The Shipping News. I went in with absolutely no knowledge of the journey I was embarking on. The author brilliantly wove this wonderful story around an unlikely leading man, a cast of true characters, and brilliantly brought the story to a satisfying finish. I will be recommending this book to all of my literate friends. Bravo!
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Summary: The voice of dissention ...
Review: I must agree with the previous reviewer from Chicago - I got about halfway through this book and couldn't finish (VERY unusual for me). I started with high hopes as the characters started to take shape, but after getting halfway through the book no further character development had transpired! It just couldn't keep my attention.
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Summary: For lovers of good literature
Review: This book is for lovers of good literature. Period. The rest of you stick to your trash novels.
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Summary: a darkly comic methaphor for a hard lived life
Review: This darkly written novel slowly absorbed me,its richly woven story steers you through the dullest and harshest landscape of humanity.The story of a simple man finding his soul in the strangest place on earth with the help of his practical old aunt and her dog Warren who was named after the aunt's deceased lover.The characters are out of this world for their quirkiness and somehow it all rings true.A very disturbing read and one that will stay with you for sometime.Take the journey.
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Summary: Very Rare I can't finish a book!
Review: It is very rare that I can't finish a book, but I just couldn't do it! I found I had to reread many paragraphs, maybe it was because I am from the midwest, but the language seemed very strange. Living in Chicago area I thought I had heard every dialect in the world, but this one confused me. I gave this a fair chance and read more then half of it, but I had to give up. I don't care what awards it won, I was bored to tears.
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Summary: Brilliant, original, profound
Review: I can't praise this book highly enough. It stunned me in the same way that Rabbit, Run did the first time I read it. I don't know how she did it, but thank God she did. Listen to the audio cassette version (unabridged) if you want to truly savor her gifts. Just amazing.
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Summary: Proulx sings on paper
Review: Proulx's strange and beautiful writing style is mesmerizing in this tale of a guy who in spite of being a kind of "sub-Everyman" manages to chip out a life for himself in icy Newfoundland. I found myself re-reading sentence after sentence just for the joy of it. You will fall in love with every character, and with every line. The awards this book has won are truly deserved. It's a masterpiece.
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