SHIPPING NEWS

Rating:
Summary: Absolute
Review: I have found the best in art is not so easy, but the rewards of struggle and occasional victory can be life altering. Every single page of To Kill a Mockingbird tells of some enduring truth; I caught a glimpse of what I can only call God in The Color Purple. For me, The Shipping News is in that same strange space, that mortals such as myself only rarely glimpse. As high and cold as the stars or the bottom of the sea, out on a frozen rock in the middle of nowhere, M Proulx gives us a Quoyle, thereby giving us ourselves.

Rating:
Summary: I see the grammar police have been here
Review: Proulx is one of the few writers today who has a distinct style. Yes, it is unusual but it is also perfectly grammatical, unless your definition of grammar comes out of a fourth grade English book in which sentence diagramming is presented as the height of analytical insight and creativity is always color-by-number. Proulx's ability to construct complex characters in a few strokes, her remarkable sense of detail and her ear for dialogue are without equal among her contemporaries. I'd say that her idiosyncrasies are much less trying than Joyce's, for example, and infinitely more rewarding. This is a stunning book. Not without flaws, but stunning none the less.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent!
Review: I was skeptical of this book at first. When it's summer in the Northwest the last thing you want to do is pick up a book set in the dreary weather of Newfoundland. The first few chapters were tough to get through but once I got into it I couldn't put it down! I found the setting of the story more beautiful than depressing. Proulx's descriptions of Newfoundland are completely breathtaking. This book also contains some of the most memorable dialogue and characters you will ever read. Some of it will make you crack a smile, while other passages will just plain make you laugh out loud! The voices of these characters are just so real, you can't deny Proulx's incredible story telling talent. "The Shipping News" is well deserved of the National Book Award and if you stick with it it will be one of the most enjoyable books you've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Dull with no regard for grammar
Review: I don't understand why so many people found the writing style so interesting. Proulx writes in fragments; it's like listening to George Bush! I grew tired of having to re-read paragraphs to figure out what Proulx is trying to say in her muddled dribble. This is not unique and interesting; it's a total disregard for correct grammar. Other than the awful prose, the book was painfully boring.

Rating:
Summary: A great book for someone undergoing a personal crisis!
Review: Re-reading this book. Love the imagery, the language, the character's names, and above all the underlying message that life goes on in the face of adversity. I was inspired by the way that a man's love of his children, and quiet and assuming nature allow him to embrace life again. For someone going through a divorce, I found it inspiring!

Rating:
Summary: Changed my life (til I forgot its lessons)
Review: Although I consider myself more of a scifi fan than anything else, I have to admit that I had a good cry or two while reading The Shipping News. There is no question that the first part of the novel, spent in the USA, is *very* depressing, but the rest of the novel is an absolute joy. Above all else, this is a story of REDEMPTION.

Rating:
Summary: You must simply hang on!
Review: I must agree with many reviewers. The writing style of Proulx doesn't allow the reader to fall into one's typical rythym. Yet once you allow yourself the flexibility to wrap yourself around the sparse, yet rich writing it is a pure joy to read. It is not a book which will reach out to you in the first 30 or 40 pps. One must embrace the symbolism and possibly do some outside research to truly appreciate the characters and geography that Proulx writes about. If you look deeper than say something from John Grisham you will be rewarded for your effort.

Rating:
Summary: raw reality
Review: 'The Shipping News' by E Annie Proulx

This novel is as vast and powerful as the Newfoundland landscape in which it is set, however it deals with the minutiae of small people's lives. In the cutting reality of the northern landscape Proulx rips open American society and hangs out the dirty washing of people's existences to be examined under a harsh polar light. Our protagonist is trapped when we meet him - the chains of a hopeless marriage and a dead-end job are threatening to strangle him. Yet as she so often does, lady Luck steps in at the appropriate moment and, through the turmoils of death; kidnap; suicide pacts and the arrival of a mysterious Aunt, contrives to deliver Quoyle, for that is our unlikely hero's name, into the arms of his saviour: that God forsaken and hopeless island whose name nevertheless epitomises the fundamental hope of this tale - Newfoundland. It is this which provides Quoyle's catharsis: through attempting to understand the lives of his rugged new friends and their alcoholic, vulgar, awesome lives; and through struggling to create a new home for his daughters and Aunt he is able to better understand his own existence. Proulx's characters are painted with a large brush on a muted, icy canvas in colours so loud and synthetic that they could easily be dismissed, however the characters are real, within these pages, and violently so. Their lives at first appear ridiculous, pantomimic in their misfortune, yet on closer inspection one realises that they are in fact perfect creations - expertly reflecting the feelings and experiences of us all. Through the author's eyes we see love, loss, passion, fear and insanity all placed against a monumental panorama. Quoyle himself is repulsive; he is fat and ugly, yet his imperfectness makes him authentic. One does not necessarily empathise with him yet, almost despite himself, he becomes a sort of everyman hero - a good person who represents our very human fears. Proulx has a masterful understanding of the human mind and is able to attract us as voyeurs whilst managing to make resonant observations upon the crippling effects of death, grief and mourning; the meanings and forms of love; and on the bigotry, short-termism and selfishness of "American" society - warning us of the dangers of idealising this illusory culture. Proulx manages to do what few authors do successfully - make you loose yourself completely in a place which you do not know. Her tight prose and cutting description are so vivid that they can both stimulate and nauseate at once. The untamed violence of her writing, driven by the force of the omnipresent sea, and her ability to dress with tenderness and pathos the most abhorrent image makes Proulx an addictive force. She does not sentimentalise her characters or their surroundings, their weaknesses are on full display - green and ugly, nevertheless their human fragility makes them relevant. It may sound bleak, but there is an over-riding sense of justice in this novel, a feeling that good will out and that the human spirit will survive no matter what. Maybe it is this that makes the book so incredible. It is impossible to say, yet one thing is certain: this book should be read - by all that believe in humanity.

Rating:
Summary: I'm halfway through. Please shoot me.
Review: Oh God no. I am halfway through this book, and only by force. This is an assigned reading for my English 12 AP class, and it is pure agony. I started out with an open mind, but Proulx's awkward writing style lost me right from the start. I find myself continuously backtracking just to *attempt* understanding what the hell she's trying to say. The characters are decent, but not nearly developed enough in the first half of the book (funny, I always thought character development was covered towards the start of the book). The names are just absurd, and only further confuse the reader as to the timeframe and setting of the book (who the hell in the nienties names their children Bunny and Sunshine? I could have sworn I was reading a book set in the 70s!)

And by far the worst effect this book has had on me is the fact that it is depressing as anything. I plan(planned?) on entering journalism, but the dreary descriptions of Quoyle's career have thoroughly confused me as to what I now want to do with my life, and made me far gloomier than I should be as a student.

I dread finishing this book, and fail to understand the 5 star ratings and the critical acclaim.

Rating:
Summary: Tough going at first, but worth the struggle
Review: I agree with the reviewer about not giving up in the first 50 pages. The writing style can be distracting, and Quoyle seems like a big-time loser/doormat incapable of making a good decision, but the story of his evolution is worth the trouble. It unfolds slowly, but that is part of the charm. Hated the beginning, was a fan long before the end.