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Summary: A complete reading experience; in a single word, memorable.
Review: Proulx's The Shipping News is a truly great work of contemporary American fiction and a wonderful example of what a novel ought to be. Real people, harsh truths, a rare imagination and a superb, unusual writing style come together in this novel where the reader is transported to the symbolic Newfoundland. Proulx's metaphors are truly original and add new twists to the reader's imagination. Quoyle is a simple, unlikely hero who, like all the characters in The Shipping News, is compellingly portrayed through his efforts to untie tight, old, painful knots and replace them with new bonds of joy. We are reminded of the value of every human life, regardless of how apparently simple it may be. Ultimately we remember that happiness is the truest success and there is a Newfoundland for everybody where one can forgive, heal, discover joy and really live. Packed with insight, emotion, truth, symbolism and imagery, The Shipping News will open new doors, be a cause both for reflection and sheer enjoyment; there is something new to think about on almost every page. Proulx offers a complete reading experience that is in a single word, memorable
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Summary: A small miracle
Review: I was astonished by this book. Her prose has subtle poetic quality which gives it the sort of intensely evocative force that one would ordinarily more readily associate with a piece of music than with a piece of writing. I found it utterly compelling
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Summary: slow and odd at first but ultimately (and quickly) pays off
Review: The prose is alternately elaborate and simple, and the characters are peculiar but real. I almost put it down after the first chapter, but am glad I kept going. The situations and descriptions are almost painful to read at times, again because they ring so true
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Summary: Newspaperman finds self in New Foundland -> Great Reading
Review: This quirky slice-of-life tale of awakening love and self actualization in New Foundland was a pleasure to read. Getting into the author's rythms took awhile but once the mist clears (literally) in the setting of the Newfoundland bays the characters come to life and soar. I've seldom read such well-drawn characters; in a few bold strokes you feel comfortable with Quoyle, his children, the Aunt, Wavey and all the colorful colleges at the shipping news. You really come to know them as friends. Every character makes an indelible mark in your imagination. Some passages are breathtakingly beautiful and exiting. The local idioms/speech and humor are a well observed delight. Clever use is made of the book of knots to frame the action and themes. Headlines internal to the main character are witty and insightful. Dark edges of life are included in the spirit of journalistic sensationalism.
A great summer read!
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Summary: Boy, I could see the people and smell the air!
Review: Just tremendous - absolutely loved it! This book is one I will actually read again. Have loaned it to friends who also thought it wonderful. What good fortune to have picked it up :-) Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
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Summary: Different is not always bad
Review: I was essentially forced to read "The Shipping News" for a final English project, but I must say that it is not as bad as I was originally fearing. The diction and style were hard to get used to, but after a while, it is more like a stream of conciousness. It is an interesting story, and depending on your sense of humor, extremely funny. It is also a story of self discovery and self worth, not only for the main character, but for a few of the minor characters as well.Overall, this is a very good book, once you get used to it
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Summary: I have more fun playing bridge with my Grandmother!!!
Review: Annie fails to captivate the reader as she tries to expound upon the meaning of bucolic life in Nova Scotia in the late 20th century. Her writing was less than charismatic and seemed punctuated by over zealous hand picked dictionary idioms. These terms seemed out of style and context in an otherwise bland plot line. In summation this book, does little to enhance creative North American literature, but merely serves as a verhicle to pass a few hours, if that, on a foggy Norwester day
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Summary: A book for real people.
Review: This was a wonderful book with the possibilities of a variety of life styles for real people
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Summary: Unlike anything I've read
Review: Wonderful characters, incredible turns of phrase, beautifully crafted. I can find nothing to compare it with. One of my absolute favorites
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Summary: A Book Truly Above Others
Review: Simply put this book shines. And shines. And shines. It is without doubt an absolute literary treasure. A beautifully, uncomplicated tale of a floundering father in search for a place in the big world though not quite sure how to go about doing so. Quoyle, the lead character, is a bumbling, overweight and utter social misfit, ill-at-ease in his lumbering physique and a novice in the ways of love, nevermind life. Though backward and undoubtedly eccentric he steadfastly plods onward, creating a new life for himself and his family in Newfoundland, and not only wins the hearts of the town folk but wins the readers hearts as well
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