The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
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Book Reviews of The Shipping News
Book Review: A rich read
Summary: 5 Stars
I went back to school as an "adult returning to study" and this is one of the books I HAD to read. At first I wondered how I was going to like a character that was so physically repulsive, but I ended up LOVING him. What a character Proulx has "birthed"; so real. Then I wondered how I was going to read a book where the author wrote in a fashion that was so "different". This has ended up to be my favourite book, because of the richness of its characters, the overwhelming setting of Newfoundland ... the atmosphere. I also love the way Proulx writes with her staccato sentences emphasising three words with their own short sentence; or a character whose whole conversation may go for two pages. My only disappointment is that Proulx hasn't written another like it. I have never read a book more than once (too many books ... too little time) ... but this one I have, and I will again.Book Review: Newspaperman finds self in New Foundland -> Great Reading
Summary: 5 Stars
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!Book Review: Wonderfully engaging
Summary: 5 Stars
The Shipping News is my first Annie Proulx novel but it will not be my last. I had read her collection of short stories called Close Range and really enjoyed the depth she gave to each and every story so I decided to try The Shipping News since it was high on most readers' list of must-read books. I am certainly glad I invested the time to do so! This is a wonderfully engaging novel that gives the readers all of the emotions humanity is capable of feeling. I felt as if I were really in Newfoundland and I could smell the sea air and feel the cold. The novel has that small town feel to it and that adds a bit of claustrophobia to the tone but I felt that this added to the nuances of the book. I liked how the whole novel centered around knots and how the main story showed how Quoyle went about his life slowly working the knots of his life out and becoming a better person because of it.Book Review: Beautiful and Visual.
Summary: 5 Stars
For visual imagery, this has to be one of the best books I have read since "West with the Night" by Beryl Markham. This is an absolutely stunning tale about an ordinary man, Quoyle, who very quickly goes from a flat character to a man you would meet next door. Aside from the wonderful story of transformation, this is textured, inciteful, original text. The style is unique yet not in that post-modern way that turns the reader off. Every chapter is repleat with a new idea, a new peice of information that teaches and informs the reader. Proulx makes this story come alive. You feel as if you were there, with the sounds, the pictures, the knots. She makes you want to go to Newfoundland and visit. This is writing at it 's finest, no didactisism, no obvious manipulation of the readers emotion. Just pure talent. You won't be able to put this down.
j.c. holmeBook Review: Country Gal gone Big City Loves this Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
Whenever I think about this book I can not help but smile. I have read it no less than five times and every time I read it, I feel like I've taken a voyeur's "vacation" to Newfoundland! As one reviewer wrote, the characters are "unsophisticated" and "unintelligent" but that is their charm! Having grown up in a very rural town in Northern Minnesota and then having moved to an extremely large city - I find it refreshing to be brought back to my simpler life and get re-acquainted with people that aren't complicated and self-involved by the "Rat Race". Since reading the book, I have given it out as a present probably no less than 30 times. Every person I have given it to has really enjoyed the writing and the uniqueness of the story-telling. I would love to see a Shipping News Part II or some type of revisitation!!!!!