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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Visibility good: put from your mind, if you have seen it, Lasse Hallström’s uneven noughties film version, for this is the original and the best. Annie Proulx’s book sits somewhere between novel and short story collection, and it brings with it all the freshness and tang of salt of the sea. Secrets uncovered, families unfurled, the hard life on the ocean wave, in the epitome of forgotten communities. Trainee reporter Quoyle’s piece on Plimsoll sums up the gently insistent tone.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a little bit to warm up to the main character and writing style but when I did, it was a wonderful story. It is very visual so I seemed to read it slower than most other books so I could savor the pictures. I really liked that you were left to infer things instead of having the author spell everything out. I recieved this as a birthday present - a friend's favorite book and I would totally recommend to another.
This is one of those books I've heard about for years, seen on numerous "must read" lists, so thought I'd give it a go. The story line revolves around Quoyle, a large, shy man whose waste-of-space wife has just been killed in a car accident, escaping off with her lover, leaving him with their two daughters and an elderly aunt who's come in to mop up the mess. To try and start over, they move to Newfoundland, where the family hails from originally, to the old, tumbledown family home. A journalist by trade/accident, Quoyle gets a job covering the shipping news for the local newspaper, whilst his aunt busily establishes her boat upholstery business. They face hardships whilst settling into the little community that is reliant heavily upon the fishing trade, but eventually find love and happiness.
The story is a common one, told in an uncommon way, with a hero that you never feel is truly a hero, but is constantly weak , allowing everyone in his life to push him around. Proulx writes deliberately in an often disjointed way, with incorrect syntax and words missing from her sentences to convey a brusqueness, no doubt reflective of the need for economies of time in the brutal Newfoundland winter.
Whilst I enjoyed the basic events of this book and even the occasional dry humour, the novel overall did not impress. I didn't enjoy the post-modern style of writing, where you are made to constantly feel aware that you are reading a book through its broken sentence and paragraph structure. Quoyle's children were not charmingly mischievous, just ill-mannered brats who spent most of the book behaving appallingly towards their father. I did enjoy the character of the aunt, but her terrible back story is revealed in passing, with a few words you could almost miss in the middle of the sentence. The aunt also disappears off for a decent portion of the book, removing the one character I looked forward to hearing from.
I can appreciate the skill it no doubt took to write this book and the concept is one that interested me, but my personal taste does not lean to this style of writing.
The story is a common one, told in an uncommon way, with a hero that you never feel is truly a hero, but is constantly weak , allowing everyone in his life to push him around. Proulx writes deliberately in an often disjointed way, with incorrect syntax and words missing from her sentences to convey a brusqueness, no doubt reflective of the need for economies of time in the brutal Newfoundland winter.
Whilst I enjoyed the basic events of this book and even the occasional dry humour, the novel overall did not impress. I didn't enjoy the post-modern style of writing, where you are made to constantly feel aware that you are reading a book through its broken sentence and paragraph structure. Quoyle's children were not charmingly mischievous, just ill-mannered brats who spent most of the book behaving appallingly towards their father. I did enjoy the character of the aunt, but her terrible back story is revealed in passing, with a few words you could almost miss in the middle of the sentence. The aunt also disappears off for a decent portion of the book, removing the one character I looked forward to hearing from.
I can appreciate the skill it no doubt took to write this book and the concept is one that interested me, but my personal taste does not lean to this style of writing.
In “The Shipping News,” Proulx tells the story of Quoyle—a soft-spoken galoot who, upon moving to his ancestral home of Newfoundland, becomes more assertive, quick-witted and contented. Three things stood out to me about the book.
First, the book is about Newfoundland. Proulx presents the island as an otherworldy place—a mix of contemporary, Western society, and eerie, fisherman folklore. Newfoundlanders, thus, struggle with ordinary modern problems, like unemployment and alcoholism; but, they also live lifestyles defined by their odd, island circumstances. Quoyle commutes to work by boat; winter thunderstorms at sea regularly sink fishing vessels and their crews; sexual abuse—probably as a result of the sequestered, island life—is common; and, Quoyle, employed as a small town journalist, writes a regular column describing the boats that come in and out of harbor. Moreover, strange, island myths creep in and out of the storyline. Proulx tells of Quoyle’s ancestors moving their house by dragging it across the ice-covered bay, and a character—presumed to have died of drowning—awakens several days later at his own funeral. Overall, Proulx describes Newfoundland as eerie and harsh, but also as a place to start over.
Second, tied into this first theme is Proulx’s magical realist style. At times, Proulx, in describing characters and scenes, drifts into strings of half-sentences: “He had been born with a caul; at three, witnessed ball lightning bouncing down a fire escape; dreamed of cucumbers the night before his brother-in-law was stung by hornets.” I have no idea what that excerpt means. Still, it's effective in its directness and weirdness. Proulx often forgoes pronouns and conjunctions, and—I’m pretty sure—makes up words; but, in doing so, her sentences are short and sharp, and memorable. Though I can find magical realism to be tiresome, I was never frustrated by Proulx’s writing.
Third, “The Shipping News” is, by its own description, about learning to love again. It’s a theme that didn’t really draw me in, but there’s so much else going on in the book that I still enjoyed reading it.
First, the book is about Newfoundland. Proulx presents the island as an otherworldy place—a mix of contemporary, Western society, and eerie, fisherman folklore. Newfoundlanders, thus, struggle with ordinary modern problems, like unemployment and alcoholism; but, they also live lifestyles defined by their odd, island circumstances. Quoyle commutes to work by boat; winter thunderstorms at sea regularly sink fishing vessels and their crews; sexual abuse—probably as a result of the sequestered, island life—is common; and, Quoyle, employed as a small town journalist, writes a regular column describing the boats that come in and out of harbor. Moreover, strange, island myths creep in and out of the storyline. Proulx tells of Quoyle’s ancestors moving their house by dragging it across the ice-covered bay, and a character—presumed to have died of drowning—awakens several days later at his own funeral. Overall, Proulx describes Newfoundland as eerie and harsh, but also as a place to start over.
Second, tied into this first theme is Proulx’s magical realist style. At times, Proulx, in describing characters and scenes, drifts into strings of half-sentences: “He had been born with a caul; at three, witnessed ball lightning bouncing down a fire escape; dreamed of cucumbers the night before his brother-in-law was stung by hornets.” I have no idea what that excerpt means. Still, it's effective in its directness and weirdness. Proulx often forgoes pronouns and conjunctions, and—I’m pretty sure—makes up words; but, in doing so, her sentences are short and sharp, and memorable. Though I can find magical realism to be tiresome, I was never frustrated by Proulx’s writing.
Third, “The Shipping News” is, by its own description, about learning to love again. It’s a theme that didn’t really draw me in, but there’s so much else going on in the book that I still enjoyed reading it.
Moral of the story: There's nothing a cup of tea can't fix.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I still like postcards better but Proulx is still one of my favorite authors
