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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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:
N/A
I enjoyed it, but I wasn't wowed. Proulx makes Newfoundland sound super interesting/horrible, and I wonder how much it has changed in the past 25 years. I don't think the aunt's backstory added to the book, and it just seemed so easy to vilify Quoyle's family without providing insight into their lives.
Not sure what I was supposed to get out of this other than a great sense of longing for the dark cold waters of the Atlantic
emotional
reflective
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
After reading two books written in sweltering heat of Panama and Portugal (The Tailor of Panama and Declares Pereira) it was refreshing to feel the cooler climes of Newfoundland, especially when the outside temperature here in Georgia can rise to 40C.
Occasionally I find when I start a book that I have read it before. It happened with McCarthy’s Bar by Pete McCarthy and The Great Pursuit by Tom Sharpe. The story seemed vaguely familiar as did the illustrations of knots at the beginning of several chapters. Checking my records I found I first read this book back in 2011, whilst the plot may not have been the most memorable, the characters are rich and the writing sublime.
“the ocean, bruise grey under the strained wet light.”
Quoyle a middle aged newspaperman has never experienced much love or praise:
“Thirty-six years old and this was the first time anybody ever said he’d done right.” (p 183)
(after showing some initiative on the newspaper).
Quoyle moved from the States to his ancestral home, Newfoundland with his two young daughters and widowed aunt after his two timing wife was killed in a motor accident.
“The Shipping News” of the title is the section that Quoyle is required to cover in The Gammy Bird a strange local newspaper along with car wrecks. The Shipping News is about second chances, will Quoyle be able to make something of his new situation? Will he find redemption fro his life of failure in this bleak?
There is a whole cast of eccentric characters in Newfoundland, one of Quoyle’s distant relatives has gone crazy:
“The old man was mad, the gears of his mind stripped long ago to clashing discs edged with stubs of broken cogs.”
A possible weakness of the book is the character of Petal, Quoyle’s two timing wife, who seems too horrible and her manner of leaving them stretches credibility a little.
“I know something now I didn’t know a year ago,” said Quoyle.
“Petal wasn’t any good.And I think maybe that is why I loved her.”
“Yes” said Wavey. “Same with Herold. It’s like you feel to yourself that is all you deserve.”
Can Quoyle and Wavey start anew? You’ll need to read the book to find out.
Occasionally I find when I start a book that I have read it before. It happened with McCarthy’s Bar by Pete McCarthy and The Great Pursuit by Tom Sharpe. The story seemed vaguely familiar as did the illustrations of knots at the beginning of several chapters. Checking my records I found I first read this book back in 2011, whilst the plot may not have been the most memorable, the characters are rich and the writing sublime.
“the ocean, bruise grey under the strained wet light.”
Quoyle a middle aged newspaperman has never experienced much love or praise:
“Thirty-six years old and this was the first time anybody ever said he’d done right.” (p 183)
(after showing some initiative on the newspaper).
Quoyle moved from the States to his ancestral home, Newfoundland with his two young daughters and widowed aunt after his two timing wife was killed in a motor accident.
“The Shipping News” of the title is the section that Quoyle is required to cover in The Gammy Bird a strange local newspaper along with car wrecks. The Shipping News is about second chances, will Quoyle be able to make something of his new situation? Will he find redemption fro his life of failure in this bleak?
There is a whole cast of eccentric characters in Newfoundland, one of Quoyle’s distant relatives has gone crazy:
“The old man was mad, the gears of his mind stripped long ago to clashing discs edged with stubs of broken cogs.”
A possible weakness of the book is the character of Petal, Quoyle’s two timing wife, who seems too horrible and her manner of leaving them stretches credibility a little.
“I know something now I didn’t know a year ago,” said Quoyle.
“Petal wasn’t any good.And I think maybe that is why I loved her.”
“Yes” said Wavey. “Same with Herold. It’s like you feel to yourself that is all you deserve.”
Can Quoyle and Wavey start anew? You’ll need to read the book to find out.
dark
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced