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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This book was a good book. Unfortunately, if it hadn't been a book club book I may have lost interest and set it down. I'm glad I didn't. The characters lived with me for days after I finished the book. I found myself thinking of them and wanting to pick up the book only to remember I had already finished reading it.
The writing is choppy and in the beginning hard to get used to. The characters are pathetic, at least for awhile. By the end of the book they are your friends, your neighbors, and you wish them all the best.
Safe home, Quoyle.
The writing is choppy and in the beginning hard to get used to. The characters are pathetic, at least for awhile. By the end of the book they are your friends, your neighbors, and you wish them all the best.
Safe home, Quoyle.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
A beautiful book about love and being loved and finding your place in the world. It starts a little slow but a third of the way in you really come to care about each of the characters.
"It may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery."
"It may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery."
The book portrayed a segment of society that I had little knowledge of, but by I ended up caring about a good many of the characters. Yes, some of the characters were a little ridiculous, and the writing style took a little getting used to. But overall I found it enjoyable and unique. This book might not be a thrillride, but it isn't meant to be. Quoyle might be a sad sack, but I found myself being sympathetic and rooting for him.
This is one of my favourite pulitzer prizing winning books from the last decade. This book has a myriad of linguistic turns and symbolic labyrinths. highly recommended. It is a walk in a beautiful forest filled with the mournful hums of ancient insects.
I really loved this book. Each chapter is a titled a different kind of nautical knot but it relates to the event of the chapter as well. Great imagery, characters, and life on Newfoundland.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Car accident
this was tough to get "into" but it was worth it. a very interesting story.
Not sure I would have finished this if it wasn't a book club read. It took me a long time to get into the rhythm of this book. I felt cold and sad while reading it until about 3/4 of the way through when a bit of respect for the sea and self started to creep in for the main characters. Ultimately, glad I read it.
The Shipping News is a very strange read - its very hard to summarize in a way that is spoiler free but also useful. The story follows 'Quoyle' (a type of rope that is positioned to be walked over).
Quoyle is a deceptively simple lad who daydreams his way through life until a series of tragedies find him travelling to New Foundland to raise his daughters and make a a life for himself.
There is a very strange narrative structure in my opinion, where the initial scenes and final scenes are quite concrete and vivid. As the story progresses you get a strange blurring (in my opinion) this matches the strange blurring of life for Quoyle and makes a lot of literary sense.
Dramas aside I really found this book made me want to give on an isolated lighthouse island in the middle of nowhere - its quite a strange journey of a book but really intriguing and quite enjoyable nonetheless.
Quoyle is a deceptively simple lad who daydreams his way through life until a series of tragedies find him travelling to New Foundland to raise his daughters and make a a life for himself.
There is a very strange narrative structure in my opinion, where the initial scenes and final scenes are quite concrete and vivid. As the story progresses you get a strange blurring (in my opinion) this matches the strange blurring of life for Quoyle and makes a lot of literary sense.
Dramas aside I really found this book made me want to give on an isolated lighthouse island in the middle of nowhere - its quite a strange journey of a book but really intriguing and quite enjoyable nonetheless.