The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Shipping News
Book Review: A Reflection of Newfoundland
Summary: 5 Stars
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx is a regional fictional novel that takes place in the isolated Newfoundland village of Killick - Claw. Quoyle, a middle aged man whose ancestors lived in Newfoundland returns there with his two daughters and aunt to start a new life and forget about his depressing, embarrassing past. The small town life of Killick - Claw, the starkly cruel coastline, the haunting history of Quoyle's ancestors, and a group of unforgettably unique characters who find there way into his life, help create a foundation for Quoyle to build on. Proulx is very successful in connecting all of these distinct parts and showing how they all help Quoyle start a new life. As the odd family of four starts figuring out how to fit into the culture, society, and natural setting of Killick - Claw, the reader learns to do the same with E. Annie Proulx's short, chopped writing style. The barebones lifestyle consisting of only the necessities that Quoyle learns to live is directly reflected in the writing style the author uses to portray it. Sentences are often not grammatically complete but always succeed in depicting Proulx's complete meaning. The actual text tells us: "A rough morning. Quoyle jumped down the steps. He would drive." We know, from these eleven words, what the setting is, who is involved, what he is thinking, and his plans for the morning. Without this reflective, no-nonsense writing style, Quoyle and his northern world would not be complete. Without Quoyle and Newfoundland to write about, this writing style might seem silly. As regional fiction, this novel does an excellent job of showing the importance of setting. After reading it I have an extremely clear impression of this particular section of Newfoundland coast, the points, the bays, the islands, the towns, and the isolated position of all of it. This impression of isolation is demonstrated by a description of the lack of real roads available to take Quoyle and his family from their old lives up to their remote destination in Newfoundland. On every rural road it is "Quoyle and the car in combat. Car Disintegrates on Remote Goatpath." The feeling of isolation seems to compress as they continue driving and fog descends. It is compressed so far as to seemingly turn into their destination, the lone house on the point where the aunt grew up. As they approach the house, "green of grass stain, tilted in fog," the isolation it represents seeps into them. The local setting consists of this half forgotten house, weather beaten and dilapidated, which Quoyle strives to make livable year round; the town where he covers `the shipping news' in the local paper; the bay separating the two and causing him many uncomfortable moments concerning his distaste for boats; and the vast, rugged, ocean and coastline surrounding and intimidating him. This book makes me want to go to Newfoundland. I feel as if I could walk into the village, find my way to the `Gammy Bird' newspaper office and greet all of Quoyle's co-workers by name. I would be prepared for the rural, isolated, aspect of the setting, and the idea that you take what comes at you and make the best of it for yourself.Book Review: A Review of The Shipping News
Summary: 4 Stars
Unlike some of the reviewers, I learned of this book from television promos for the movie. When a book is made into a movie, I make it a point of reading the book first.I thorougly enjoyed The Shipping News. As were some of the other reviewers, I was initially "turned off" by the style of the writing. The sentence fragments were a bit unnerving.
But as I got into the story and became acquainted with the characters, I was so drawn into what was happening that the writing style no longer got in the way.In fact, the sentence fragments took on the quality of being the thoughts of the characters. (And after all, don't we all "think" in sentence fragments?) I enjoyed the bizarre twists and turns of the various plots. I especially loved the quirky names of the characters. I was caught totally off guard by the surprise ending!
I was a little disappointed that the outcomes of the lives of the various characters were not elucidated a little more at the end. But then I guess it's fun to decide some of those things for ourselves.
Although it was the television ad for the movie that originally drew me to the book, I am not so sure that I want to see the movie. I am not sure it could do justice to the "movie" created in my head by this unusual book.
My book group is currently reading it, at my suggestion, and I will look forward to their comments.
Book Review: A Sense of Place and People
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished this--one of those novels to which I've been meaning to get to for about five years now. The story of a man named Quoyle, forced by circumstance to return to his ancestral land, writing for a small local paper...Trying to fit back in, as no outsider would be able to, learning the language of boats, local cuisine (squidburgers?!?), superstition and journalism. I really, really liked this book. A distinct narrative voice, a complex plot-matrix (nothing so simple as a plot-line), and the whole thing well and truly anchored in a place. A concrete and vivid depiction of a Newfoundland seaside town. And the quotations beginning each chapter were nice, too, mostly from The Ashley Book of Knots, with directions for tying--and by chapter's end, I picked up each knot's metaphor. I'd read Annie Proulx's short story collection, Heartsongs, and enjoyed that, too. I don't know why it took me so long to get around to this really fine novel.Book Review: A Superb Novel!
Summary: 5 Stars
Now that we can edit our Amazon reviews, here is an update on the novel The SHIPPING NEWS, which I first reviewed on February 27, 2000. Today, I want to add that the book, a mid-life story, is most suitable for readers over the age of thirty-five or forty. It is the reader with life experience who will best empathize with the main character's plight and, therefore, find the story irresistable. THE SHIPPING NEWS by E.Annie Proulx (1993) is one of the finest novels I have ever read. Proulx's unique writing style serves up the utterly compelling story of one man's (Quoyle) odyssey from lackluster career, depression, and despair into a brighter tomorrow where success, self-esteem, and love finally becken in mid-life. This sometimes dark, literary journey, written in a remarkable style that paints vivid word images, will immerse the reader into every emotion!
As the story progresses, Quoyle and his tiny family move from the U.S. to an old family home, in need of TLC, located in Newfoundland (where the author has lived, by the way). It is a distinctive, historic house, anchored to rocks by great chains that defend against ocean winds and storms! Quoyle goes to work in a reporting job with the local newspaper called THE SHIPPING NEWS. Readers will enjoy Proulx's realistic word portrait of Newfoundland landscapes and culture. The author expertly reveals Newfoundland life via wonderful, believable characters and settings as Quoyle makes various contacts throughout the community in pursuit of the latest disaster story! You see, it is his job to cover all of the bad news: accidents, fires, deaths, and so forth! OF course, a couple of mysteries occur along the way.
Surprises occur in every twist and turn of this stunning work. Always central is Quoyle and his determination to take care of his small family by succeeding in a new culture. Certainly, only a superior writer could present Quoyle's tale in such magical passages. No wonder this novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994! Quoyle's life journey reminds us that every person has worth and that truly great stories arise out of everyday circumstances!
This novel is detailed, somewhat dark, somewhat naturalistic, but, most of all, it is reassuring in it's humanity. I recommend it to those willing to be fully immersed in the story to the very end!
A note to those who like to speed their way through novels: the first three or four chapters necessarily inform the reader about the main character's eccentric personality and predicaments. Then the story takes off as the family moves to New Foundland.
I have not yet seen the movie that was made of this novel because I have read the novel twice! I can only say that I am sorry the film, THE SHIPPING NEWS, wasn't better received. Some books are harder to translate into films than others. Often, reading the book first is essential to understanding the movie. For example, another such book/movie was DUNE. Though the DUNE movie was actually well-done on a number of levels, it's complexity was better understood if the viewer had read the book first!
Even if you did not like the movie, do read THE SHIPPING NEWS by E. Annie Proulx, when you get the chance! I highly recommend it!
Book Review: A Tale of Awakening in Newfoundland
Summary: 4 Stars
This is truly a unique novel, a tale of rebirth amidst the odd customs and harsh elements of Newfoundland. Protagonist Quoyle is an unremarkable man, father of two young daughters who must cope with the loss of his unfaithful wife (Petal) as the novel starts out. Petal is one of the most despicable characters I have ever encountered in modern fiction, and yet Quoyle continues his love for her long after she deserves it. I was a little perplexed as I read the book as to why Quoyle continued to hold such deep emotions for Petal, but I guess his low self-esteem, and her initial affection for him, left a lasting impact that enabled him to forget her horrible transgressions.Ultimately Quoyle, his aunt and his two young children decide to move to Newfoundland, where he was born and where his family history runs deep, to try and piece together their lives. They have dreams of moving back into a house on a point overlooking the bay that has stood deserted for decades. What he encounters there is portrayed in the Shipping News with compassion, tenderness, and a keen eye for detail by skilled novelist Annie Proulx.
Quoyle's Newfoundland is full of offbeat characters with names like Nutbeem, Jack Buggit, Billy Pretty, Wavey and Tert Card. As he assimilates into the culture and gradually gets over his failed marriage, we see Quoyle develop as a writer, father and as a man until he gradually becomes ready to feel true emotions again. Ironically I read this novel soon after reading Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist, and while I found Macon's romance in Tyler's book to be a little forced and unromantic, Quoyle's rebirth in the Shipping News to me had a much more sincere undercurrent of true feelings. You cared what happened to these characters, as they seemingly cared about themselves and those around them.
The novel's eccentric characters and the occasional absurd coincidences in the plot, for me, were the only things keeping this from ranking as a 5 star novel. Characters kept popping up on the water just in time for a rescue, or at precisely the right locations in the bay (days or weeks apart) to find separate parts of the same body, which to me seemed a little contrived. However, all in all, the book gave a very fresh look at a place few of us are familiar with, and told a story of a family with deep secrets and true to life emotions. Long after you forget some of the actions in the novel, you will remember its sense of place and the odd camaraderie of the characters.