The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Shipping News
Book Review: A real pleasure for some, a real bore for others
Summary: 4 Stars
There's a love it/hate it thing that happens with this acclaimed novel. Many in my family found the lead character too dull and insipid for the lead. His moral struggles seemed vapid and stale, and the story limped along. For me and my wife (and for most readers), Quoyle is the most unlikely of heroes. He is a bit dull. He's an ordinary man--almost a simpleton. But he makes a go of it. I don't really understand why this novel works so well. How does Proulx draw us in? Why do we end up caring so much about Quoyle and the people of this sleepy Newfoundland town? I don't know. I only know that the pages flew by and the story moved me to the end.Book Review: A real snoozer
Summary: 1 Stars
Rarely do I put a book down without finishing it. But the characters in this book are utterly without depth. Cardboard cutouts. I can't take it anymore.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: A small miracle
Summary: 5 Stars
I was astonished by this book. Her prose has subtle poetic quality which gives it the sort of intensely evocative force that one would ordinarily more readily associate with a piece of music than with a piece of writing. I found it utterly compellingBook Review: A thoroughly disappointing book
Summary: 1 Stars
Am I missing something? Why all the 5-star reviews? Whatever did the judges see in this drab and uninspiring opus to give it an award, for heaven's sake? Wafer-thin characters (with no development) who drift aimlessly from page to page, no plot worth the name - and nothing happens! You almost feel like screaming at the author: "For God's sake, you're in charge - make something happen!", but nothing ever does. How frustrating. I've read disappointing books before, but this is the only one I can recall where, at the end, I genuinely felt short-changed. I have only two words of advice for anyone considering buying it: Don't Bother.