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Shipping News (Scribner Classics)

by Annie Proulx

3.64 · rating details · 32,041 ratings · 2,007 reviews

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, "The Shipping News" is a celebration of Annie Proulx's genius for storytelling and her vigorous contribution to the art of the novel.

Quoyle, a third-rate newspaper hack, with a "head shaped like a crenshaw, no neck, reddish hair...features as bunched as kissed fingertips," is wrenched violently

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published May 10th 1999 by Scribner (first published 1993)

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Nov 08, 2009

theduckthief rated it

· review of another edition

At thirty-six, bereft, brimming with grief and thwarted love, Quoyle steered away to Newfoundland, the rock that had generated his ancestors, a place he had never been nor thought to go."

Quoyle lives the life of a sad cliche. His family doesn't like him, his wife has affairs and he's socially awkward. His only thought is for his children, Bunny and Sunshine. When a situation causes them to move from Mockingburg, New York to Newfoundland, Canada, home of Quoyle's ancestors, he fi...moreAt thirty-six, bereft, brimming with grief and thwarted love, Quoyle steered away to Newfoundland, the rock that had generated his ancestors, a place he had never been nor thought to go."

Quoyle lives the life of a sad cliche. His family doesn't like him, his wife has affairs and he's socially awkward. His only thought is for his children, Bunny and Sunshine. When a situation causes them to move from Mockingburg, New York to Newfoundland, Canada, home of Quoyle's ancestors, he finds himself in over his head. Proulx is a master manipulator in this story as she forces the reader to sympathize with Quoyle's situation. He's dumped into a new setting, new country with only his children and Aunt Agnis to keep him company.

The descriptive detail in this book is fresh and full. "In the bay they saw a scallop dagger halfway to the narrows, a wake like the hem of a slip showing behind it." I feasted on this line because I loved it so much and you can look forward to this richness throughout the story.

Proulx makes Newfoundland come to life. This is likely due to the fact that she splits her time between there and Wyoming. This may not be the kind of Newfoundland you know though. It has this wild and dark, mythical side to it that you may have heard as a stereotype about the province. Incidentally when this book came out, there was some controversy about Proulx`s portrayal of Newfoundlanders. Some people from the province thought readers would assume these stereotypes were true. I would say the novel does nothing to dispel the stereotypical view of `The Rock` and its inhabitants but you have to remember this is Fiction. This is clearly stated on the back of the book.

Watch for the chapter titles. Each relates to a type of knot and informs the reader on the content of the section. Chapter One is entitled "Quoyle", 'a Flemish flake is a spiral coil of one layer only. It is made on deck, so that it may be walked on if necessary.' This gives you an idea of Quoyle`s character even before you start reading.

Something that deserves mention is the book won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1994.

Proulx's writing style is unlike anything I've read before. Her syntax is fragmented and her removal of pronouns interrupts the fluidity of the story. For some this may be difficult to get around.

As well, a suspension of disbelief is required as various coincidences and other `unbelievabilities` pop up throughout the book and would be difficult to take otherwise. This includes the strange characters with quirky names like Billy Pretty, Tert Card and Beaufield Nutbeem.

Please note, this novel is not for everyone. The climax of the story occurs at the very beginning of the story and settles into a slow denouement. This is completely contrary to the normal story arc. This a quiet, steady book about family and the idea of home. It is not, I repeat, not a page turner. That being said, I enjoyed the stillness and contemplative quality that rose out of the book. For those who like stories about how a person can change and the influence of the land on the mind, this book is for you.(less)

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Jan 12, 2008

Nathan rated it

· review of another edition

This book snuck up on me. Tricky tricky. It started out interesting enough. Proulx's writing style is mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. I found the book initially to be a relaxing solace on my commute home after a busy day of work, soley because of its use of language and setting. But I hated the characters. All of them. Quoyle, a big, damp loaf of a man, as Proulx describes him, is the definition of pathetic. His daughters are brats. And his wife Petal is a two-dimensional device created s...moreThis book snuck up on me. Tricky tricky. It started out interesting enough. Proulx's writing style is mesmerizing, almost hypnotic. I found the book initially to be a relaxing solace on my commute home after a busy day of work, soley because of its use of language and setting. But I hated the characters. All of them. Quoyle, a big, damp loaf of a man, as Proulx describes him, is the definition of pathetic. His daughters are brats. And his wife Petal is a two-dimensional device created solely as a catalyst for the story to come. In the beginning it felt a little forced. Then at some point in the second half, the book went from a nice little read to a ferocious page-turner, and I still am not sure how it became so compelling. There was no melodramatic conflict introduced. No secret codes to be found in paintings. Instead, Proulx builds her momentum slowly, slowly, taking you deeper into the lives of these characters, who started out so hard, unattractive, broken, and nasty. The thing of it is, they start to feel so honest. Before you know it, their presence is comforting. I found I wanted to be with them. Wanted to be in the boat with Quoyle. Wanted to see the green house. Wanted to go to the Christmas Pageant. Wanted to eat flipper pie with him and the girls. Wanted to welcome Aunt home.

Quoyle finds redemption from a place that itself is bleak, full of hardship, and dying. I found this to be poetic and strangely uplifting. Its sort of the anti-coming of age story. No beautiful starry-eyed twentysomething trotting off to exotic locations or big cities here. Instead, the story of a middle-aged man who hates himself even more than he hates his circumstance, moving back to his modest roots, finding a lot of darkness in the places he comes from. He watches people fall on hard times and move away, endures monotony, deep cold, harsh storms and odd, forced relationships. And in the midst of it he finds friendship, love, and his own self-worth. I just thought it was beautiful. The scene near the end in which Quoyle prepares to attend the wake for one of his close friends, looks at his gigantic naked body in the mirror, and feels a surge of joy to be such an honest and satisfying moment of redemption. This dying place brings him to life, and eventually, for the first time in his life, he finds joy and peace. And he finds it in himself, not in the circumstances around him.

It snuck up on me. I didn't realize until it was too late how hard I had fallen for this lot. (less)

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Nov 09, 2007

Jocelyn rated it

· review of another edition

My initial review of this book was simply "Bullllshiiit", but, um, perhaps more explanation is deserved. After a handful of people whose taste I respect raved about this book, I was looking forward to it, and got to page 180 or so before finally admitting "This feels like a chore" and giving it away (and I *rarely* leave books unfinished).

What got to me about this book was mainly Proulx's style was too...forced. Nothing that occured felt real or believed by the au...more

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Jan 04, 2008

Sheba rated it

· review of another edition

Ah the Shipping News. I remember my heart dropping when I read this book the first time. I thought, "If this is what people are writing, I am no writer."

This book is revolutionary in it's use of language. She punctuates inventively and her punctuation "style" gives her sentences a strange movement. The book moves, it actually moves, as you read it.

There are moments of such pain like when Quoyle lies still in his bed as Petal Bear fucks another man in ...more

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Jun 18, 2007

hadashi rated it

· review of another edition

Won the Pulitzer in ’94, and rightly so – it’s a bleak, stark novel set in a bleak, stark place – Newfoundland – with enough hope and redemption to be realistic without being syrupy. Quoyle is a large mound of a loser human who has been a loser, and abused for it, all his life. After his nymphomaniac whore of a wife is killed in a car crash after selling their two kids, Bunny and Sunshine, to a kiddie pornographer, he starts over again by being dragged off to his ancestral home in Newfoundland...more

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Jul 01, 2007

Eli rated it

· review of another edition

This is one of the very best novels I've had the chance to read. It's not just that the story is rich in and of itself - and it is - it's that the words themselves are so artfully assembed that they provide layers of undercurrents that add depth and emotion to the narrative. This book reads like a symphony, with many intertwined themes and narratives all woven together into a whole, unified picture.

Proulx writes in choppy short sentecnes. It's akward and clumsy language viewed again...more

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Nov 16, 2008

Rachel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Rachel by: Linda

Shelves: 2-loved-it

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I really liked it. Annie Proulx does a fantastic job writing this novel in a style that places you in the heart of cold, fish-stinky Newfoundland. She then fills that land with such a warm, genuine and quirky cast of characters that you have no choice but to warm up to the novel. By the time you finish, her themes and motifs are very obvious, but she develops them so subtly that they are completely believable and not at all forced. To top ...more

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Jul 06, 2008

John rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Magaret Atwood fans

Shelves: modern-fiction

This book is so unlike the majority of books that I read that it came as a pleasnt surprise.

I really,really like Margaret Atwood and found more than a passing resembalence to her work in Proulx's writing style.

It came in the form of the vivid descriptions, inward looking/intense characterisations, introspective human feeling and everyday circumstances of highs/lows - despair/elation - the whole gamut of human emotion. This and the Canadian link, of course...

...moreThis book is so unlike the majority of books that I read that it came as a pleasnt surprise.

I really,really like Margaret Atwood and found more than a passing resembalence to her work in Proulx's writing style.

It came in the form of the vivid descriptions, inward looking/intense characterisations, introspective human feeling and everyday circumstances of highs/lows - despair/elation - the whole gamut of human emotion. This and the Canadian link, of course...

I have never seen the movie [I'm told that it's simply ok... nothing special], but had always intended to read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel - I am so pleased that I have made the time now and I am disappointed that I did not do so sooner. This, I am sure, will be a future feature on my multiple re-reads shelf.

Quoyle, Bunny, Sunshine, Petal, Agnis Hamm, Tert Card, Wavey Prowse, The Gammy Bird, No Name Cove, Beaufield Nutbeem, Jack Buggitt, Billy Pretty, Bayonet Melville, Grace Moosup and Mavis Bangs... these names alone conjour images of another world... a world of poetry, romanticism and imagination - the names are almost classic-cartoon in their meatiness.

Proulx carried me off to Newfoundland... I felt the isolation, I experienced the cold... I understood the emotions. It was all so skilful and beautifully written - it had me hooked - and it never let go for one second.

It was the description of Quoyle as a coil of rope which was followed with a quote from The Ashley Book of Knots saying
"A Flemish flake is a spiral coil of one layer only. It is made on deck, so that it may be walked on if necessary." that alerted me that this was something more than just another story.... it was something a lot more than that... it was several layers of many different stories.

There is no major plot in this book - it is forced along by the scenery, the seasons and the stunning-vivid characters and their extraordinary lives.

The ever-present one-line newspaper headline exclamations of Quoyle present us with excellent thought-gaps... apart from all else they are amusing too. "Newspaper reporter seems magnet for dead men!" epitomises the use of these and intonates the lack of seriousness with which Quoyle views himself and reflects how he views his life as a third-rate headline writer.

Your bookshleves are, believe me, incomplete without the inclusion of this book. I borrowed this copy from my local library but I am purchasing a copy tomorrow.... bravo... bravo. (less)

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Jul 02, 2007

Andy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: readownedloved

I confess that I've never actually read The Shipping News. I have listened to it, several, several times on cd while driving back and forth between Chapel Hill, NC and Macon, GA. With a protagonist the author describes as "a great, damp loaf of a man," you know you're being set up for an anti-hero kind of story. The thing is, Quoyle does become a hero, in one of the more real, and understated, senses that you can be one--as a father, lover, widower, journalist, human. And I hope I ...more

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Jul 03, 2007

April West rated it

· review of another edition

This book gets me every time. It has some of the most brilliant writing I've ever encountered, and I am amazed by the way the characters develop and draw me in. At the beginning of the book, the main character is hit by tragedy so many times in rapid succession that it actually seems funny in a way. Bam! parents dead! Bam! wife run off! Bam! children stolen! Bam! wife dead! And all of this happening to such a lumpen hulking dolt of a man that it is hard to feel any real sympathy, just a dazed an...more

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Jul 01, 2008

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

Great book about beginning again after bitter disappointment. In the end, we learn that love doesn't have to hurt to be real.

The author has a very interesting writing style. Took a while for me to get into its rhythm, but I did enjoy it.

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Nov 30, 2008

Tara rated it

· review of another edition

Written in the same fierce, spare style as her Wyoming stories, this book has a hundred ways to describe the appearance of the ocean without ever feeling forced or trite. The weatherbeaten sea-dogs of Newfoundland and the grieved and rootless protagonist run up against each other again and again and it seems as though this sweet and hapless man will never find his way here until after the climax of the novel, when suddenly everything fits together in the same simple way that all things Proulx m...more

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Dec 16, 2007

Sera rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: hated-it, literary-fiction

Snore.

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Jan 09, 2011

Jennifer (aka EM) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: great-movies-from-books, lonely-hearts-club

Bleak but hopeful, mystical and magical – a belated coming-of-age story. Proulx had a hard road to climb with me to get Nfld right, as The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is my gold standard in that regard. But she succeeded magnificently. Treated the place as a character, as it needs to be. This is an evocative exploration of one man’s inner landscape – as harsh and unknown to him at the start as the one to which he is forced to return. Themes of confronting a familial legacy of shame, abuse and rejection; of healing from the storm of the past and letting go of it, so as to love – one’s children, oneself, another. Also: the way place defines character; past defines present. Both can, must be endured -- but both can also be transcended. Proulx’s prose is crisp and article-less; mimicking the Newfie vernacular well. Her similes are unerringly well-chosen - early morning pink clouds "like salmon fillets"; an early winter sea "like a grim tweed." So many more. The uniting motif and metaphor of the knots woven through scene layered on scene, tying together character and plot. Clever, not cutesy.

I loved it. Very similar in tone, character and theme to Affliction -- you can feel the cold damp wind blow through you. However, the poetry of Proulx's writing landed this unequivocally in the five-star category for me, as such:

"These waters, thought Quoyle, haunted by lost ships, fishermen, explorers gurgled down into sea holes as black as a dog's throat. Bawling into salt broth. Vikings down the cracking winds, steering through fog by the polarized light of sun-stones. The Inuit in skin boats, breathing, breathing, rhythmic suck of frigid air, iced paddles dipping, spray freezing, sleek back rising, jostle, the boat torn, spiraling down. Millenial bergs from the glaciers, morbid, silent except for waves breaking on their flanks, the deceiving sound of shoreline where there was no shore. Foghorns, smothered gun reports along the coast. Ice welding land to sea. Frost smoke. Clouds mottled by reflections of water holes in the plains of ice. The glare of ice erasing dimension, distance, subjecting senses to mirage and illusion. A rare place."

(less)

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Mar 12, 2011

Joy H. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: prizewinner-pulitzer, fiction, adapted-to-film, watched-film-too, read-a-while-ago

_The Shipping News_ by Annie Proulx

I enjoyed reading this touching book.

I read somewhere a while back that Proulx's writing style is considered to be spare. I didn't think about that while I was reading but I now I realize that it's true. Now I'm wondering how many other writers have a "spare" writing style like that. I'm also wondering where I heard that comment about her style.
EDITED:
PS-I found the following about Proulx's style at LibraryThing's m...more

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Oct 07, 2008

Julie rated it

· review of another edition

You know you're in trouble when you pan a Pulitzer prize winner, but pan I must. This book bored me to tears. Perpetual motion and its status as "currently reading" on Goodreads together got me through it. I didn't care what happened to whom or how it would end, I just wanted it over. Amazing the things that passed for excitement and were given excessive air time in this novel: an incredibly detailed rendition of the kids' Christmas pageant; knitting; the uneventful daily commute ...moreYou know you're in trouble when you pan a Pulitzer prize winner, but pan I must. This book bored me to tears. Perpetual motion and its status as "currently reading" on Goodreads together got me through it. I didn't care what happened to whom or how it would end, I just wanted it over. Amazing the things that passed for excitement and were given excessive air time in this novel: an incredibly detailed rendition of the kids' Christmas pageant; knitting; the uneventful daily commute and various mostly silent car rides. Enough to make you want to shout FIRE! and see if any of these characters does anything but look around slowly, gather up his belongings--carefully--and think about that phone call he wasn't now going to get to make about that boat motor. Sheesh! Then when something interesting was happening, or happened before but was just coming up in conversation, nothing much is made of it! It's all brushed under the rug as not being worthy of the words it would have taken to adequately describe. I don't give a rat's a$$ about the detailed description of the animal paintings on the children's cocoa mugs, but I would have liked to have heard how, exactly, Mrs. Yark managed to rescue them from the total destruction of her house and her entire town.

And the names--nearly every one of them strange, and (to me) irksome. I couldn't decide through the entire book how to pronounce Quoyle--with a hard C or with a Kw. Wavey reminded me of Wavy Gravy. Petal. Marty for a girl. Beety. Last names (often used alone) were bizarre as well. Nutbeem. Pretty. Quoyle (double whammy, first and last). Buggit.

One review called the book "atmospheric." I'll give it that, if by Atmospheric they mean more "cold pea soup, no crackers" than "Middle Earth with Orlando Bloom." Another (this one on the back of the book), "a lyric page-turner." Whaaaa?

Enough, glad its done; it drove me nuts. Good thing Proulx's Brokeback Mountain is a short story, because I still do want to read that. (less)

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Oct 10, 2008

Scott rated it

· review of another edition

First off, just to set you straight, I liked this book. A fine piece of literature for sure: tight, creative writing, deeply human and interesting characters, a stellar setting, and a well-fashioned plot. Yet...something was missing here for me. In the middle of the book I really found myself struggling to care about these characters. Really, and what bugs me is why. Was it the overall depressing tone of the book, the weak-mindedness of some of the characters, the sometime stilted dialog, or som...moreFirst off, just to set you straight, I liked this book. A fine piece of literature for sure: tight, creative writing, deeply human and interesting characters, a stellar setting, and a well-fashioned plot. Yet...something was missing here for me. In the middle of the book I really found myself struggling to care about these characters. Really, and what bugs me is why. Was it the overall depressing tone of the book, the weak-mindedness of some of the characters, the sometime stilted dialog, or something else entirely, subtle and unidentifiable? Maybe it was that I just didn't like it. I remember a childhood argument with a friend where I told him that I didn't like a particular piece of music and he asked why and I told him that I really had no reason, I just didn't like it. This didn't work for him at all. You must qualify you answer, he said. Well, I think I tried but in the end it really just came down to not liking it, ya know? I now think it’s quite OK to just not like something. Not that you shouldn't TRY to understand why something doesn't work for you, ask and question what makes or doesn’t make something great, what propels a piece of art into something special and memorable. In the end, though, to simply say "I don't like it" is A-OK with me. Definitive, right? Clearly positioned. Given the subjective nature of all art, I am amazed that this is not the answer we all give when asked our opinion on something (perhaps it should be!).

But again, I did like this book, especially the end (never has so much happened in the last 30 pages!) Also, there are some real gems of diction here, like this: "It was harder to count his errors now, perhaps because they had compounded beyond counting, or had blurred into his general condition." Great. Or this: "For the devil had long ago taken a shine to Tert Card, filled him like a cream horn with itch and irritation. His middle initial was X. Face like cottage cheese clawed with a fork." Yikes! Love it. Also, great name, Tert Card. So anyway, three stars from me, which is actually pretty low if you haven't noticed. Still a good book and a good read, but not one of my favorites.
(less)

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Jan 14, 2008

Tony rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: I'm not sure I could recommend it

I read this book when it first came out and was memorized Proulx's ability to transport the reader to a remote fishing village dominated by winter weather, a rocky coastline hostile to foreign sailors and the old collection of charming and smarmy folks who make up a port town . In her acknowledgments, Proulx credits several people who helped her understand the mindset of the villagers and even a causal reading shows Proulx got those lessons write.

That said, having reread the book ...more

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Aug 26, 2007

michael spencer harmon rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone inductive, character-driven or humbled unto the brink of depression.

Shelves: unquestionable-favorites

This book is for displaying the front cover on one's bookshelf. It is mysterious, an internal maze of intent and with great depth into the nature of conscious experience. Of course, it is true that a book with cold weather settings will sometimes entertain me enough, but the setting is backlight compared to the perceptions and tenderness of character; this is quite simply a masterpiece.

I received this (as I did a number of books for a handful of years) from my sister, who used to be ...more

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Feb 05, 2010

Ron rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: general-fiction

3.5 stars. Expected better for a Pulitzer Prize winner

Well-written, though she weakened some key players by making them play to stereotypes. (That wouldn't normally be worth mentioning, but Proulx cuts across so many stereotypes so well.) The closing disappointed. Just a little too sweet and improbably.

Liked her knot and nautical introduction to each chapter.

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Nov 23, 2008

Sarah rated it

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I picked up this book almost on a whim and had absolutely no idea of what it was about and pretty much just dug in. It's a tale which takes place in the changing maritime economy of a coastal shipping port in Newfoundland. The setting in and of itself was interesting enough to keep the pages turning.
The characters aren't anything special, and aren't snazzy or flashy. Yet they are full of humanity and disappointment and hope. This is a good read when you want a well-written slice of life t...more

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Feb 01, 2011

Tommyt rated it

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STILL my favorite novel. Finished it sometime in late December of 1994 & I just haven't read another book like it, not even Proulx's other works match this one.

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Aug 05, 2007

David rated it

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Shelves: mind-numbingly-boring

By my calculation, Annie Proulx owes me close to $20, and several unrecoverable hours of my life. Not only did I buy and read this wretched book, but - inexplicably - I forked out another $7 to go see the equally wretched movie. I suppose I have only myself to blame for the latter exercise in misjudgement, given that I knew in advance how appallingly bleak the book was, and that it involved the wretchedly vile Kevin Spacey.

gaaaaah!

OK, so Annie P. achieves partial redempti...more

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Sep 05, 2007

Jeremy rated it

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Shelves: fiction, borrowed-from-someone

This is by E. Annie Proulx, so all the characters are named things like "Tobogganlips McCupboardcake" and everyone endures a series of darkly humorous, preciously rendered misfortunes. Though the movie was nothing to write home about either, I actually liked it better than the book, for the enjoyable scenery, half-decent performances, and dearth of skull-shatteringly dippy prose.

It's not like it's the worst thing I've ever read, and I never entertained the thought of qui...more

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Feb 25, 2009

Jesica rated it

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dark, but one of my favorites, I loved the language.

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Apr 20, 2010

Joyce Lagow rated it

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Quoyle is a fat, hulking lump of a man with an odd-shaped head, a chin so large it more or less deforms his face, and a personality to match the disaster of his appearance.[return][return]This, then, is one of the protagonists of The Shipping News.[return][return]At 36, after his philandering wife Ruby has died in an automobile accident with her current lover, Quoyle s aunt persuades him to take his two young daughters sunshine and Bunny and move with her back to the family s origin, Newfoundl...moreQuoyle is a fat, hulking lump of a man with an odd-shaped head, a chin so large it more or less deforms his face, and a personality to match the disaster of his appearance.[return][return]This, then, is one of the protagonists of The Shipping News.[return][return]At 36, after his philandering wife Ruby has died in an automobile accident with her current lover, Quoyle s aunt persuades him to take his two young daughters sunshine and Bunny and move with her back to the family s origin, Newfoundland, Canada. After an epic journey in survival, Quoyle and his family arrive in Killick-Claw at the family home a broken-down wreck of a house that will shelter them but just barely; it needs massive repairs. Quoyle snags a job as a newspaper reporter for the local weekly, the Gammy Bird. He has two main responsibilities: dredging up stories and photos of bloody auto wrecks for the front page, and getting the list of ships in port from the harbormaster in other words, reporting the shipping news.[return][return]An odd duck himself, Quoyle fits surprisingly well into what is a non-conformist community. His seemingly boring job at The Gammy Bird presents him with an unanticipated opportunity for real creative journalism, which he eagerly pursues. He strikes up unlikely friendships with his coworkers and neighbors. An attractive but reserved widow confuses Quoyle who does not understand, given his single experience, that love is not synonymous with pain. These, then, are the elements of the novel which does not go anywhere, really, once Quoyle, his closeted lesbian aunt (whose name we never find out), and his two daughters reach Newfoundland.[return][return]From this beginning, Proulx has crafted an unusual novel in which the second protagonist is Newfoundland itself or rather, its way of life as evidenced through the beliefs, speech, actions, and cuisine of as iconoclastic a bunch of characters as you are likely to meet. Proulx uses language to terrific effect, incorporating idiomatic words and phrases that are usually but definitely not always revealed in meaning through the context (sooner or later). Clearly she found the cuisine of Newfoundland fascinating if weird and maybe even slightly repellent, just by the way she inserts local dishes into scenes. For example, breakfast oatmeal with a side dish of bologna in the Bawks Nest (and what is a bawk? we never find out).[return][return] Now who s having the scallops, said the waitress holding a white plate heaped with pallid clumps, a mound of rice, a slice of bleached bead.[return] That was my idea, said the aunt, frowning at her pale food, whispering to Quoyle. Should have gone to Skipper Will s for squidburgers. [return][return]This is not the stuff of which tourist guides are made. While there are other examples, my favorite revolting meal remains the oatmeal with a side of bologna. Or maybe fried eggs being smashed into fish hash. Hard to pick my favorite virtual nausea.[return][return]One of the wilder aspects of The Shipping News is the reporting done in the Gammy Bird. Its readers evidently are riveted by the weekly accounts of rape, child molestation, and other sexual exploits. There are so many 7-10 per week that at times it seems as if 50% of the male population of that part of Newfoundland is actively engaged in sexual deviancy for the delight and delectation of the other 50% and the entire female population. [return][return]Another way in which Proulx uses language is in short, choppy sentences with oddly jarring juxtaposition of adjectives and nouns. It is extremely effective descriptively, giving startling images, at times, of the harsh landscape. Her use of language takes some adjustment on the part of the reader, but once you become accustomed to the rhythm or lack of it and the unusual thrown-together sentences, it becomes addictive. [return][return]Even the names have this jarring quality: Al Catalog, Ed Punch, Billy Pretty, Jack Buggit, Tert Card, Nutbeen and Quoyle himself. They stop you as you read, hold you up, startle you at first, until like the prose itself, they become part of the odd, jarring, harsh landscape of Newfoundland.[return][return]Adding to the pleasure of the book are the chapter headings, almost all of which are taken from the Ashley Book of Knots, published in 1944. The diagrams are clever, and you practically itch to get a piece of rope in your hands and try the mesh knot, the mooring hitch, and others. I m proud to say that I now know the difference between the clove hitch ands two half hitches, and what a bight is.[return][return]Quoyle and the unfolding of his personality is a marvelously touching story that is told without a whiff of sentiment. In fact, that can be said of the whole book, and I think is Proulx s view of Newfoundland and everyone in it, and is a large part of the genius of the book. Because make no mistake, this is a modern American masterpiece.(less)

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Oct 30, 2009

Tim Boole added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-good-list

Arr - A Fine Book: First published in 1993, "The Shipping News" is Anne Proulx's second novel. It went on to win a list of prizes, including the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Quoyle isn't exactly the typical hero : although a good, kind-hearted man, he has little faith in himself and his self-confidence is non-existent. Physically, he's a large, red-haired man, with pale eyes, an over-sized chin and no neck. He has little in common with his family : his father is a genuinely obnoxi...moreArr - A Fine Book: First published in 1993, "The Shipping News" is Anne Proulx's second novel. It went on to win a list of prizes, including the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Quoyle isn't exactly the typical hero : although a good, kind-hearted man, he has little faith in himself and his self-confidence is non-existent. Physically, he's a large, red-haired man, with pale eyes, an over-sized chin and no neck. He has little in common with his family : his father is a genuinely obnoxious, self-obsessed bully with no obvious redeeming qualities while his brother is a self-centred, poisonous rat. After stumbling from one trade to another, Quoyle more or less settles on journalism as a career - starting out with the Mockingburg Reporter. He later meets and marries Petal Bear. (Despite his somewhat unorthodox appearance, Quoyle is as prodigious downstairs as he is in the chin department). Initially, things go well : their first month together is genuinely happy, but the following six years bring Quoyle two daughters and plenty of misery. Although Petal has a great interest in sex, she tends to pursue that interest with people who aren't her husband...

Things change dramatically for Quoyle in his mid-thirties. Following the death of his parents in a suicide pact, he meets an aged aunt (Agnis Hamm) for the first time. Although unable to attend the funeral, she arranges to come down and collect his father's ashes. However, by the time she arrives, Quoyle is also a widower : Petal dies in a car accident that also takes the life of one of her many boyfriends. Shortly before running off, Petal had also sold their daughters to a very dodgy photographer for $7000...fortunately, the police managed to arrive at the photographer's apartment before anything to questionable had happened. Having lost his job - leaving nothing for him in Mockingburg - Aunt Agnis suggests moving to the ancestral Quoyle homestead in Newfoundland. Quoyle, Agnis and the two daughters set off for Quoyle point and, although in need of some repair, the old house is still standing. There's also the promise of a new job : writing the shipping news for the Gammy Bird, the newspaper based in the neighbouring town.

This is a book I'd put off reading for a while. Having won, among other prizes, the Pulitzer I was expecting a `challenging' book without a great deal of humour. I couldn't have been more wrong : the book is very easily read and - while it isn't always cheerful - there is plenty of humour in it. Aunt Agnis is a great character - I was particularly impressed how she dealt with her brother's ashes ! Quoyle has a slight tendency to think in headlines, especially when he feels he's somehow said or done something wrong. Highly recommended.(less)

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Feb 16, 2009

Cashman rated it

· review of another edition

I stumbled across a reference to this book, realized I'd never read anything by Proulx, and checked it out from the public library. As winter here pretends to be ending (don't believe it) there's something comforting about reading a tale of people on the edge, in harsh climates, scrabbling out a living and yet remaining wholly human at the same time.

At first I found the sentence fragments off-putting - basically the whole novel is written in them - but then they grew on me. It's a ...more

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Jan 20, 2012

Tompkins Mcgee rated it

· review of another edition

I need to be honest here. I only made it to page thirty before I moved on to another book. I'm someone who will read a book non-stop from 10 PM to 7 AM. I pulled myself through all three Lord of the Rings books even though I had no idea what was going on. However, I could not get through The Shipping News.

First, I absolutely could not stand the writing style. Yes, I understand that it's "new" and "innovative" and reflects the main character's state of mind. I DON'T ...more

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Dec 24, 2011

Carinya Kappler rated it

· review of another edition

This is a tale of self discovery. An unfolding of a family legacy so stained with actual and imagined horrors that the truth remains a murky mystery. The central character, Quoyle, not only attracts derision and misfortune but believes he deserves it. Through the distorted mirrors of his own self disgust he finds first love in the form of Petal, the mother of his two children. She is the embodiment of selfishness, totally unfit as a mother, genuinely and openly indifferent to the devotion of he...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Tackling the Puli...: The Shipping News (Annie Proulx; 1994)	12	34	Sep 12, 2011 01:08am
Literary Exploration: October 2010 - Shipping News	18	59	Sep 10, 2011 04:14pm
favorite character?	2	45	Apr 30, 2011 05:03pm
shipping news... conspiracy theory	1	49	Apr 29, 2011 02:48pm
Imagery in the novel	2	23	Dec 15, 2008 02:26pm
description of women	2	48	Aug 22, 2008 04:38pm
dairy references?	1	27	Jul 01, 2008 12:13pm

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About Annie Proulx

Also published as E. Annie Proulx
Edna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News (1993), won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994. Her short story "Brokeback Mountain" was adapted as an Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning major motion picture released in 2005. Brokeback Mountain re...more

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“Everybody that went away suffered a broken heart. "I'm coming back some day," they all wrote. But never did. The old life was too small to fit anymore.” — 26 people liked it

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