Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 447
 we loved it December 17, 2007
Amanda Moon (Clarksville, Mo. USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
My book club read this one and we all loved it. Annie Proulx gave us the most grist for discussion of any author we have read. The characters are unique and well developed. The story of a loser coming into his own is universal. The theme of resurrection comes up over and over. Some of my favorite things about the book are the descriptions of the sea and weather and the vivid images of the people living in this little arctic town.This story is also an interesting view of the Newfoundland people and thier seagoing culture. It is no mystery why this book earned a Pullitzer Prize.
 Disappointed November 30, 2007
Florence Wong (San Francisco, CA)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
A slow, dull story with settings and characters that I found impossible to in the slightest way. Hardly the page-turner that some say it is. The written language often lacks fluidity, and often sounds as if the author tried too hard to add color and texture to the prose. The main character is very flawed -- so much that I found it hard to sympathize with him during his hard times.
Glad you learned to read November 27, 2007
Cecil Bothwell (Asheville, NC USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I know it doesn't take a lot of courage to praise a story that picked up a Pulitzer and National Book Award and sundry other badges, but this one's really good. Really good. Being personally inclined to the impact school of fiction review, rather than the analytical, my highest praise is that it works. Ms. Proulx has constructed a tale as wide as it is long, with humor and remembrance, adventures and surprises that will leave you happy and wistful and deep in thought. If I might be forgiven for emulating her singular style I will conclude with this: Glad you learned to read.
Want a blow-em up spy-novel, go elsewhere... August 28, 2007
Allen Hall (Corn-Country, Midwest USA)
Yes, the book does move a bit slower than the average Michael Crichton... in my mind, this is a good thing.
The slowly weaving lyrical cadence of Proulx's writing came as a nice surprise to me. Her writing would never have passed by my fifth-grade grammar teacher's red-pen; however, her knack for flowing paragraphs weaves a tale that's hard to put down.
The story begins by introducing a slightly dense Quoyle, a 36 year old who you wish would get mad at his surroundings a bit more and make a few changes to better his life. Instead, he seems to take things as they come; in the beginning, the things that come are horrible. A move prompted by an Aunt brings him to his ancestral home in Newfoundland. With the move, he finds a large family house, sitting neglected, along with the small-town preconceptions of his family. Luckily, his local friends put off their judgments. With this new move, he slowly finds himself in better circumstances. Nothing much has changed, many things are still rough, but slowly and surely Quoyle's life is taking an upswing. Finally we see the chance and evolution of a happier life coming to someone who yearned for just that for so long.
Throughout the book the temperament of the sea and the local cadence for life is a character unto itself. Proulx dots her chapters with excerpts of the famous Ashley's Book of Knots, which add a seafaring charm to each.
I was afraid throughout this enjoyable book that Proulx would feel the need to alter the ending to make some serious statements at the closing. I was very happy to find that her statement was made very softly, and with the deft hand of an accomplished writer. There was no "axe dropping" to be had, other than the close of a book-cover that you wished to re-open again very soon.
Ah, Newfoundland August 21, 2007
W. C. Brown (Philly, PA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you've never been there, you'll want to go after reading this book. I bought it as I was getting ready to fly out of St. John's, Newfoundland.
I started reading "Shipping News" sitting in the airport, way ahead of schedule. From page one, I was captivated. The characters are so real; the story could be any tiny town on the coast of Newfoundland (by the way, it is pronounced using the mnemonic "Understand"....same emphasis as on the word "Newfoundland"). Having just recently purchased such a home, I could relate to the characters.
I laughed aloud constantly. Such fun! I am sure all of the fine folks I was sitting with the in the airport thought I was a bit mad. Occasionally, I would look up and I could see the unique personalities I was reading about.
The people of Newfoundland, mostly of Irish descent (with a lilt to their accent), have always had a hard scrabble life. They are a unique breed of human beings, and are portrayed in Shipping News with the respect they deserve. It is a tender, funny and sometimes harsh look at the life of the people who inhabit "The Rock". It is a book that I have read over and over, and give as a gift to my best girlfriends.
I recommend reading the book before watching the movie, but you will find much lacking in the movie, even though it's very well done.
Every time I pick up the book, I yearn to go "home"..............
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