The Shipping News : A Novel

The Shipping News : A Novel

When Quoyle's two-timing wife meets her just deserts, he retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters and family members all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life. As Quoyle confronts his private demons -- and the unpredictable forces of nature and society -- he begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary North American family, The Shipping News shows why Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
Customer Review: Sequel please
You need to have repose when you read this book so you can remember the details. Don't listen to it while driving a car and eating a sandwich and yelling at your dog in the back seat. I loved everything about it. Proulx admits to being a geographical determinist and Newfoundland reflects the characters of this story perfectly. The characters all blossom there in the harsh surroundings. Bunny changes. Quoyle changes and becomes a happy man. All the details are so perfect. Proulx is America's Gabriel Garcia Marquez on a mini-scale. I do wish she would write more books like this one. The names of the characters are so Dickens-like. I do not want to see the movie. I don't want Aunt to be Judi Dench and Quoyle to be Kevin Spacey. I want him to be a young Gérard Depardieu. PS. The film was a boring disappointment. Spacey and Moore did well with their roles but the story was too altered and most disappointing of all was the lack of Newfoundland scenery.
Customer Review: Impossible to get through!
Thank goodness I am not the only one who feels this way about this book! I have started this book four times, only to be lured away by more interesting reads. It is just too much work to keep reading. I didn't want to feel like a dunce, since it is, afterall a Pulitzer Prize Winner, but thankfully I am not alone in my sentiments. The writing style is difficult to read and I don't really care for the characters either. I will spend my time on more appealing novels. After seeing similar reviews, I now feel justified in quitting!