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Review
‘Proulx has come close to writing “the great American novel”.’ New York Times
‘The richness of America is portrayed with memorable effect in this remarkable first novel – Faulkner springs to mind. “Postcards” is written from the heart and – for its raspy dialogue, laconic humour and beautiful description of the natural world – deserves to be widely read.’ Independent on Sunday
‘A sweeping and dramatic tale. Not since Steinbeck has the migrant worker's life been so evocatively rendered.’ Daily Telegraph
‘A remarkable novel; poetic and yet driven by a strong narrative, tragic and yet scored with deep veins of humour. Loyal Blood is one of those rare, haunted characters who continue to live in the mind after you finish the book.’ Literary Review
Review
'Proulx has come close to writing "the great American novel".' New York Times 'The richness of America is portrayed with memorable effect in this remarkable first novel -- Faulkner springs to mind. "Postcards" is written from the heart and -- for its raspy dialogue, laconic humour and beautiful description of the natural world -- deserves to be widely read.' Independent on Sunday 'A sweeping and dramatic tale. Not since Steinbeck has the migrant worker's life been so evocatively rendered.' Daily Telegraph 'A remarkable novel; poetic and yet driven by a strong narrative, tragic and yet scored with deep veins of humour. Loyal Blood is one of those rare, haunted characters who continue to live in the mind after you finish the book.' Literary Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Postcards" is a darker work than Proulx's better known "The Shipping News" but all the hallmarks are there. The descriptions of nature are breathtaking, the dialogue acute, the control consummate. The author unerringly chooses the right phrase, or positions the right word just so. This is the work of a master water-colourist in prose. Without giving too much away, it is the story of two lost lives. The first occurs on page one but it is the chronicle of the second that forms the rest of the book, poor damaged Loyal sending back his postcards - loyal by nature as well as by name. While brother Dub gets rich and fat in real estate, Loyal battles against everything the elements can throw at him - rockfall, fire, snow - then picks himself up, tries again. The passing of the years and the changing of the times are beautifully and poignantly laid out, and I have to say that so unbearable did I find it at times that I could only manage to read some parts of the novel in short bursts. I haven't been so moved by a book in years as I have been by the story of Loyal Blood. Six stars out of five.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
About three years ago, I stumbled across Postcards in an airport bookstore, and I couldn't put it down for the 3 days that I was away from home. It is the only book I have ever read by Proulx, but the images from Postcards seem to be etched in my mind. Think of a favorite movie- and the scene or image that will never go away. That's what this book offers: vivid, emotional images. It's a book that I have always wanted to recommend to someone, the kind of book that makes me wish I was reading it for a literature class so that I could talk about it with others, analyze it, and truly appreciate it. It is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching story. As I recall, an observation I had while reading Postcards was that Proulx was noticably sympathetic to her female characters - they seemed to be victims of circumstance - while her male characters were often the cause of their own undoing. This realization actually enhanced my enjoyment of the book, by making me conscious of the author and allowing a certain amount of disconnect from the characters- necessary to keep from getting too emotionally connected to these tragic characters.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've always found my favourite writers follow the same three edicts: 1) Write the words as though you're driving the brain on a sight-seeing excursion, 2) Take the ordinary and make it extraordinary, and 3) Repeat the above liberally.
I was introduced to E. Annie Proulx rather backwardly: I started with Accordion Crimes, then greedily devoured The Shipping News and finally Postcards. Postcards is a Gothic painting of the Blood family. Aptly named, this family begins the book with a foggy and orgasmic accidental death, which eventually and indirectly brings the Bloods to ruin. The Patriach and Matriach, Mink and Jewell Blood, are anything but luxurious contrary to their monikers. The kids provide their own mix of new despair combined with the old.
Definitely worth a read. Your dysfunctional family will look angelic in comparison.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Postcards
I love Annie Proulx books, particularly the wide, open spaces genre. I hadn't heard of this book although it was published in 2009 but saw it advertised on Amazon. Read more
Published 1 month ago by moellen
Highly recommended debut novel
This stupendous 1992 debut novel won the prestigious 'PEN/Faulkner for Fiction'. It is a dramatic family history starting in 1926, ending in the late 1980's. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. A. Doornbos
Great story - rubbish print quality
This book was recommended by a friend. Because it involved the images of postcards, I bought it in the print version rather than on Kindle. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mr Oliver Wells
Words that sizzle 'like meat in a pan'
I've always found it difficult to identify, in fiction, with male characters but 'Postcard's' Loyal Blood has been a character who I have thought about a hundred times since... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. Jf Bowers
Postcards
As a dedicated Annie Prouix fan I didn't warm to this book right away, in fact I felt slightly off balance all the way through. Read more
Published 14 months ago by P. Cameron
Not perfect, but imaginative and striking
Some people really do not like this book. Some have given it one star in a review, and others have complained that it does not stand up next to Proulx's much more famous "The... Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2007 by William Burn
good, but not worthy from this author
A good book, really a very good book, but still a little disappointing from this author. Another fairly grimy down-to-earth account of Americans' inhumanity to Americans, but the... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2004
AWFUL
If i could give it zero stars i would it was uninteresting from the start I could not keep up with the extreme numbers of new characters introduced every chapter till it reached... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 1999
Beautifully written, but so depressing
Proulx is an amazing writer, and I was deeply drawn to her characters. Having grown up in a small town in New Hampshire, the Blood's saga was a little too familiar-accidents,... Read more
Published on 29 July 1999
Human resilience
I found this book life-giving, although my husband found it depressing. While it details the breakup of a family farm with disaster following upon disaster, somehow people keep... Read more
Published on 28 April 1999
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