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‘A very impressive achievement. So funny, so full of delights.’ Guardian
‘As stark and ruggedly beautiful as the storm-battered coast of Newfoundland itself.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Ambitious and accomplished…The characterisation is rich, the dialogue both original and convincing.’ Alan Massie, Scotsman
‘A stunning novel.’ Observer
‘To read “The Shipping News” is to yearn to be sitting in The Flying Squid Lunchstop, eating seal fin curry, watching the icebergs clink together in the bay.’ The Times
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Customer Reviews
Agree that it's hard to sympathise with Quoyle (our, um, hero) in the early chapters. Not the heroic type at all... wounded by his father's totally undisguised favouritism towards his spiteful brother. Overweight and ugly. Lacking self confidence, self control... Nor the clichéd anti-establishment anti-hero. In fact dull, dull, dull......
But hang on. Isn't this every man? Who among us is perfect in mind and body? Fat and unsure of ourselves. Tall, gangly and introspective. Tough on the outside, vulnerable and drawn towards self-destructive behaviour on the quiet.
That's how the book draws you slowly in. Characters may have improbably names, but they're more real than most perfect size 8, gym-toned fiction you'll ever read.
The small kids are drawn so well. Such a rarity in an adult novel.
The island and the sea are characters in themselves. Newfoundland, its inlets and offshore islands, abandoned settlements, pragmatic architecture. Punished by - and yet so dependent on - the sea, like the cruel parents that seem to crop up all too often in the book. Buffeted even more by wavering subsidy from remote government that really cannot see through the fog to get a proper picture of life on the the Rock. By the vagiaries of globalisation....
Sounds depressing. But ultimately a redemptive, quiet, gorgeously imperfect celebration of community and finding the inner strength to accept yourself, for all your flaws and the stuff you found it hard to deal with. I'll read it again and again.
Reading this I was absoultely transported to life in Newfoundland. The cold, the ice, the wind and the danger all penetrated my imagination and I was frozen stiff reading most of it!
A tragedy with a loveable oaf as a hero, the unforgettable stalwart aunt with her grief and her memories, children with a hope for the future away from modern times. Escape into a harsh world which demands courage and resolution, but the rewards and the education the Quoyle family receive is touching and satisfying.
A tale of loss, history, roots, grief and new beginnings. Never does Proulx weave her plot through rose tinted spectacles and soft nostalgia, rendering this novel as among the best I have ever read.
There is a very naked truth in this novel and it will grind you hard. I'd call it catharsis.
Read this. It's an exploration.
However, I was initially disappointed, as the writing seemed lacking in some way. Characterisation, similarly, appeared shallow. The writing style is also slightly off-putting, as the writer is sparing with the use of adverbs and the definite article. Nevertheless, I ploughed on, as something kept me reading. I'm glad I did, as the characters did indeed come to life, and the prose became beautifully descriptive.
It is difficult to bond with Quoyle at first; you feel pity for the poor man who seems to have been a victim all his life. He acts like a drip where his wife, Petal, is concerned. After the loathsome wife dies, Quoyle comes into his own, helped along the way by his stout-hearted woman - The Aunt.
What follows is a story of new beginnings for Quoyle. The courage he has in facing new challenges is admirable, and the path his life takes becomes an enlightenment and lesson for us all.
The beauty of it is that it is a story that doesn't pretend to be something it isn't. It's not a serious account of life in Newfoundland, merely a representation of a man trying to be a good father and find his place in life.
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