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by pageclot  - Top 1000, Oct 29 '02
Pros: In a quiet way, uplifting and gently humourous
Cons: Suffers from typical writer obsessions with food, flora and fauna.
Many years ago, a co-worker/friend of mine (Jeff) highly recommended The Shipping News to me, saying "You'll love it! It's about this depressed guy who winds up in Newfoundland writing about boats. The humour is just like yours, deadpan and dry....
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by miridunn , Oct 04 '00
Pros: lively original writing; great characters; a tale as strange as any truth
Cons: fragmented sentences a recurring technique
”Hive spangled, gut roaring with gas and cramp, he survived childhood.”. P.1
Thirty-six year old Quoyle, a born loser, relocates from the States with his two young daughters to their ancestral home in Newfoundland -- his unfaithful and...
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by altecocker , Nov 21 '04
Pros: It has what might be described as a subtle humor that permeates the book.
Cons: Annoying "style" of writing, vague plot,shallow characters and not much point.
I heard this book won a Pulitzer Prize. Moreover, it won a National Book Award and several other prizes, My son-in-law loved it; he gave it to my wife to read. She loved it. My son-in-law is an English Professor. My wife is..well, ...my wife. How could I ...
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by sandimck , Nov 20 '02
Pros: Very different story line and writing style...both totally intriguing!
Cons: Maybe the writing style....until you get used to it.
This is the first Annie Proulx work I've read..and only did so because it was our book club's selection. I found it to be engrossing, insightful, and interesting. Proulx's writing style was so different that it took me a while to get used to her...
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by kjjrj , Mar 28 '00
Pros: Author creates story with literary risks that define its atmosphere
Cons: Not all of the risks work fully
Annie Proulx has written a novel that seems to defy all the rules of a novel, and yet, in a strange way the reader can't understand, it seems to work. Even when the reader is certain shouldn't. The author breaks these rules without disturbing their...
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by drvon , May 03 '04
Pros: Has some funny moments, quietly moving, unique setting and characters.
Cons: Hard to read at first, lack of definite plot, not enough comedy.
One of my problems is that I tend to read books just because it won an award. I feel like I owe it to myself. So when I opened a Christmas present and saw from the cover’s proclamation that The Shipping News had won the Pulitzer Prize I thought, “ ...
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by MerryChristman , Mar 29 '00
Pros: Creative
Cons: Jarring writing style, a dull protagonist, and a depressing story
Everything that glitters is not gold, and everything that wins a Pulitzer Prize is not good. Even a best-selling book like The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, which won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Irish Times International...
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by DWG , Oct 16 '99
Pros: beautifully written, with a quiet humor
Cons: difficult to get going
This is one of those books that stays with you. Little glimpses will pop into your head years after you read it. It is lyrically written and funny to boot. I read it in a book club, and many members had trouble getting into it, or simply gave up. I...
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by romeow , Dec 21 '99
Pros: Fabulous slice of (a very strange) life
Cons: Difficult narrative style
The Shipping news is not a book you can't put down. In fact, I put it down a number of times thinking I would never pick it up again. However, the characters had a way of compelling me back to see just how it might all end. Yes, it's a slow mover. But,...
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by LouiseWR , Dec 07 '00
Pros: Well-paced
Cons: I couldn't buy the plot at all;unattractive in every way
Wow! When my book club decided to read this book based on others' recommendations, and a Pulitzer prize, you'd expect certain standards. Okay, so the story kept your interest, but in a morbid, what's-going-to
happen-to-this-loser-next sort of way....
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by sarhaha11 , Jun 07 '00
Pros: well written
Cons: it just doesn't have that spark
Quoyle is a large, awkward man with not much luck. He joins a newspaper in an American city until he meets his wife. Petal is a demanding, unfaithful woman who spends much of her time at bars and sleeping around with different men. She hates her two...
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by heidi9 , Oct 17 '99
Pros: interesting, good love story
Cons: fiction shouldn't be compared to fact
E. Annie Proulx spends part of the year in Newfoundland, which is why she seems to think she knows the island well. Some parts of this book show that - other's don't. Newfoundland does have odd place names, like "Dildo" and "Heart's...
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by sundowner59 , Apr 30 '00
Pros: Character development, unique setting
Cons: Choppy style -- but readable
It has been at least three or four years since I read E. Annie Proulx' The Shipping News, but it remains fresh as I recall my first encounter with her unusually abrupt, often choppy writing style. It did not take long, however, to become comfortable...
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by jasonalang , Oct 22 '00
Pros: Some dark humor, somewhat lovable characters.
Cons: Almost no character development, plotline next to nil.
Want to win next years Pulitzers? Here is the simple way to do it:
1) Create a character that is a misanthrope. You don't need them to be a hunchback, but having sexual hang-ups and/or growing up abused is a good start.
2) Write a...
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by NoniaBidnis , Jan 31 '00
Pros: wonderful story lines and good characters
Cons: "difficult" writing style to read
This book is written in a very unusual style. Once I got used to it, I enjoyed that aspect of it very much. It was not difficult, exactly, but required more effort and attention than the average book. Ms. Proulx has a lot of depth in her use of words...
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