870. The Shipping News

The Shipping News
E. Annie Proulx
1993
Around 340 pages

Well, you wouldn't think that a novel about shipping news would be interesting. And you would be correct in that assumption. Honestly, there's only a handful of novels on the Pulitzer Prize list that I actually enjoyed. It's a pretty stuffy bunch.

Quoyle is a newspaper reporter who writes about traffic accidents and shipping news. His abusive and unfaithful ex was killed in a car accident with her lover, after attempting to sell their daughters to sex traffickers. Needless to say, Quoyle is a very hard done by character. He is encouraged by his aunt to start a new life in Newfoundland, where he learns more about his ancestors.

This is just one of those books that I felt I had to wade through, which was disappointing after a promising beginning. The weird names and heavy sentences made me feel like the author was trying too hard and there wasn't a lot of natural rhythm to her prose. The story just reminded me of better authors like John Updike or Margaret Atwood.

But of course, I'm too hard on the lass, she tied the novel together with a cool theme and we've certainly read more pretentious and insufferable authors. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Adapted to film in 2001.

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