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The Shipping News
E. Annie Proulx Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Shipping News
"E. Annie Proulx's book "The Shipping News" is both a deeply disturbing and wonderfully challenging reading experience. She takes us to the strange climes of Newfoundland, Canada, where the cruel forces of nature provide a chilling backdrop to a sometimes bizarre, sometimes sweet tale of a honest, gentle man named Quoyle, his two bratty daughters and his eccentric aunt. Quoyle moves to Newfoundland after his wife abandons him and the children. He starts writing a column in the local paper, and slowly patches together a history of his unsavory family. Truly a riveting story."
Katy O'Grady, Resident Scholar

"THE SHIPPING NEWS by E. ANNIE PROULX
This novel is the story of protagonist Quoyle, a cuckold who loses his wife, and together with his 6-year old daughter and elderly Aunt Agnis, sets out to Newfoundland, their ancestral home. Quoyle lands a job in a small newspaper office in Newfoundland writing a column about the comings and goings of yachts -- The Shipping News. Both the beauty and harshness of Newfoundland are wonderfully portrayed. Along the way Quoyle learns things about his family he didn't even have an idea about. As an additional interesting device, the author presents details about one nautical knot in each chapter, and the characteristics of the knot unfold in the chapter. This engrossing story of loss and recovery and newfound renewal was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993. -- R Prasad
"

R Prasad, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Shipping News
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1980's-1999
Life of a profession: - writer
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
If story of urban/rural... - Small town life
Job/Profession/Status story Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 20's-30's - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - bulging muscles - quite fatty

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Canada
Ice Caps/Sea? Yes
Where? - Ocean
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee - dumb Rednecks, like Gomer Pyle

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - little dialog
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E. Annie Proulx Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
David Gordon  

SCHOLARS:
Elana Starr  


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