Third reading
The Shipping News won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In contrast with more than a few of such prize winners that I have read, I judge it to be entirely worthy of those honors. It not only tells a page-turning story, but also evokes a place more vividly than most novels. And it is supremely well-written, though unconventional in style.
Quoyle is an obese and awkward cuckolded husband whose run-away wife has come to a bad end. Filled with sorrow and a continuing obsession with his dead wife, he retreats with his two daughters to the home of his forefathers on the coast of Newfoundland. Accompanied also by his aunt (who is a closeted lesbian), he attempts to reclaim his life. His new job as a less-than-accomplished newspaper journalist brings him in contact with a large cast of colorful characters who help him make a new beginning. One feels from the start that this will be a story that ends well, and that hope is fulfilled. The plot thus holds no major surprises, but that becomes comforting. Don't we all wish that life will ultimately award us with happily ever after?
I highly recommend this novel. Its word pictures of Newfoundland will make you want to visit there. As a plus, it is often sardonically funny.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment