I was excited to read this since it was a pulitizer winner, but I did not really enjoy it. It just didn't grip me and it's a bit melancholy so you need to be in the right mood to read this.

So I bought this book online at chapters because it was really cheap. It also said it won the Pulitzer Prize. I thought to myself, 'why not?' and bought it. When I received the book and saw the cover, I realized it had been made into a movie. I never knew that and I haven't seen the movie yet.
So I start reading the book. It took awhile to get into it and get used to the author's style. I can't say I like it all that much. It's very disjointed. I understand that the style is important to the story and its portrayal, but it is hard to get used to.
It's an interesting story of this man who basically lets everyone walk all over him, including his two-timing (or maybe six- or seven-timing) wife and family. After the death of his parents and then his wife, he moves to Newfoundland with his two daughters and old aunt to start a new life. Pretty cool, huh? I thought so.
The back of the book said that he begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery. I was really looking forward to this transformation. It wasn't until I was two-thirds of the way through the book that I realized that this transformation hadn't really started at all. His love interest didn't get much further than thoughts of passion and coy looks, moments of silence and people's comments.
So now what? All I could think was that this book would be better as a movie. It would probably flow better and the author did a great job of developing an image. I was extremely disappointed in the ending. I felt like it should have gone further and moved quicker or something.
What can I say about this book? It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I'm looking forward to see the movie - maybe it will be a bit more entertaining. Plus it has Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore in it.

Phenomenal writing, amazing story.

This is an amazing book. The writing is wonderful, the characters seem so real you feel you know them and you get a real feel for the place and time. I highly recommend this book.

The Shipping News is consistently shocking, and keeps you entertained until the very last page. Proulx does a great job of convincing you that you know where the story is going, then takes it an entirely different way. Her style of writing is interesting, intense, but easy to read, and makes for a very interesting story of love, loss, and community.

Annie Proulx dishes out a delicious yarn set in the Canadian East coast. A must read. One of the best books I've read in a long, long time.

After his marriage fails Quoyle makes the decision to move to Newfoundland because he is a failure every-where else. The environment he has chosen is not hospitable and the only job he can
get as a journalist is reporting the shipping movements. This perpetual loser does, however, find a niche in this desolate corner of the world and Proulx weaves an acceptable plot around him and the other characters that she creates with such skill. It is Proulx' writing that makes this such an outstanding work, the prose is a pleasure to read, the characters make you feel you know them and the description makes you believe you live there. Now made into a film that is almost as good.

During my second year of university I read Annie Proulx's book and was amazed. She sure captures Newfoundland and it wonderful amazing people.

One of the best books I've read in years. The wordsmithing is 1st class. Visual images of life in a small village in Newfoundland is both heartwarming and poignant. The characters jump out of the pages at you. Highly recommend reading this novel.

It saddens me to hear a review like John from Waterloo. I mean aside from his book review the comment pertaining to Newfoundlanders being of no benefit to Canadian society is so disheartening..but kind of amusing. Does John base this on random encounters with Newfs or just one particular situation with a newfoundlander(my guess is they didn't enjoy having his high horse around all the time) Save the balloon juice please. "Lack of brains sure is a pleasure to some"

This book was a great read. No doubt about it - I highly recommend it. However, I am from Newfoundland, and I feel the need to respond to the comments made by John from Waterloo (see below). Its true, through history, many Newfoundlanders have struggled through tough economic times, but through their perseverance and strength of character have prevailed. Newfoundland today is a beautiful place as it has always been, with one of the lowest crime rates in Canada and boasts one of the countries fastest growing economies.

This book is not meant to be an attack on Newfoundlanders. It is about a character and his struggles, and those of the characters he meets while in Newfoundland. It is a great book, and a great story! But as for Newfoundland - don't judge the book by its cover.

This book is well-crafted and cogently organized. It must be excellent given that it struck such a strong nerve with Tina from Newfoundland. In fact, Annie Proulx did do exensive research for this novel. Furthermore, Tina has no business complaining about the depiction of Newfoundlanders. Newfoundland has been shaped by poverty, unemployment, and crime. The average Newfoundlander is of no benefit to Canadian society, and this should be well made known, as Proulx has expertly done. It's amusing to see people like Tina get their backs up against the wall over such an accurate description. Well done, Annie Proulx!

This is a book of hope. It helps the readers to see that no matter how much we may stumble through life, if our heart is more or less in the right place, things will eventually turn out all right.

As a Newfoundlander, I must say I was bored and mildly insulted by this book. Proulx didn't research, and based her novel on ignorant assumptions about Newfies. Not everyone here has been sexually abused, and not everyone is stupid or uneducated. The story begins as a big, dumb American named Quoyle loses his wife, and brings his family to a small outport to begin a new life, At first I felt bad for our misshapen hero, but then I just got annoyed with him. There's no real story, just a passage of days as they adjust to their new surroundings.

This is one of the top three books I have ever read. The descriptive words will honestly take your breath away. It's beautifully written and a lovely story of hope and optimism.

This novel will always remind me of my first date with a wonderful man. We went to select a new novel for me to read while I recovered from the extraction of my wisdom teeth. He selected this for me, with the warning that if I did not enjoy it, he would be disappointed.
He's not disappointed, and neither am I. Thank you, love, for giving me such fantastic advice.
Could you call this novel the perfect first date novel? I can.