The Shipping News

If I had to describe this book in one word, I think it would be "lyrical". The author (also of Brokeback Mountain fame) uses almost no verbs, and it is increbibly effective. Amazingly so. And although not much happens in the book - hardly a plot, you don't even know how much time has passed from one event to the other half the time - I just drank in the words, turning page after page because I loved the writing so much.

The main character is actually quite pathetic. Quoyle- large, lumbering, slow, no amibition, no self respect. He marries a women who sleeps with another man each night, sometimes bringing them home and bedding them in the den where her husband can hear them. After 6 years of marriage, she runs away with the money she raised by selling thier two young girls to a pedofile. Luckily, the only thing that this event causes is the move to Quoyle's ancestoral home of Newfoundland. There, he settles into a new life, and finds himself through the cast of characters in the small fishing town. I don't want to give away too much, since you all should read this book. The story is subtle, it comes to an end with a small bang and you feel good when you realize this is how it ended.

I cannot stress how much I loved her way of writing. For example, Quoyle works in newspapers, so he often gives headlines to his thoughts. The best is when he, his two daughters and his aunt are sleeping in the car (long story) and his aunts dog's flatulence is keeping him awake, prompting "Dog Farts Fell Family of Four." These thought headlines are funny at times, but also heartbreaking, observant and give insight into what Quoyle is going through at that moment. It is just one of the techniques she uses to show the reader, instead of telling her.

Editor Esteems Eloquent Style and Storytelling.