The Shipping News

This 336 page novel by Annie Proulx is lengthy considering its content. Quoyle (like coil) the main character has reached his mid-thirties without having much of a direction, friends, or love in his life. When his father dies and his wife leaves him Quoyle finds himself at a loss about what to do. His aunt suggests returning to the family home in Newfoundland and he acquiesces.

In Newfoundland Quoyle builds a new life. Though stumbling through life as a not so successful newspaper man in New Jersey he finds that his skill is more than adequate at the small town paper in Newfoundland. He also finds love and friendship.

All in all, this is a pretty good story about a person returning to their roots and finding happiness. However, there is a lot of dark foreshadowing throughout the book which leads the reader to expect darker events which do not occur. Perhaps that is why the end was disappointing, or it might have been the Lazarus moment, but the ending is unexpectedly cheerful.

July Book Club choices

The book club choices were made from four previously proposed books plus three more new ones.

1. Divided sky/Der geteilte Himmel, by Christa Wolf
2. Five hours with Mario/Cinco Horas Con Mario, by Miguel Delibes
3. The Stone Raft/A Jangada de Pedra, by José Saramago
4. A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole
5. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende
7. The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov
8. The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

Daughter of Fortune was selected to be read.