The Shipping News

The best way to describe this book is weird. Very strange but so good at the same time. The main character he's just not that interesting, he kind of hates himself if I'm honest about it but that's what makes him so life like. Quoyle doesn't really have a clue about much in his life, he doesn't like his brother, his parents committed suicide, he got married but his wife was always screwing around on him, he has two daughters but he says one of them (Bunny) is homely looking; so Quoyle's life is a lot like a lot of ours but even more crappy. His wife takes off, takes the daughters with her, sells them to a pedophile, and gets killed in the process. Quoyle needs to change, he really does, and he moves to Newfoundland; which is where his father came from to find it!
Let's talk Newfoundland shall we? Best people in the whole wide world, I'd know I'm one of them! We have the cutest accents, beautiful landscape, lots of history (good and bad), the best music, the most bars on one street in North America, and we're the toughest! We have to be to live here where the weather will change every five minutes and that's not a joke! Now there are times where we can be the butt of the joke to some people in some parts of Canada but don't ever listen to a stupid Newfie joke, I'm sure that there are some Newfoundlanders that aren't the brightest crayon in the box but isn't that everywhere? I don't believe that there is one place in this world where there's not a stupid person! So stop it; it's not funny! We have a great sense of humor but that's not very funny for many people. Hey we have a place called Dildo and then there's South Dildo and if you're not for the um cruder named places although I think our Dildo came first; how about Cupids, Hearts Delight, Heart's Desire, or Angel's Cove. Yeah, they're all beautiful! Come to the province, we have fish!*

All these pictures are mine by the way! Just in case you were wondering! They were all taken in my home town! I'm lucky, I know! 

This isn't about how beautiful Newfoundland is though. But isn't she beautiful? Rugged and ahhhh! Something else! However, if you should read The Shipping News, think about these pictures because this is what Quoyle would have seen when he was coming across on the ferry; I think this takes place on the West Coast but it's quite similar! Now someone from New York coming here who have seen and tried to adjust to this world, the one where people aren't as fast paced and are maybe a little bit eccentric and are into everyone's businesses. Quoyle met quite a few characters and I will be the first to admit that I could see people that I know in a lot of them. They are people that you would meet around here every day. And they're all absolutely fantastic, salt of the earth people, who are nar bit grand!** Life here is pretty simple and Quoyle, I think he likes that and comes into his own, he finds out that the family that he comes from are a bit odd and perhaps he shouldn't connect to his roots but I think more than anything he finds himself. In the beginning he wants no part of a boat and toward the end, I don't think he loves them but he definitely gets used to them. He quickly becomes a part of the community and maybe it's because he does the shipping news and makes a place for himself that he realizes I'm worth it. Or maybe it's something else entirely.
I think anyone can admit that they have been in over their head, you're waist deep in it before you even realize what you're doing and that's the way that it was with Quoyle and Petal; he was married to her before he really knew what happened and when she dies in a car accident, he's sad but honestly I think he's better off. Things turn out better in the end when he has his aunt, and his girls. Sure there's bad things that continue to happen but generally speaking it all turns out well in the end. It really does.
My Thoughts
I didn't think that I would like this book; I saw it on Scribd and was like it's about Newfoundland, how can I resist? That's not saying that I like all books about Newfoundland, I don't. I have to re-read Random Passage because I'm sure that I didn't give that a fair review in the past, but I was in Grade 11 when I read it. I think this one was interesting because the characters were easy to relate to but at the same time it was strange and a bit hard to get into at first. And after a while you're thinking this is boring and then slowly you become immersed in this book and the characters and then you're there with them and you want to know what happens and you want a happy ending and in the end, you kind of get one. You don't really know that everything is going to turn out alright but you know that it's better than it was before. A lot better. I didn't get into this book a lot and basically tell everyone what it's about because it's one of those ones that if I tried to summarize it, I'd just screw it up because there is wayyy too much going on. But I will say that I liked it a lot and it was a good read, if you pick it up and you're not sure about it, push through because once you get past a certain point, you can really get into it. I give it, 8 Sunken Boats out of 10! 

*Fish means Cod. Any other fish is called by name; Halibut, Tuna, Flat Fish, etc.
**Put on no airs