The Shipping News is a
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.* 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener...
and
National Book AwardThe National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. Started in 1950, the awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the prior year, as well as lifetime achievement awards including the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to...
-winning novel by
E. Annie ProulxEdna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001...
which was published in 1993. It was adapted into a
film of the same nameThe Shipping News is a drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.It stars Kevin Spacey as the protagonist Quoyle, Judi Dench as Agnes Hamm and Julianne Moore as Wavey Prowse...
, released in 2001.
The story centers on Quoyle, a newspaper worker from upstate
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
whose father had emigrated from Newfoundland. Shortly after the suicide of his parents, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive wife Petal and her lover leave town. Days later, she sells their daughters to a 'black market adoption agency' for the sum of $6,000.
"In a knot of eight crossings, which is about the average-size knot, there are 256 different 'over-and-under' arrangements possible... Make only one change in this 'over and under' sequence and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result."- Intro
"all stemmed from Quoyle's chief failure, a failure of normal appearance." 2
"Quoyle large, white, stumbling along going nowhere" 4
"Quote, who spoke little himself, inspired talkers. His only skill in the game of life" 9
"That was the stuff of other lives, he was waiting for his to begin. He got in the habit of walking around the trailer and asking aloud, "Who knows?" He said, "Who knows?" For no one knew. He meant, anything could happen. A spinning coin, still balanced on its rim, may fall in either direction." 11
Quoyle with regards to Petal, his wife, "There was a month of fiery happiness. Then six kinked years of suffering...In another time, in another sex, she would have been Genghis Khan." 13
"Why do we weep in grief, the aunt wondered. Dogs, deer, birds sufferent with dry eyes and in silence. The dumb suffering of animals. Probably a survival technique." 24
"'Quoyle, you got any maritime connections?' 'My grandfather was a sealer.' 'Jesus. You always come out at me out of left field.'" 30
"Dad, there's smoke coming out of the can and coming out of your mouth, too. how do you do that, daddy?" 42
"and three lucky stones strung on a wire to keep the house safe." 45
The Shipping News is a
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.* 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener...
and
National Book AwardThe National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. Started in 1950, the awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the prior year, as well as lifetime achievement awards including the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to...
-winning novel by
E. Annie ProulxEdna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001...
which was published in 1993. It was adapted into a
film of the same nameThe Shipping News is a drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by E. Annie Proulx.It stars Kevin Spacey as the protagonist Quoyle, Judi Dench as Agnes Hamm and Julianne Moore as Wavey Prowse...
, released in 2001.
Plot summary
The story centers on Quoyle, a newspaper worker from upstate
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
whose father had emigrated from Newfoundland. Shortly after the suicide of his parents, Quoyle's unfaithful and abusive wife Petal and her lover leave town. Days later, she sells their daughters to a 'black market adoption agency' for the sum of $6,000. Soon thereafter, Petal and her lover are killed in a car accident; the young girls are located by police and returned to Quoyle. Despite the safe return of his daughters, Quoyle's life is collapsing and his paternal aunt, Agnis Hamm, convinces him to return to their ancestral home of Newfoundland for a new beginning. This ancestral home is situated on Quoyle's Point.
He obtains work as a car-accident reporter for the
Gammy Bird, local newspaper of the town of Killick-Claw. The
Gammy Bird's editor also asks him to document the shipping news, arrivals and departures from the local port, which soon grows into Quoyle's signature articles on boats of interest in the harbour.
Quoyle gradually makes friends within the community, learns about his own troubled family background, and begins a relationship with a local woman, Wavey. Quoyle's growth in confidence and emotional strength, as well as his ability to be comfortable in a loving relationship, become the main focus for the book. A series of deep and disturbing secrets about his ancestors emerge in strange ways.
Ashley's influence
In her acknowledgements Proulx states, "And without the inspiration of Clifford W. Ashley's wonderful 1944 work,
The Ashley Book of KnotsThe Ashley Book of Knots is an encyclopedia of knots first published in 1944 by Clifford Ashley. The culmination of over 11 years of work, it contains some 7000 illustrations and more than 3854 entries covering over 2000 different knots. The entries include instructions, uses, and for some knots,...
, which I had the good fortune to find at a yard sale for a quarter, this book would have remained just a thread of an idea." Ashley's illustrations and quotes are used at chapter headings throughout the book. Some of the names in the book are taken from knots, for instance
Killick hitchThe killick hitch is a type of hitch knot used to attach a rope to oddly shaped objects. This knot, also known as the kelleg hitch, is an alteration of the timber hitch.-Use and History:...
and
coilA coil is a series of loops. A coiled coil is a structure where the coil itself is in turn also looping.-Electromagnetic coils:An electromagnetic coil is formed when a conductor is wound around a core or form to create an inductor or electromagnet...
.
Awards and nominations
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. It replaced the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel.* 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener...
, 1994
- National Book Award
The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. Started in 1950, the awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the prior year, as well as lifetime achievement awards including the "Medal of Distinguished Contribution to...
, 1993
- The Irish Times International Fiction Prize, 1993
External links