Proulx's way with language is incredibly evocative - the sparseness and tone reflect the rugged, wild and awe-inspiring landscape where she sets this novel. While describing the harshness and isolation of Newfoundland, at the same time Proulx makes you wish that you were there. As one critic wrote in The Times: 'to read The Shipping News is to yearn to be sitting in the Flying Squid Lunchstop, eating Seal Fin Curry, watching the icebergs clink together in the bay'. This is exactly how I feel whenever I pick up my copy of The Shipping News, yellowed now and extremely tatty by virtue of being passed around my entire family. While I may complain every time it gets slightly chilly here in London, every now and then I still fantasise about being in Newfoundland, feeling the wind whip around my face, standing on the ancient, battered rocks and contemplating the wild and unpredictable sea, before retreating to a steaming bowl of clam chowder and a conversation with some rugged old seafarers and their fishermen's tales.
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