POSTCARDS

Rating:
Summary: I don't even know why I am writing this....ambivalent
Review: After reading this novel, I still have no idea how I feel about it. I know that I wanted to like it, having adored "The Shipping News" and liking "That Old Ace in the Hole" rather well. But the only thing I feel about this book is ambivalence. Not good, not bad...just nothing.

The plot itself is anything but riveting. It follows random characters through their different American journeys, all ending in tragedy, death, debt, or just plain boredom. I see what Proulx is trying to say here about the American experience, but it seems to me it's been done better by others, Richard Russo being the first to come to mind.

One annoying habit (actually two annoying habits) Proulx has is one: not identifying the speaker. After two pages of "he" and "she" the reader may finally realize who the story is about. Other times, the chapter may end without any name, and utter confusion. Two: Every ten chapters or thereabouts Proulx has a "What I See" chapter, which is exactly what it sounds like. Things the characters see. This is a chance for Proulx to show off her marvelous description skills, but it can also be tedious. Especially when most of the rest of the book is description.

If you are looking to get to know Annie Proulx, this is not the book to start off on. Read "The Shipping News" or "That Old Ace in the Hole" first; both leave definite impressions and have better developed stories and characters. This book is...well, it's just THERE.

Rating:
Summary: Gratuitously nasty
Review: Annie Proulx' vivid prose took my breath away. She has an amazing ability with words--metaphors, similes--every sentence an artist's delight. That to me is the strong point of this book. On the down side, it completely lacks a single sympathetic character. The characters, particularly Mink, were for the most part brutes, cruel to each other, and especially to animals. Had there been a single case of tenderness or love for someone or an animal, it would have been more fully formed. Because I couldn't care about the people in the book, the continuous chain of disasters were not so much depressing to me as just gratuitously negative. I certainly wouldn't see the book as a lesson of "what happens when the family farm disappears"--so much as a chronology of the lives of people making profoundly stupid choices with little grace. I liked the Shipping News much better.

Rating:
Summary: No return address
Review: Annie Proulx's first novel uses the vehicle of postcards, often from the main character Loyal Blood, to introduce most chapters. What is striking about the cards is there is never a return address, with Loyal cutting himself off from contact from his family, but still wanting to let them know his whereabouts (with a rack of stolen bear postcards). I was hoping for some return, or public discovery of the event that precipitated Loyals exodus. The descriptions of mining and archeology in the west were perhaps the best, but the writing of the farm in Vermont did not reveal as strong feeling of place. The writing in sometimes very lyrical for example ".. her own house showed up as a slatternly lean of paintless clapboards, the porch slipping away like melting butterscotch". The vignettes almost read more like loosely connected short stories, than a novel. The male characters seem most developed, with the women offering less. Readers of this may enjoy Robert Olen Butler's upcoming book " Had a Good Time : Stories from American Postcards " which has fictional short stories focused around an actual postcard

Rating:
Summary: A moving novel that leaves its mark.
Review: I finished reading this book several days ago, yet it is still resonating with me. Proulx tells several stories in this novel, but the story line I found most compelling was that of Loyal, the son who is forced to leave the family farm because of an accidental killing. Loyal is resourceful and quite gifted--as he wanders he is able to eke out a living as a trapper, a farmer, an archeologist, etc. But he is also sentenced to a solitary, nomadic life because of personal circumstances and shortcomings.

I am personally drawn to stories that involve themes of lonleliness, wandering, and hardscrabble living. Proulx tells Loyal's story, which involves all these themes, with great skill.

This novel does not build into a climatic ending as much as it seems to *unravel* (in a very good way!) to an emotional ending. I highly recommend this wonderful piece of literature. But if you like your stories with happy endings, and with all the various threads tied up neatly at the end, you might look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: You pay the price for reading this book
Review: i made the mistake of reading this book while i was in another country, far away from my family and friends. as a result, i found the lonely travels of the self-exiled Loyal to be excruciating. admittedly, Postcards is a finely written book, but it helped send me into a funk for a couple of weeks. Proulx breaks down the Blood's world into two scenarios: 1) The Blood family farm, where they are resigned to live with people they don't like, and endure passive-aggressive and rather cold relationships with each other; or 2) The rest of the world, which is a lonely and indifferent place.

Watching this family interact with one another is somewhat painful, but witnessing the slow destruction of their home and way of life is sad to the point of numbing. They escape the farm, they pursue their dreams best as they can, but ultimately, the only bond that matters (Blood)slowly fades as they trudge toward their destinies, causing the unravelling of their family. again, a very well-crafted novel, and artistically superior, but still, in my opinion few books are worth such a dismal reading experience. reader beware...

Rating:
Summary: Postcards to piece together
Review: Postcards was a remarkably well-written book. From the first paragraph, you are drawn into the story. The characters are real--they toil and struggle, and have their quirks. Loyal Blood, the oldest son and main character, has a sense of mystery and intrigue about him. His biggest goal seems to be finding a place in the world, something that always eludes him in the end. Meanwhile, you read postcards from others, to others, and piece together on your own what happened to these people. Proulx's use of the postcards was a great way to make the reader use their brain. Proulx also uses the settings to their fullest, making you realize that the land you live on plays a big role in your life and circumstances. While you read about Loyal Blood, you realize that your past history will always be a part of you too, and no matter how hard you try to make it disappear, it always catches up to you.

Rating:
Summary: A first of many
Review: Postcards was the first of many books that I actually finished. I have tried to read many "good recommendation" books and never quite finished them, due to a lack of interest. What drew me to complete postcards was Proulx style of writing and prose. It was very interesting although I found I had to re-read many parts of the book, just part of my short attention span I guess. The downfalls of the book was character confusion, by the time I got halfway through the book I was confused about the characters in the Blood family, and of the ownership of traits. The most dreadful of all is the unanswered anticipation that was built up in the first page of the book, I felt let down and angered that I had put the time to finish the book and never had my questions answered. By the time I was three quarters through the book I realized that this was to be. I wanted to throw the book into a busy intersection, but refrained due to the fact it wasn't my book. It was lent to me by a friend who hadn't read it yet. Oddly enough I plan on reading it again to get my characters right, and I will check out "The Shipping News". Maybe this is the best compliment I can give the author, I hated the story but I loved the style. Very vivid.

Rating:
Summary: What the...
Review: Proulx is like Faulkner for me... I know they are both brilliant writers, but I don't really get them. Actually, I thought I got The Shipping News, at least I really liked it, and I was enjoying Postcards until the end. I won't give away anything (unlike some reviewers, ahem) but there were far too many unanswered plot questions and character motivations. I felt sure we would be given some closure on the opening event, at least that we would find out more of the circumstances, but no, we were left hanging. That is only one example of many. I wouldn't say this book is a toal waste of time, but it is far from satisfying. However if you liked it, may I recommend Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers. Same kind of thing, but more evocative in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: bleak...requires other literary antidotes or friends around
Review: The book is well-written. The descriptions of dinosaur fossil hunting, Loyal's relationship to his dog and his farm (before it burns down) are lovely. These were my favorite chapters.

Is it necessary to connect with the characters in order to like a book? I'm not sure. I do know that I read it during a rainy spring while my husband lived 80 miles away, working on his master's degree. I gave up, finally, skimming the final chapters for the answers to my questions about the plot: Does anyone who knew Billie ever find her bones and know what they are? Does Loyal ever come home?

My other questions, on another level: Does the Blood family ever learn anything? Do characters in a book always have to learn something to make the book worthwhile? Can it be called a good book even if it causes the reader to slide into a period of depressed isolation? --Actually, I imagine that if a writer is that powerful the book must be good, if not likeable, or good for your soul or your happiness. Why did Proulx want to write like that? What was she feeling when she wrote it? Did she get depressed and have to read something happy and uplifting in the midst of writing it, or write comic e-mails to friends in hopes of getting something in the form of human contact back? What is her background such that she could write about these people so convincingly?

Rating:
Summary: I have to agree with some others..
Review: this book just didn't do it for me. I haven't read Shipping News yet, and wasn't going to after reading this book. But after reading some other reviews, maybe I will give that a try and it will be better. I sure hope so! I could never figure out who was talking and was confused a LARGE part of the time reading this book on what was going on. I hated reading the postcards at the beginning of a new chapter to find out what was going to happen.

I really don't understand the meaning of this book, but am glad for one thing. IT'S OVER!