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balletbookworm's review
4.0
Picked this up back when it got on the Booker shortlist in 2019 and just didn't get around to it until now (it's a 1000+ page chunker without real chapter breaks and what seems like no real sentences, so it takes some advance planning).
I figured it would be a good book to work on while at home post-surgery so I popped it on my 23 in 2023 reading list. I worked out that if I concentrated on reading 50+ pages at a time, it would make the book doable. What also helped was the realization that the narrator's stream-of-consciousness internal nattering is broken up approximately every 50-70 pages by parts of a short story about a mother mountain lion who is separated from her cubs; eventually, the narrator's and cat's stories will cross paths.
So I got it read. And it is really interesting in the way that this internal chatter just caroms around from subject to subject almost like the narrator is talking to herself. A lot of it is really relatable - how do we cope with environmental pollution, physical health, children's safety, climate change, gun violence (and WOW, this book having been written largely after the 2016 election and our mass shooting problem has got seemingly worse), women's work, our parents' lives, and on and on. The page edges look like a hedgehog with all the paper tabs I used.
I figured it would be a good book to work on while at home post-surgery so I popped it on my 23 in 2023 reading list. I worked out that if I concentrated on reading 50+ pages at a time, it would make the book doable. What also helped was the realization that the narrator's stream-of-consciousness internal nattering is broken up approximately every 50-70 pages by parts of a short story about a mother mountain lion who is separated from her cubs; eventually, the narrator's and cat's stories will cross paths.
So I got it read. And it is really interesting in the way that this internal chatter just caroms around from subject to subject almost like the narrator is talking to herself. A lot of it is really relatable - how do we cope with environmental pollution, physical health, children's safety, climate change, gun violence (and WOW, this book having been written largely after the 2016 election and our mass shooting problem has got seemingly worse), women's work, our parents' lives, and on and on. The page edges look like a hedgehog with all the paper tabs I used.
justin_zigenis's review
5.0
Me oh my! The fact that this book was passed up for the Handmaid’s Tale sequel to win the Booker Prize is unbelievable, unthinkable, undrinkable water, underwear, bullshit, the fact that those judges have to read so many books they probably didn’t have time to finish it anyway, the fact that who am I to judge them, prizes, money, “what America’s all about,” the fact that Americans rarely win the Booker Prize anyway, so, but is Margaret Atwood an American? Oh wait...Canadian! The fact that, regarding her writing style, Lucy Ellmann not Margaret Atwood, in an interview she said she was simply trying to write as close to the way she thinks the mind works, and dammit, but I shouldn’t curse, I think she did it! The fact that this book was as much entertainment as it was a meditation for me, and that’s why I dragged on so long reading it, to savor the meditative experience it; the fact that the interviewer asked if she hates men...but she speaks so kindly of her husband, Leo, that I can’t understand where he came up with the question, rapists, mass shootings, guns and Donald Trump, yes, but not men; stupid question, stupid Booker Prize, stupid 2020, stupid virus, stupid social media, man hater, pussy grabber, echo chamber, stupid Facebook, stupid Twitter, stupid quarantine, the fact that why do mature adults not understand what social media is doing to this country? Why can’t they just verbalize their political opinions, communicate, and ignore all the memes, maturity, modernity, grandparents mothers, fathers, extended family...go read a book! Read this book.
rosalind14's review against another edition
5.0
Two weeks after finishing Ducks, Newburyport, I still feel the narrator in the back of my mind. I think she'll be there a while, coming out whenever I come across certain words or phrases, whenever I read news articles about violence and misogyny, certainly whenever I make pie.
I'd encourage anyone who's (understandably) on the fence about reading this to give it a try--once you get into a certain zone it reads incredibly quickly, and by the end it felt totally worth it.
Also, this has made me really curious about diversity of inner monologues--this definitely isn't what my own inner monologue sounds like, but I'm sure it rings true for some. Apparently many people don't even have an inner monologue, and I really wonder what they would make of this book.
I'd encourage anyone who's (understandably) on the fence about reading this to give it a try--once you get into a certain zone it reads incredibly quickly, and by the end it felt totally worth it.
Also, this has made me really curious about diversity of inner monologues--this definitely isn't what my own inner monologue sounds like, but I'm sure it rings true for some. Apparently many people don't even have an inner monologue, and I really wonder what they would make of this book.
bianca89279's review against another edition
5.0
WINNER OF THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2019
When I read about this novel in the Guardian, I was intrigued but also put off by its size. Nevertheless, I went to Edelweiss and requested the ARC, thinking if I’m meant to read it I’ll get approved. Many thanks to the publishers for approving my request.
As you’ve probably heard, this is a very long novel, written from the point of view of an unnamed forty-something stay-at-home mother of four, who lives in Newcomerstown, Ohio. She ruminates, wonders, jumps from one thing to another; she’s perplexed, vexed, stuck, scared, and filled with guilt; she’s nervous, neurotic, forgetful, distracted, intense and constantly tired. She’s a good representation for many mothers in today’s developed world. Three years prior, she had had cancer, “the embarrassing kind”, which put a strain on the family’s finances, which is why she’s taken to baking pies and other desserts to sell to cafes and diners. Her second husband, Leo, and the biological father to the youngest three kids, is an Engineering professor at an Ohio University. He sounds like a great guy, which is a nice counterbalance to all the male vileness mentioned in the book.
Have you ever wished you had less knowledge about current affairs, politics, the environment, hoping that ignorance might bring you some semblance of bliss? Is it possible to be happy and serene when one knows about the crazy world we live in? Is it surprising that so many people suffer from anxiety? This novel is basically riddled with one woman’s anxieties. I related to some and understood others.
There are several themes that keep popping up in this novel:
- how much her mother’s stroke just “broke her”
- male violence
- deadbeat dads
- parenthood and its many tribulations
- gun violence and the constant fear that someone will shoot your kids while at school
- the environment and the damage caused by humans
- history and the many cruelties and injustices perpetrated against the native people
- police violence.
Several movies and books are discussed in detail - some I knew, others I had to look up. Google will be your friend on many occasions.
Ducks, Newburyport is extremely contemporary, a time capsule of Trump’s America. It’s mesmerising, original, realistic, intelligent, observant, and occasionally amusing. Oh, and anxiety-inducing.
Ultimately, this was satisfying and worthwhile the time spent in its company.
It’s not for everybody, no book is.
Brava, Ms Ellmann.
When I read about this novel in the Guardian, I was intrigued but also put off by its size. Nevertheless, I went to Edelweiss and requested the ARC, thinking if I’m meant to read it I’ll get approved. Many thanks to the publishers for approving my request.
As you’ve probably heard, this is a very long novel, written from the point of view of an unnamed forty-something stay-at-home mother of four, who lives in Newcomerstown, Ohio. She ruminates, wonders, jumps from one thing to another; she’s perplexed, vexed, stuck, scared, and filled with guilt; she’s nervous, neurotic, forgetful, distracted, intense and constantly tired. She’s a good representation for many mothers in today’s developed world. Three years prior, she had had cancer, “the embarrassing kind”, which put a strain on the family’s finances, which is why she’s taken to baking pies and other desserts to sell to cafes and diners. Her second husband, Leo, and the biological father to the youngest three kids, is an Engineering professor at an Ohio University. He sounds like a great guy, which is a nice counterbalance to all the male vileness mentioned in the book.
Have you ever wished you had less knowledge about current affairs, politics, the environment, hoping that ignorance might bring you some semblance of bliss? Is it possible to be happy and serene when one knows about the crazy world we live in? Is it surprising that so many people suffer from anxiety? This novel is basically riddled with one woman’s anxieties. I related to some and understood others.
There are several themes that keep popping up in this novel:
- how much her mother’s stroke just “broke her”
- male violence
- deadbeat dads
- parenthood and its many tribulations
- gun violence and the constant fear that someone will shoot your kids while at school
- the environment and the damage caused by humans
- history and the many cruelties and injustices perpetrated against the native people
- police violence.
Several movies and books are discussed in detail - some I knew, others I had to look up. Google will be your friend on many occasions.
Ducks, Newburyport is extremely contemporary, a time capsule of Trump’s America. It’s mesmerising, original, realistic, intelligent, observant, and occasionally amusing. Oh, and anxiety-inducing.
Ultimately, this was satisfying and worthwhile the time spent in its company.
It’s not for everybody, no book is.
Brava, Ms Ellmann.
henrymarlene's review against another edition
4.0
An absolute mammoth read. Almost 1,000 pages, with limited punctuation - I kid you not. I stopped and started 'Ducks, Newburyport' about six times over the last two months in between all of my other books. I couldn't keep track of the thoughts going through the main character's head. I could not find how to hang onto them; they were so fast, haphazard, fleeting and strangely interconnected. But then! ... I found a sort-of groove and pushed onto the finish line. I love that lists, and list of statements suddenly appeared, and some of these things deeply resonated with me and made me smirk in agreement ("we will all die, on and off we'll get indigestion ..."), and that the character was a baker, and baked in a similar way that I do. The fact that the story of the lioness and her cubs was hauntingly beautiful and sad at the same time, and the fact that when you think about thoughts, there is no logic to them, no sequence. Even I am channeling how the novel was written as I describe it! And that randomness that Lucy Ellmann created in these thoughts, however scary in reading this book, were meant to be. I am still not yet certain on the role and story of the lioness and her cubs. Are they a fable running parallel to her life events or a metaphor for the woman's subconscious? Are they the movie to her never-ending sentences?I have no idea yet the prose in these vignettes was poetic, comforting and sweet. I think I liked this. I felt like I had travelled as far as the woman and the lioness when I finished reading.
thecurbau's review against another edition
5.0
The fact that I can't wait to endure this book once again. The fact that the word endure suggests I didn't like this book, but really, I loved it. The fact that it reflects what a traumatic and broken nation America is. The fact that.
grvhppr's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Ducks, Newburyport is essentially a style-driven rendering of the "average American housewife" through a single-sentence, stream of consciousness telling of our main character's life. Through bizarre yet logical thought jumps the reader sews together her life like a great quilt. We learn about her every concern, passion, worry, opinion, relationship (personal and work related), etc. as the narrative is near breathless, which I think is representative of what a woman/housewife experiences--an onslaught of life compounded and compressed day after day with disappointments/rewards big and small.
From the narrative we know she's an Ohio stay at home baker with four children and a loving husband. And while the narrative seems like it would be boring to listen in on the daily ongoings of a piemaker, I never felt a desire to stop. I'm sure how this was possible but somehow Ellmann did it. This work is as large as the lives of the women represented by our main character because motherhood is in itself limitless. There are no real punctuations, only commas, only mini-moments of respite that build into something total.
Personal favorite scenes/multiple mentions:morning routines, Ronnie scenes, flat tires, and the mall flooding . The book is full of great moments and thought associations though so there's never a dull moment. While I'm not female, I still found the book resonant and easy to get into our main character's mind. It felt very real to me.
There's also a second narrative that follows a mountain lion that I LOVED.
If you're daunted by the size of this book, don't be. You can read it as fast or slow as you want and jump in right where you left off without missing a beat.
As for the name of the book, Ducks, Newburyport:Our housewife's mother almost drowned in a duck pond when she was young. If that had happened, then this whole story wouldn't exist, so I believe naming the book after a random small event that happened to her mother, it shows that lives/legacies can dramatically alter as easily as your next thought .
Lastly, I want to touch on "the fact that". My understanding of the 19,000+ uses of "the fact that" when starting a thought is an exploration on the difference between perspective and fact. We all live radically different lives it seems but we also share a lot of commonalities with one another. So by using "the fact that" Ellmann teases the contradiction between personal understanding and objective truth. We live life picking up facts that we internalize and morph into personal understandings of how the world works. It's how we stay sane in a world that has to make room for its billions of opinions of what's right and wrong.
From the narrative we know she's an Ohio stay at home baker with four children and a loving husband. And while the narrative seems like it would be boring to listen in on the daily ongoings of a piemaker, I never felt a desire to stop. I'm sure how this was possible but somehow Ellmann did it. This work is as large as the lives of the women represented by our main character because motherhood is in itself limitless. There are no real punctuations, only commas, only mini-moments of respite that build into something total.
Personal favorite scenes/multiple mentions:
There's also a second narrative that follows a mountain lion that I LOVED.
If you're daunted by the size of this book, don't be. You can read it as fast or slow as you want and jump in right where you left off without missing a beat.
As for the name of the book, Ducks, Newburyport:
Lastly, I want to touch on "the fact that". My understanding of the 19,000+ uses of "the fact that" when starting a thought is an exploration on the difference between perspective and fact. We all live radically different lives it seems but we also share a lot of commonalities with one another. So by using "the fact that" Ellmann teases the contradiction between personal understanding and objective truth. We live life picking up facts that we internalize and morph into personal understandings of how the world works. It's how we stay sane in a world that has to make room for its billions of opinions of what's right and wrong.
owhite's review against another edition
3.0
Dnf for now, I’m just not strong enough to finish this even though I really enjoyed what I did read. The most interesting thing about this book is how it was possible for Lucy Ellemen to write so much and say so little, but that is the appeal of the book so
karnaconverse's review
2.0
Did not make it through to the end because I lost interest in the format and the characters.
flyman347's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, umm, I really don’t know how to write this. It feels very much like a “conditioner and shampoo has run out at the same time” situation. I didn’t think I would finish this, especially now, but I’m really glad I did. This is a story of the true American experience, plain and simple. The POV of a stay at home mom gives an inside look at how a normal person would interact with the insane world that is America.