Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

25 reviews

thewhaanga's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful sad medium-paced

4.5

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uranaishi's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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ashleykind's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

A brilliant and nuanced look at the oil sands, our identities, and what a loss of community does to and for us. I’ll be thinking of this book for many years to come.

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kay_greene's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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smolbbboii's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

4.75

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mermers's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

An incredible reflection of life in Canada, and the struggles and joy faced by common people.

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displacedcactus's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

I feel like most people already realize this, but just in case, I want to make something clear: Do NOT pick up Ducks expecting something as silly and witty as Hark! A Vagrant or Beaton's picture books. This is a very serious memoir about the author's time working in Alberta's oil sands, at job sites where the men sometimes outnumbered the women 50 to 1, people worked long hours, and were cut off from family and friends back home.

This is both a personal memoir, and a statement about the overall human toll of the oil sands -- not just the harassment that Beaton experienced, but what the other women on site experienced, the addiction and mental illness among the crews, the priority of profits over true safety, and of course, the environmental impact. The titular "ducks" are hundreds of birds who died in a tailing pond. The Indigenous population of the area has to contend with polluted water and air, among other issues.

Beaton approaches the subject with a certain amount of nuance, but this is still a difficult read. Make sure to check out the CWs before you read this.

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