Scan barcode
your_true_shelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Mental illness and Medical trauma
kelly_e's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Title: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Author: Kate Beaton
Genre: Graphic Novel Memoir
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: September 13, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Observant • Humane • Eye-opening
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is author Kate Beaton's graphic memoir. As a young woman from Atlantic Canada, Kate, newly graduated with an arts degree and student loans to repay, decides to leave home, heading west to work in the oil sands. Over a span of two years, she details the trials and tribulations of her time there - the emotional, the physical, and the environmental impacts.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Shortlisted for Canada Reads 2023, Ducks was the first of the four remaining contenders, which I had yet to read, that I decided to pickup (I've read Greenwood). And upon finishing I am convinced it was the perfect place to start.
Ducks details Kate's traumatic and isolating experience working in the camps - from working in a male dominated industry filled with misogyny and sexism, to the harassment she endured, to people coming and going, and to being so isolated and spending nearly all of her time indoors. Yet this graphic memoir is so much more than that. The author focuses on the bigger picture - the culture of camp life, the isolation, the lack of environmental respect, the people, the community, the environmental impact, and how little disregard companies had for Indigenous lands. Even the title is a testament to the ecological disasters as a result of the oil sands.
The graphics are dramatic, a stark reminder of what power and money has done (in this case the oil industry), not only to the land but to its people as well. Kate effortlessly conveys the emotional realities of camp life through facial expression and body posture. And the graphics contrast camp life with the vast and beautiful landscape of Alberta.
Although, Ducks paints a fairly negative picture overall, it isn't all bleak. Kate shares small moments of tenderness with some of the the people she encounters. There were some who kept an eye out for her and were willing to help her, and it is there where I really felt the humanity of this book.
I am looking forward to watching the Canada Reads debates in March, and think Ducks has the potential to go the distance. It's definitely a book that will open your eyes, leave you reflecting and shift your perspective.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Canlit devotees
• graphic novel enthusiasts
• readers looking to expand their perspectives
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Everything's ruined, our lives around our lands are ruined, our water, the air, everything. Their almighty dollar comes first. That's pretty sad. You can't eat money."
Author: Kate Beaton
Genre: Graphic Novel Memoir
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: September 13, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Observant • Humane • Eye-opening
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is author Kate Beaton's graphic memoir. As a young woman from Atlantic Canada, Kate, newly graduated with an arts degree and student loans to repay, decides to leave home, heading west to work in the oil sands. Over a span of two years, she details the trials and tribulations of her time there - the emotional, the physical, and the environmental impacts.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Shortlisted for Canada Reads 2023, Ducks was the first of the four remaining contenders, which I had yet to read, that I decided to pickup (I've read Greenwood). And upon finishing I am convinced it was the perfect place to start.
Ducks details Kate's traumatic and isolating experience working in the camps - from working in a male dominated industry filled with misogyny and sexism, to the harassment she endured, to people coming and going, and to being so isolated and spending nearly all of her time indoors. Yet this graphic memoir is so much more than that. The author focuses on the bigger picture - the culture of camp life, the isolation, the lack of environmental respect, the people, the community, the environmental impact, and how little disregard companies had for Indigenous lands. Even the title is a testament to the ecological disasters as a result of the oil sands.
The graphics are dramatic, a stark reminder of what power and money has done (in this case the oil industry), not only to the land but to its people as well. Kate effortlessly conveys the emotional realities of camp life through facial expression and body posture. And the graphics contrast camp life with the vast and beautiful landscape of Alberta.
Although, Ducks paints a fairly negative picture overall, it isn't all bleak. Kate shares small moments of tenderness with some of the the people she encounters. There were some who kept an eye out for her and were willing to help her, and it is there where I really felt the humanity of this book.
I am looking forward to watching the Canada Reads debates in March, and think Ducks has the potential to go the distance. It's definitely a book that will open your eyes, leave you reflecting and shift your perspective.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Canlit devotees
• graphic novel enthusiasts
• readers looking to expand their perspectives
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Everything's ruined, our lives around our lands are ruined, our water, the air, everything. Their almighty dollar comes first. That's pretty sad. You can't eat money."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Car accident, Sexual harassment, Rape, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Cursing, Animal death, and Colonisation
Minor: Drug abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Sexual content, and Drug use
More...