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andrew_russell's review against another edition
2.0
On an incredibly superficial and infinitely unimportant level, if there is one thing that 2020 has taught me, it is this - that there is a certain brand of US literature which simply doesn't agree with me. Lucy Ellmann's Ducks, Newburyport falls firmly and squarely within this category. Brick-like in size and trying to capture all that is important in the current affairs of US culture, it joins the company of other works, such as Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, Freedom by the same author, Night, Sleep, Death, The Stars by Joyce Carol Oates and Richard Powers The Overstory. US culture is probably the only culture in the world that is routinely funnelled into our everyday lives via social media and news channels on a moment-by-moment basis. Whether it's the latest tripe to come out of the mouth of Donald Trump, the death of yet another Black-American at the hands of over-zealous police officers, or a high-school shooting that re-ignites the age old debate around gun control legislation, you can be cast-iron sure that everyone with access to any communication device will be intimately aware of any developments around those aforementioned issues that might take place. All this of course begs the question, what can a book about US culture actually tell us?
Ellmann's work at least tries to defy many of the norms which we associate with works of fiction. In my humble opinion, this is done to too great a degree. Ducks, Newburyport is widely held to be composed of one single sentence. This is not true.
When you are all sinew, struggle and solitude, your young - being soft, plump, vulnerable - may remind you of prey.
This is the first sentence of the book. It is from the perspective of a mountain lionness, whose story intersects and eventually intertwines with that of our main female narrator. And the perspective of this mountain lionness includes many, many, many sentences more than the single one with which this novel is said to be composed. This is a seemingly trifling matter but it does lead on neatly to a more important flaw in the novel's structure. Our female narrator's story is said to be written in a 'stream of consciousness' and yet every single 'stream' begins with the words 'the fact that...'. Nobody thinks like that. Nobody. Ever. So it isn't stream of consciousness. But then, what is it? Well, arguably, it's simply self-indulgent. The chance for the author to try something a bit different from the norm and to hell with anything else. This 'the fact that' issue may not even be an issue in a small volume. But in a novel of over a thousand pages, it becomes a huge sticking point. If you're going to write something that long, you'd better be damned sure that it is beautifully crafted, linguistically and grammatically. Ducks, Newburyport is neither.
The book also trades depth for scope. Any number of issues, or topics are touched on. This really is an impressive facet of Ducks, Newburyport. But what offsets this impressiveness is the fact that they are fleeting snapshots. Nothing is said of import. Nothing is explored in any meaningful way, or to any level of depth that provokes thought in the reader. You could pick up The Guinness Book of Records and read it cover to cover and glean a more impressive roster of factoids to store away for some pub quiz. Such is the books dullness that I would defy any reader to be able to use any segment of text with which they are presented, to pinpoint the location in the book (to the nearest 100 pages).
Ducks, Newburyport is many things. Daring, bold, innovative and fresh, in one sense. But in another sense, it is also interminably dull, meaningless, overly long, self-indulgent and most of all, a pain in the arse to read. Particularly if you expect to take anything of any meaning away from the experience.
Ellmann's work at least tries to defy many of the norms which we associate with works of fiction. In my humble opinion, this is done to too great a degree. Ducks, Newburyport is widely held to be composed of one single sentence. This is not true.
When you are all sinew, struggle and solitude, your young - being soft, plump, vulnerable - may remind you of prey.
This is the first sentence of the book. It is from the perspective of a mountain lionness, whose story intersects and eventually intertwines with that of our main female narrator. And the perspective of this mountain lionness includes many, many, many sentences more than the single one with which this novel is said to be composed. This is a seemingly trifling matter but it does lead on neatly to a more important flaw in the novel's structure. Our female narrator's story is said to be written in a 'stream of consciousness' and yet every single 'stream' begins with the words 'the fact that...'. Nobody thinks like that. Nobody. Ever. So it isn't stream of consciousness. But then, what is it? Well, arguably, it's simply self-indulgent. The chance for the author to try something a bit different from the norm and to hell with anything else. This 'the fact that' issue may not even be an issue in a small volume. But in a novel of over a thousand pages, it becomes a huge sticking point. If you're going to write something that long, you'd better be damned sure that it is beautifully crafted, linguistically and grammatically. Ducks, Newburyport is neither.
The book also trades depth for scope. Any number of issues, or topics are touched on. This really is an impressive facet of Ducks, Newburyport. But what offsets this impressiveness is the fact that they are fleeting snapshots. Nothing is said of import. Nothing is explored in any meaningful way, or to any level of depth that provokes thought in the reader. You could pick up The Guinness Book of Records and read it cover to cover and glean a more impressive roster of factoids to store away for some pub quiz. Such is the books dullness that I would defy any reader to be able to use any segment of text with which they are presented, to pinpoint the location in the book (to the nearest 100 pages).
Ducks, Newburyport is many things. Daring, bold, innovative and fresh, in one sense. But in another sense, it is also interminably dull, meaningless, overly long, self-indulgent and most of all, a pain in the arse to read. Particularly if you expect to take anything of any meaning away from the experience.
afrownlikealice's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
timetotalkbeauty's review against another edition
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Wow! An incredible book.
kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Did Not Finish. It was so interesting and I don't think this was for me. The stream of consciousness style was fascinating and vivid and it made me feel that the protagonist was way too much in my own head, so while I enjoyed it on an intellectual level, it became uncomfortable and I just couldn't face eight hundred more pages of it. That probably says more about me than about the book.
dllh's review against another edition
4.0
What a book! An apparent free-association, the book'll likely be annoying to folks who prefer more straightforward narratives, but Ellmann here writes in a remarkable brain voice that remained compelling to me for the full 1000ish pages. It's the compulsive, relentless, self-edited voice much more than the fairly thin plot that makes this book a marvel.
caralog's review against another edition
5.0
This novel took me over eight months to complete, but was worth every bit of time I spent on it, given that this is one of the best books I have ever read. The plot unwinds very, very slowly, and doesn't even become apparent until page 700 or so. The prose is unusual to say the least, bombarding you with lists and references to things that seem to appear out of the blue. Most of its thousand pages take the form of a single sentence, broken up into small clauses beginning with the phrase "the fact that." Although this novel takes a while to get used to, don't give up and your patience will pay off. I listened to the second half on the audiobook version, which I highly recommend due to the skill of the narrator.
tevreads's review against another edition
5.0
the fact that, the fact that, the fact that
_________
It seems almost incomprehensible that a sprawling novel of one continuous sentence for 1000 pages, repeating the phrase "the fact that" most lines, would be so compelling. There are no paragraphs or punctuation marks besides commas and the occasional aside to a lioness and her cubs for the entirety of the novel. Infinite Jest took me years before I finally sat down and set a goal to read it, and this seemed even more of a task, but it wasn't.
_________
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019, and praised by many, Ducks, Newburyport, is a monumental work. It's hard to describe the feeling when reading it. At first it was tiring to adjust to the long-form stream of consciousness style of an Ohioan housewife and her ruminations on life while baking in her kitchen. But it sucks you in, it's sharp, witty, philosophical, relatable, political, saddening, and uplifting all at once.
_________
It's hard to describe what this novel is about, because it seems to me to be about everything of our times, an encapsulation at least of what American society is, for better or worse. I've never read a book before where I was so astounded by the scope of the author, the quality of writing never dwindles or becomes confusing or pretentious. I still can't believe I was so absorbed by this peculiar novel and character for so long, so much so that I wished it was longer.
_________
Lucy Ellmann has achieved something seminal with Ducks, Newburyport, it's a commentary on our times, and it's a commentary that is so comprehensive. It's not only deeply philosophical, but it is deeply real and relatable, a smorgasbord of life. I was almost certain this would win the Booker Prize on account of how complex and simply phenomenal it was to read. To read Ducks, Newburyport was simply an experience like no other, and one of the best books I've ever read.
_________
It seems almost incomprehensible that a sprawling novel of one continuous sentence for 1000 pages, repeating the phrase "the fact that" most lines, would be so compelling. There are no paragraphs or punctuation marks besides commas and the occasional aside to a lioness and her cubs for the entirety of the novel. Infinite Jest took me years before I finally sat down and set a goal to read it, and this seemed even more of a task, but it wasn't.
_________
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2019, and praised by many, Ducks, Newburyport, is a monumental work. It's hard to describe the feeling when reading it. At first it was tiring to adjust to the long-form stream of consciousness style of an Ohioan housewife and her ruminations on life while baking in her kitchen. But it sucks you in, it's sharp, witty, philosophical, relatable, political, saddening, and uplifting all at once.
_________
It's hard to describe what this novel is about, because it seems to me to be about everything of our times, an encapsulation at least of what American society is, for better or worse. I've never read a book before where I was so astounded by the scope of the author, the quality of writing never dwindles or becomes confusing or pretentious. I still can't believe I was so absorbed by this peculiar novel and character for so long, so much so that I wished it was longer.
_________
Lucy Ellmann has achieved something seminal with Ducks, Newburyport, it's a commentary on our times, and it's a commentary that is so comprehensive. It's not only deeply philosophical, but it is deeply real and relatable, a smorgasbord of life. I was almost certain this would win the Booker Prize on account of how complex and simply phenomenal it was to read. To read Ducks, Newburyport was simply an experience like no other, and one of the best books I've ever read.
brenna_law's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
thomasgoddard's review against another edition
4.0
The beautiful thing about the book is that it just races through connections, thoughts, fears, to do lists... It is mundane, but therein lies the magic, pretty quickly you begin to learn her pathways. You become like a neuron, zipping down the ignited wires of her memories and ideas. A certain amount of Stockholm Syndrome sets in, you're confronted with this absolute WALL of text. But if you let it take you, you're whisked up into a familiar meringue of association and connection.
Sometimes I read her thoughts and I agreed, other times she said something really dumb and I marvelled at it. Because reading a character with flawed thinking and dumb moments is underrated. It makes them more human. Funnier sometimes. More tragic.
Very few writers can write a character well. Rooney and others today fall back on old tricks. Write a hollow shell and draw a few complicated situations (usually romantic) around them to disguise their simplicity. Don't worry about making them dynamic, they'll be mistaken for being interesting because they are involved in an interesting will-they-won't-they drama. Modern writers write simple characters because they're easy for a reader to customise. The reader reads them, fills in the gaps and ends up loving the characters because 'they' made them, not the writer. Instant bestseller. Zero cognitive demand.
Example:
If you took Ellmann's characters for a meal at a restaurant, you'd know what they'd order without thinking. You'd know what restaurant they'd enjoy. You'd know how they'd treat the waiter and how much they would tip. And anyone else who read it would be able to tell you, approximately the same. That's good writing. It's nourishing.
If you took Connell and Marianne for a meal, they'd spent an hour deciding what to order. End up eating bites of each other's food and squabble about who would pay. But you wouldn't be able to be sure of their choices. Because you can't 'know' them. You can guess. But someone else would guess entirely differently. You don't end up learning or growing. You just... consume.
Ordinarily, I usually start a book at half speed, I'm regular speed by the 100th page and then I zoom along at full speed until I'm finished.
You can't do that with a book that's 1000 pages. Instead you take little pit stops of a day or two. You need a break to process things. To gather your metal focus for the next section. I ended up reading the majority of this over two days and the rest of the time was just little blasts of 50 pages.
I got caught between the mental taxation and the sublime joy of exploring this interesting and engaging novel.
It is a tough book, but a rewarding book. I'd have liked more mountain lion and less creeks (if you read it, you'll get me).
If you are tired of books about superficial nonsense and really want a book to challenge you, but you're scared of the challenge, this is ideal because it uses superficial nonsense in order to stealthily elevate your reading experience... Pick this up (you'll need both hands).
In terms of book levels... I'd put this at about a 7.5... where Joyce is a 10, regular literary fiction is a 5 and your poolside bestseller is a 2-3 (at best).
Read this before you attempt Joyce. It would be a perfect palate cleanser.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5)
Sometimes I read her thoughts and I agreed, other times she said something really dumb and I marvelled at it. Because reading a character with flawed thinking and dumb moments is underrated. It makes them more human. Funnier sometimes. More tragic.
Very few writers can write a character well. Rooney and others today fall back on old tricks. Write a hollow shell and draw a few complicated situations (usually romantic) around them to disguise their simplicity. Don't worry about making them dynamic, they'll be mistaken for being interesting because they are involved in an interesting will-they-won't-they drama. Modern writers write simple characters because they're easy for a reader to customise. The reader reads them, fills in the gaps and ends up loving the characters because 'they' made them, not the writer. Instant bestseller. Zero cognitive demand.
Example:
If you took Ellmann's characters for a meal at a restaurant, you'd know what they'd order without thinking. You'd know what restaurant they'd enjoy. You'd know how they'd treat the waiter and how much they would tip. And anyone else who read it would be able to tell you, approximately the same. That's good writing. It's nourishing.
If you took Connell and Marianne for a meal, they'd spent an hour deciding what to order. End up eating bites of each other's food and squabble about who would pay. But you wouldn't be able to be sure of their choices. Because you can't 'know' them. You can guess. But someone else would guess entirely differently. You don't end up learning or growing. You just... consume.
Ordinarily, I usually start a book at half speed, I'm regular speed by the 100th page and then I zoom along at full speed until I'm finished.
You can't do that with a book that's 1000 pages. Instead you take little pit stops of a day or two. You need a break to process things. To gather your metal focus for the next section. I ended up reading the majority of this over two days and the rest of the time was just little blasts of 50 pages.
I got caught between the mental taxation and the sublime joy of exploring this interesting and engaging novel.
It is a tough book, but a rewarding book. I'd have liked more mountain lion and less creeks (if you read it, you'll get me).
If you are tired of books about superficial nonsense and really want a book to challenge you, but you're scared of the challenge, this is ideal because it uses superficial nonsense in order to stealthily elevate your reading experience... Pick this up (you'll need both hands).
In terms of book levels... I'd put this at about a 7.5... where Joyce is a 10, regular literary fiction is a 5 and your poolside bestseller is a 2-3 (at best).
Read this before you attempt Joyce. It would be a perfect palate cleanser.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5)
rebeccatulloch's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0