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8little_paws's review against another edition
5.0
This book has been so buzzed that I had to check it out when I found out my library had it on Hoopla. For me, it lived up to my expectations and then some. Yes, it's over 1k pages and a very large chunk of it is a long stream of the main character's thoughts (I would argue that it's not one single sentence--rather than use punctuation each sentence is broken up by the phrase "the fact that". Once you get in the groove of reading your eyes learn to stop reading "the fact that").
Throughout the book you learn all about the main character's life and her past. There are a lot of themes here--motherhood, fear of violence, how man interacts with nature seem to be the main ones for me. There were a few sections in particular about the main character's relationship with her mother that I found incredible, in particular a longer passage about how as a child she went to tell her mother about the enthusiasm she had for the day, and how her mother snapped at her, and how that broke her heart to have her mother not share in her joy. At first it seems like there is no plot here, but there absolutely is as you continue reading.
I've never read anything like this book before and I suspect it will stay with me a long time.
Throughout the book you learn all about the main character's life and her past. There are a lot of themes here--motherhood, fear of violence, how man interacts with nature seem to be the main ones for me. There were a few sections in particular about the main character's relationship with her mother that I found incredible, in particular a longer passage about how as a child she went to tell her mother about the enthusiasm she had for the day, and how her mother snapped at her, and how that broke her heart to have her mother not share in her joy. At first it seems like there is no plot here, but there absolutely is as you continue reading.
I've never read anything like this book before and I suspect it will stay with me a long time.
mayasophia's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This beast was a feat to read, and I’m sure to write, as well.
This novel is a 1000 page sentence that is the internal monologue of a wife and mother from Ohio as she spends her days baking tarte tatins for local restaurants, and every new thought begins with “the fact that”. She contemplates just about every facet of life in America and familial relationships intelligently and, at times, quite comically.
It is obviously a brilliant and wholly unique novel. I don’t think anything like it has ever been done, and I think if anyone else ever endeavored to do it, they wouldn’t be able to do it as well as Lucy Ellmann did it.
That said, I do think this could have been half as long and accomplished the exact same thing. I loved the first 150 pages and the last 250 pages, but the middle part often felt like I could have skipped large chunks of it and barely missed a thing. I also struggled a lot with how time is structured in the novel because there aren’t clear demarcations of days or weeks or months, and I think that because of it, I found it challenging to understand the internal logic of why it was as long as it was.
The good certainly outweighs the bad in this one and our unnamed narrator is endearing and funny and flawed and when the story hit its stride, it flowed very seamlessly.
This novel is a 1000 page sentence that is the internal monologue of a wife and mother from Ohio as she spends her days baking tarte tatins for local restaurants, and every new thought begins with “the fact that”. She contemplates just about every facet of life in America and familial relationships intelligently and, at times, quite comically.
It is obviously a brilliant and wholly unique novel. I don’t think anything like it has ever been done, and I think if anyone else ever endeavored to do it, they wouldn’t be able to do it as well as Lucy Ellmann did it.
That said, I do think this could have been half as long and accomplished the exact same thing. I loved the first 150 pages and the last 250 pages, but the middle part often felt like I could have skipped large chunks of it and barely missed a thing. I also struggled a lot with how time is structured in the novel because there aren’t clear demarcations of days or weeks or months, and I think that because of it, I found it challenging to understand the internal logic of why it was as long as it was.
The good certainly outweighs the bad in this one and our unnamed narrator is endearing and funny and flawed and when the story hit its stride, it flowed very seamlessly.
joln's review against another edition
5.0
I’m going to miss this narrator so much. It was like sitting down with an old friend and now that it’s over, it’s left me to recover from what I anticipate to be a week-long book hangover. If you are looking for a book to get lost in - for something out of the ordinary, yet meditative - I recommend this one.
ninafroms's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very long and redundant but I think that was the point. It was very heavy too so I could only read while sitting down, which poses a problem on my sometimes busy commute. I held on hard until around page 750 and then I skimmed.
File under: long, not very exciting, mildly though provoking
I learned about: Ohio, pollution, school shootings
File under: long, not very exciting, mildly though provoking
I learned about: Ohio, pollution, school shootings
handsrm's review against another edition
5.0
The kind of book where you keep a copy for yourself and another for loaning out to people.
thebobsphere's review against another edition
5.0
One thing I notice about experimental novels is that I become fully immersed and start obsessing about them. This happened with Ducks, Newburyport.
From July 9th to July 28th I could not stop thinking about this book; every day I just wanted to know more about the narrator’s thoughts, how the plot would develop, the use of language and I would search the web every time I would come across some sort of term or acronym ( then I found out there’s a glossary of said acronyms in the back of the book! d’oh!) The fact is that when I finished Ducks.. I felt kind of sad, mainly because I had grown to like the narrator and I enjoyed reading about her worldview.
So what is huge 1030. page tome about? Does it really consist of one sentence? is it a purely stream of conscious novel?
The answers to these questions are both yes and no.
Ducks, Newburyport main protagonist is an Ohio housewife. While she’s baking she ruminates on many topics, ranging from the validity of Pluto as a planet to gun culture in the US. These thoughts do form on sentence punctuated by commas and the words ‘the fact that’
This is not one long info dump though. As the novel progresses we readers then see the narrator’s talk about her life, how she came across her second husband, each of her four kids and other experiences that happened in the past. By the end of the book, the reader has complete knowledge about her. Just as a not this is not in chronological order and it’s up to the reader to piece everything together.
Also there’s a subplot in the book, which involves a mountain lion and it is written in a more conventional format. By time the lioness’ plot with overlap with the main one. Also it’s worth noting that the book also contains a longish poem, a map, an inventory and an advert.
Despite the myriad of themes two main ones occur. One is motherhood. Our narrator questions whether she is a good mother and this is accentuated by certain events which occur at the end of the novel and the lioness subplot.
The other major theme is the environment, rather the destruction of (which is a common theme of all the longlisted Booker novels I’ve read so far). The narrator worries about chemicals going into rivers, the mass killing of animals and air pollution. More importantly she worries about how this will effect future generations.
Despite the one sentence, stream of conscious yadda yadda yadda, Ducks, Newburyport is quite readable. Once one gets used to the first few pages, which is a scene set up, then things go smoothly. In my case, I was so engrossed by the narrator’s plights and backstory, I completely forgot I was reading a sentence without full stops.
Without any doubt, and I will declare this. Ducks, Newburyport is one of the greatest novels I have read. Not only is it a commentary about US culture in the 21st century but it also serves as a warning sign that the problems that are happening worldwide may become worse if we are not careful. I have stated before that nowadays US novelists are focusing on the shattering of the American Dream, well now that has it’s magnum opus and that is Ducks, Newburyport.
From July 9th to July 28th I could not stop thinking about this book; every day I just wanted to know more about the narrator’s thoughts, how the plot would develop, the use of language and I would search the web every time I would come across some sort of term or acronym ( then I found out there’s a glossary of said acronyms in the back of the book! d’oh!) The fact is that when I finished Ducks.. I felt kind of sad, mainly because I had grown to like the narrator and I enjoyed reading about her worldview.
So what is huge 1030. page tome about? Does it really consist of one sentence? is it a purely stream of conscious novel?
The answers to these questions are both yes and no.
Ducks, Newburyport main protagonist is an Ohio housewife. While she’s baking she ruminates on many topics, ranging from the validity of Pluto as a planet to gun culture in the US. These thoughts do form on sentence punctuated by commas and the words ‘the fact that’
This is not one long info dump though. As the novel progresses we readers then see the narrator’s talk about her life, how she came across her second husband, each of her four kids and other experiences that happened in the past. By the end of the book, the reader has complete knowledge about her. Just as a not this is not in chronological order and it’s up to the reader to piece everything together.
Also there’s a subplot in the book, which involves a mountain lion and it is written in a more conventional format. By time the lioness’ plot with overlap with the main one. Also it’s worth noting that the book also contains a longish poem, a map, an inventory and an advert.
Despite the myriad of themes two main ones occur. One is motherhood. Our narrator questions whether she is a good mother and this is accentuated by certain events which occur at the end of the novel and the lioness subplot.
The other major theme is the environment, rather the destruction of (which is a common theme of all the longlisted Booker novels I’ve read so far). The narrator worries about chemicals going into rivers, the mass killing of animals and air pollution. More importantly she worries about how this will effect future generations.
Despite the one sentence, stream of conscious yadda yadda yadda, Ducks, Newburyport is quite readable. Once one gets used to the first few pages, which is a scene set up, then things go smoothly. In my case, I was so engrossed by the narrator’s plights and backstory, I completely forgot I was reading a sentence without full stops.
Without any doubt, and I will declare this. Ducks, Newburyport is one of the greatest novels I have read. Not only is it a commentary about US culture in the 21st century but it also serves as a warning sign that the problems that are happening worldwide may become worse if we are not careful. I have stated before that nowadays US novelists are focusing on the shattering of the American Dream, well now that has it’s magnum opus and that is Ducks, Newburyport.
toasterband's review against another edition
4.0
It’s like watching a brilliant musician play, but they don’t quite know that they’ve played enough.
paulap's review against another edition
3.0
This is a stream of consciousness book looking at the thoughts of a stay at home mum in Ohio. It talks a lot about current events, which I like. Sometimes funny, sometimes trying to be funny too hard. Also, I find the style annoying, starting every sentence by “the fact that...” And it is way way way too long.
wirknerj's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this. I was intrigued by the concept but assumed it would be a slog, after about 50 pages I was proved wrong. As soon as I got into the rhythm of the prose I didn't miss the periods and paragraphs at all.
I've never felt like I was actually in someone else's head before but Ellman has captured all kinds of weird nuances that seem to be required for our existence.
I've never felt like I was actually in someone else's head before but Ellman has captured all kinds of weird nuances that seem to be required for our existence.
doddyaboutbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0