Scan barcode
A review by evilbjork
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
3.0
There’s one central problem with this 1000 page, “single sentence,” novel. The problem is that it is an inherently experimental approach to writing, and yet the novel seems fully interested in being entertaining. It’s paradoxical and it’s a problem that troubles every part of the book.
The novel is the never ending internal monologue of an average American mom over the course of several days. We hear all her thoughts from the moment she wakes until she falls asleep. To read 1000 pages of mindless rambling seems like an impossible task, especially when compared to what this novel was most likely inspired by, the last chapter of Joyce’s Ulysses in which we read the thoughts of the main character’s wife as she falls asleep. In that chapter, there’s no punctuation and very little to grapple onto and it lasts an arduous 40 pages, but this is more than 20 times that.
The difference is this book is very different in its execution. It’s actually quite easy to follow the events of the days and the main character’s thoughts are extremely coherent. It’s a very readable book, and that’s where it started to lose me. The main character thinks in a way that doesn’t feel realistic. Her thoughts makes too much sense, don’t repeat topics enough, and move too cleanly and steadily between topics. Maybe this is just a problem with me not personally being able to identify with the character, but feels more like the duct tape around the structure of the book coming apart. In order to write something like this, and especially in order to get it published, there has to be a ton of compromises.
Unlike a lot of people that have reviewed this, I don’t think the length is an issue at all. Being 1000 pages was obviously a gimmick in order to get the novel more talked about, but the length actually helps greatly in getting the emotional effect it needs to work. I might have thought that it felt meandering when I was in the first 300 pages, but then I started understanding what was going on better and got into the flow. I think criticizing this for its length above all else is lazy and feels like something someone would say who checked out of the experience really early on.
Although on the topic of gimmicks, I really disliked the attempt to make this one sentence. The idea that this is one sentence is silly. It’s obviously not. Just because Lucy Ellmann doesn’t use a period don’t mean anything. The character is clearly speaking in sentences and clean sentence structure. The novel started as a list of grievances with each bullet point starting with "the fact that," and once I learned that it started making much more sense why Ellmann decided to use it everywhere, but that doesn't make it any better. People don’t use mannerisms to such a high degree or in such laughably unnatural and awkward ways as she uses that phrase here. The main character says it as a replacement of a period and by the end of the book it seems totally goofy.
The last big problem I have this in that while juggling these goofy gimmicks, Ellmann tries to make this a kind of representation of the average american’s anxieties, struggles, and motherhood as a whole. I liked how it handled motherhood, but the commentary on american life feels surface level and genuinly too lofty of a goal for a novel with this structure. It was simply too focused on being entertaining, relatable, and understandable, while juggling being stream of consciousness. By the end it felt like the experimentation wasn’t experimental enough and the entertainment wasn’t entertaining enough. Then trying to tackle this huge social anxiety theme doesn’t get enough room to flourish and feels kind of rushed. Or maybe I would have liked it better if the ending climax didn't make the book feel like an action movie.
There’s a lot to nippick, but I did actually like the experience quite a bit. I just didn’t think it worked as a great piece of art. It’s more like a fun weird book to read that also prepares you to start reading more challenging novels. I could even see myself reading this again in the future, because if nothing else at least this is unique. It’s nice to read that you can pick up and put down at literally any moment and not have to worry about getting to the end of the chapter. I also really like how this explores motherhood, even if at times it seems a little surface level, it’s still emotional and the length helps that. While reading I couldn’t help but compare it Chantal Akerman’s film Jeanne Dielman, a slow three hour long film of a mom doing chores. That also deals with motherhood in a similarly grand level, and I vastly prefer it. My favorite part of Ducks, Newburyport is the main character’s tirades about Julie and Julia. I’ve had all the same thoughts about that movie before.
The novel is the never ending internal monologue of an average American mom over the course of several days. We hear all her thoughts from the moment she wakes until she falls asleep. To read 1000 pages of mindless rambling seems like an impossible task, especially when compared to what this novel was most likely inspired by, the last chapter of Joyce’s Ulysses in which we read the thoughts of the main character’s wife as she falls asleep. In that chapter, there’s no punctuation and very little to grapple onto and it lasts an arduous 40 pages, but this is more than 20 times that.
The difference is this book is very different in its execution. It’s actually quite easy to follow the events of the days and the main character’s thoughts are extremely coherent. It’s a very readable book, and that’s where it started to lose me. The main character thinks in a way that doesn’t feel realistic. Her thoughts makes too much sense, don’t repeat topics enough, and move too cleanly and steadily between topics. Maybe this is just a problem with me not personally being able to identify with the character, but feels more like the duct tape around the structure of the book coming apart. In order to write something like this, and especially in order to get it published, there has to be a ton of compromises.
Unlike a lot of people that have reviewed this, I don’t think the length is an issue at all. Being 1000 pages was obviously a gimmick in order to get the novel more talked about, but the length actually helps greatly in getting the emotional effect it needs to work. I might have thought that it felt meandering when I was in the first 300 pages, but then I started understanding what was going on better and got into the flow. I think criticizing this for its length above all else is lazy and feels like something someone would say who checked out of the experience really early on.
Although on the topic of gimmicks, I really disliked the attempt to make this one sentence. The idea that this is one sentence is silly. It’s obviously not. Just because Lucy Ellmann doesn’t use a period don’t mean anything. The character is clearly speaking in sentences and clean sentence structure. The novel started as a list of grievances with each bullet point starting with "the fact that," and once I learned that it started making much more sense why Ellmann decided to use it everywhere, but that doesn't make it any better. People don’t use mannerisms to such a high degree or in such laughably unnatural and awkward ways as she uses that phrase here. The main character says it as a replacement of a period and by the end of the book it seems totally goofy.
The last big problem I have this in that while juggling these goofy gimmicks, Ellmann tries to make this a kind of representation of the average american’s anxieties, struggles, and motherhood as a whole. I liked how it handled motherhood, but the commentary on american life feels surface level and genuinly too lofty of a goal for a novel with this structure. It was simply too focused on being entertaining, relatable, and understandable, while juggling being stream of consciousness. By the end it felt like the experimentation wasn’t experimental enough and the entertainment wasn’t entertaining enough. Then trying to tackle this huge social anxiety theme doesn’t get enough room to flourish and feels kind of rushed. Or maybe I would have liked it better if the ending climax didn't make the book feel like an action movie.
There’s a lot to nippick, but I did actually like the experience quite a bit. I just didn’t think it worked as a great piece of art. It’s more like a fun weird book to read that also prepares you to start reading more challenging novels. I could even see myself reading this again in the future, because if nothing else at least this is unique. It’s nice to read that you can pick up and put down at literally any moment and not have to worry about getting to the end of the chapter. I also really like how this explores motherhood, even if at times it seems a little surface level, it’s still emotional and the length helps that. While reading I couldn’t help but compare it Chantal Akerman’s film Jeanne Dielman, a slow three hour long film of a mom doing chores. That also deals with motherhood in a similarly grand level, and I vastly prefer it. My favorite part of Ducks, Newburyport is the main character’s tirades about Julie and Julia. I’ve had all the same thoughts about that movie before.