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A review by nate_meyers
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
5.0
Of interest for a while, I snagged Ducks, Newburyport for TWO dollars at Goodwill
As everyone notes, this book is ONE run-on, stream-of-consciousness sentence for 1000 pages
After reading it, I have ZERO doubt this book will go down as one of the definitive American novels of modern times
From the jump, I was immersed in the narrator's character, as she fretted over finances, baking pies, and her family. Her anxieties widened in scope to the biggest issues plaguing America including global warming, guns, and politics. It's hard not to resonate with these anxieties and get lost in the narrator's constantly running mind. Yet, as the narrator's daily activities and thoughts chronicle almost every aspect of global warming, Donald Trump, and mass shootings, the novel gets really bleak in the middle. Lucy Ellman (and by proxy the narrator) has an antipathy towards religion. But there is little hope for the future or reason to have children that can withstand the myriad challenges of life if one doesn't adhere to a religion and/or an idyllic vision of mankind's evolution. Further, the narrator becomes increasingly crushed by her passivity, parenting & daughtering regrets and brokenness (in a way that has us longing to reach through the book with a big hug). Never stopping too long to dwell on this bleak outlook, the novel barrels towards a finish that weaves the parallel story of a mother cougar searching for her lost cubs perfectly into the plight of the narrator's family. The payoff is extremely well-executed and imbues the narrator and reader with some sense of victory (along with a sense of shared trauma). But even as I closed the last page, the challenges posed by the novel linger with me. Are the innocence of children or the love of a great spouse enough to give us hope amidst an increasingly violent and polarized society that is raping the environment? Or do we need something more solid and lasting?
I think this book is excellent and absolutely every American should read it. The themes contained in its pages challenge us in a way that most books don't, while also encouraging us to think deeply and wrestle with every question of daily life - from the smallest to the biggest.
As everyone notes, this book is ONE run-on, stream-of-consciousness sentence for 1000 pages
After reading it, I have ZERO doubt this book will go down as one of the definitive American novels of modern times
From the jump, I was immersed in the narrator's character, as she fretted over finances, baking pies, and her family. Her anxieties widened in scope to the biggest issues plaguing America including global warming, guns, and politics. It's hard not to resonate with these anxieties and get lost in the narrator's constantly running mind. Yet, as the narrator's daily activities and thoughts chronicle almost every aspect of global warming, Donald Trump, and mass shootings, the novel gets really bleak in the middle. Lucy Ellman (and by proxy the narrator) has an antipathy towards religion. But there is little hope for the future or reason to have children that can withstand the myriad challenges of life if one doesn't adhere to a religion and/or an idyllic vision of mankind's evolution. Further, the narrator becomes increasingly crushed by her passivity, parenting & daughtering regrets and brokenness (in a way that has us longing to reach through the book with a big hug). Never stopping too long to dwell on this bleak outlook, the novel barrels towards a finish that weaves the parallel story of a mother cougar searching for her lost cubs perfectly into the plight of the narrator's family. The payoff is extremely well-executed and imbues the narrator and reader with some sense of victory (along with a sense of shared trauma). But even as I closed the last page, the challenges posed by the novel linger with me. Are the innocence of children or the love of a great spouse enough to give us hope amidst an increasingly violent and polarized society that is raping the environment? Or do we need something more solid and lasting?
I think this book is excellent and absolutely every American should read it. The themes contained in its pages challenge us in a way that most books don't, while also encouraging us to think deeply and wrestle with every question of daily life - from the smallest to the biggest.