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A review by whogivesabook
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
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)