Reviews

Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann

thepageunfolds's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

OMG!!! I can’t believe this. This is no less than an achievement. To read Ducks, Newburyport is a journey, an experience in itself. Nothing like I ever read before. Very tough to get through at times yet the pages flew by on some days. There is no plot, there is no character development. It’s stream of consciousness. I can’t say I loved it. I can’t say I hated it. However, I can say I went in with too many expectations, I did expect the ending to atleast wrap up what this 1000 page was trying to cover. It didn’t, the last line was also a monologue. I think this book wasn’t for me or may be I wasn’t ready for Ducks, Newburyport YET.

leniverse's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

damara_reads's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

4.5

journeyingjeff's review against another edition

3.0

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this ambitious, stream-of-consciousness book and its meanderings through so many aspects of American culture (good, bad and ugly). About 2/3 of the way through, I felt like the author had made her point, developed her characters and themes, but was not advancing the narrative anywhere and hitting the same topics over and over again. I think it would have been a stronger book if Ellman's editor and forced her to cut it down by 1/3 or more. I suggest reading a few pages and see if it grabs you.

historysworstmonster's review against another edition

4.0

Fuck this book, also I liked it.

rosebudglow's review against another edition

4.0

Unfortunately, my main takeaway is that I'm glad I read the whole thing because of the sense of completion. The writing is lyrical, almost hypnotizing—if you like the first five pages, you'll like the whole thing, because it never changes. Unfortunately I think if I had to actually live in the mind of that woman I think I'd kill myself. Also, the lioness didn't work for me. Was it supposed to be straightforward/uncomplicated (finally someone to root for) as a foil? Was it just paralleling for the purpose of providing a parallel? I'm still not really sure.

gabbyquail's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I often think that almost everything that happens in the modern era happens online, which means that one day almost everything we do and think and feel will be swept away, leaving no trace. I now feel that if we retain one paper copy of Ducks, Newburyport, that’ll be a pretty good approximation of a significant chunk of it. 

rorywilson's review against another edition

4.0

A review seems somewhat pointless. You'll know after a page if you're interested in the style. A novel not so much read as divined where the story reveals itself amidst a cloud of word association, film references and repetitive underlying themes. Also a lion.

I found 'the fact that' substituted for punctuation in my brain early on in quite a comforting way, and the rhythmic nature of it meant I often found myself falling asleep reading it.

I was expecting something more profound than maybe what is here. It's not trying to be epic, or to macrocosmically understand something - it's more subtle than that. The style is the thing, and I loved the narrator for it for a while.

emily_mad's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

fseely's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0