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A review by tomleetang
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann
3.0
The fact that this a bloody intimidating book
The fact that just flicking through it, the sheer wall of text was more terrifying than my first encounter with Proust
The fact that what convinced me to give it a go was that you can actually just land on a page at random and immediately get swept away by a current of thoughts
The fact that that's exhilarating
The fact that the stream-of-conscious ramblings are also educational, like how daydreaming about Mount Rushmore leads to a random mention of its designer, Gutzon Borglum
The fact that you can't trust everything the narrator says, because she makes factual errors
The fact that the narrator is a bit frazzled, a bit of a mess and sometimes a bit irritating
The fact that she mostly makes motherhood seem like a nightmare, except when it occasionally isn't
The fact that if reading this review annoyed you, you probably won't like this book, because it is hard work
The fact that if you have the time and enjoy a little mental exercise with your recreational reading, then this book is perfect
The fact that it's the antithesis of a self-help book, 'How to Make Yourself Panic About Everything'
The fact that this book (though I always hate saying this about books) really is too long
The fact that given the world we live in, it's hardly surprising that the narrator is so worked up about everything, but particularly the environment and gun control
The fact that maybe if this book was shorter, more people would read it and be equally angry about pollution and violence against women and how easily people seem to find it to shoot one another
The fact that just flicking through it, the sheer wall of text was more terrifying than my first encounter with Proust
The fact that what convinced me to give it a go was that you can actually just land on a page at random and immediately get swept away by a current of thoughts
The fact that that's exhilarating
The fact that the stream-of-conscious ramblings are also educational, like how daydreaming about Mount Rushmore leads to a random mention of its designer, Gutzon Borglum
The fact that you can't trust everything the narrator says, because she makes factual errors
The fact that the narrator is a bit frazzled, a bit of a mess and sometimes a bit irritating
The fact that she mostly makes motherhood seem like a nightmare, except when it occasionally isn't
The fact that if reading this review annoyed you, you probably won't like this book, because it is hard work
The fact that if you have the time and enjoy a little mental exercise with your recreational reading, then this book is perfect
The fact that it's the antithesis of a self-help book, 'How to Make Yourself Panic About Everything'
The fact that this book (though I always hate saying this about books) really is too long
The fact that given the world we live in, it's hardly surprising that the narrator is so worked up about everything, but particularly the environment and gun control
The fact that maybe if this book was shorter, more people would read it and be equally angry about pollution and violence against women and how easily people seem to find it to shoot one another