A review by edgwareviabank
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I don't usually read graphic novels, but I'd read plenty of reviews that suggested Kate Beaton's style and tone would resonate with me, so finding Ducks at the library was a great chance to see for myself. I was also curious about the subject matter (the oil sands, and the lives of the people working there), which was completely new to me.
This is excellent for readers who appreciate subtle dark humour, room to make up their own mind on topics that can be bleak and difficult to talk about (there's a lot of subtext, though the author gets to spelling things out more clearly towards the end of the book), and relatable experiences around the concepts of belonging and home.
I loved the illustrations, which give a good idea of the scale of the plants and their impact on the nature surrounding them, even to someone who hasn't ever set foot in Canada (yet). I also appreciated the portrayal of the workers as complex, flawed humans, within a context that could easily have lent itself to clear-cut, black-and-white judgement. For every episode that made me unquestionably angry with men and about the behaviour of men (of which there are plenty), there was one that made me see the contradictions some of those men carried inside them, or remember there are good people to be found even in a harsh environment such as the one of the camps. As Kate Beaton says in her closing notes, this is about her personal experience in the oil sands and the people she met, and given the nature of some of the things she went through, it's remarkable she could write and illustrate it with so much nuance. Her book gives a very clear sense of how and why this is the kind of experience that stays with people for life.
This is excellent for readers who appreciate subtle dark humour, room to make up their own mind on topics that can be bleak and difficult to talk about (there's a lot of subtext, though the author gets to spelling things out more clearly towards the end of the book), and relatable experiences around the concepts of belonging and home.
I loved the illustrations, which give a good idea of the scale of the plants and their impact on the nature surrounding them, even to someone who hasn't ever set foot in Canada (yet). I also appreciated the portrayal of the workers as complex, flawed humans, within a context that could easily have lent itself to clear-cut, black-and-white judgement. For every episode that made me unquestionably angry with men and about the behaviour of men (of which there are plenty), there was one that made me see the contradictions some of those men carried inside them, or remember there are good people to be found even in a harsh environment such as the one of the camps. As Kate Beaton says in her closing notes, this is about her personal experience in the oil sands and the people she met, and given the nature of some of the things she went through, it's remarkable she could write and illustrate it with so much nuance. Her book gives a very clear sense of how and why this is the kind of experience that stays with people for life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism and Rape