
Ducks, Newburyport
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Narrated by:
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Stephanie Ellyne
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By:
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Lucy Ellmann
Baking a multitude of tartes tatins for local restaurants, an Ohio housewife contemplates her four kids, husband, cats and chickens. Also, America's ignoble past, and her own regrets. She is surrounded by dead lakes, fake facts, open carry maniacs, and oodles of online advice about survivalism, veil toss duties, and how to be more like Jane Fonda.
But what do you do when you keep stepping on your son's toy tractors, your life depends on stolen land and broken treaties, and nobody helps you when you get a flat tire on the interstate, not even the Abominable Snowman? When are you allowed to start swearing?
With a torrent of consciousness and an intoxicating coziness, Ducks, Newburyport lays out a whole world for you to tramp around in, by turns frightening and funny. A heart-rending indictment of America's barbarity, and a lament for the way we are blundering into environmental disaster, this book is both heresy - and a revolution in the novel.
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Amazing book
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Indescribable....
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I have consumed many other books in the interim, coming back to this one for a few chapters at a time. But the image of the woman, her kids, husband and other characters remained with me, so it wasn’t hard to resume listening. Not to mention all the pies and other recipes. Sugar gets onion smell out of your hands and other useful stuff ;-)
Why not live in this woman’s mind?
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Upon commencing, I wondered what I got myself in to. It is a stream of consciousness style narrative, with the thoughts we listening in on being than of a middle-aged Ohio woman with four kids, a nice husband, and a pie-making business. In one long sentence! I wondered how this could possibly go on for 45 hours?!
It didn't take me long to become fully immersed - thoughts and ideas flew by at a blink of an eye, and if you didn't find the thought of the moment particularly interesting, just wait a few seconds for something else. Is there a subject she doesn't touch on in the 45 hours? Eventually, a plot (actually two parallel plots) *sort of* form and the novel becomes a bit more linear as it gets closer to the end.
The main themes in the woman's inner monologue are how screwed up and dysfunctional humanity is and how we've damaged the natural world. Similar ideas are are expressed through the thoughts of a non-speaking secondary character (no spoilers here). It's not all gloom and doom though, I found myself laughing quite often.
The audio book was narrated perfectly by Stephanie Ellyne. She was just spot on and brought the woman to life. I can't imagine narrating a book that jumps around such as this with barely time to catch a breath.
I wasn't keen on the ending, which I thought was a bit too dramatic. There was also a stretch in the middle of the book where the author switches things up and recites a list for I don't know how long. I could't wait for that to be over with.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. I've never read anything like it before. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you give it a try and can make it past the first 30 minutes I think you'll get in to a nice groove.
Unlike Any Other Book I've Ever Read
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An incredible journey
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fantastic performance of a difficult novel
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An experience like no other.
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1,000 pages of stream of consciousness. The fact is that I absolutely loved this book. The fact is that the narration is the best I have heard as yet.
The Fact Is That . . .
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The narrator was wonderful on the whole; she brought humor and clarity in welcome proportions. I did listen at 1.10 speed. Some narrators I slow down instead as reference.
Immersive, accessible, intimate and original.
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The fact that
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