Ducks, Newburyport

By: Lucy Ellmann

Narrated by: Stephanie Ellyne

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.

©2019 Lucy Ellmann (P)2020 Recorded Books

Unlike Any Other Book I've Ever Read

I went in to Ducks, Newburyport totally blind. It was the choice for the Reading Envy read-along so I decided to drop an Audible credit and jump in. I had no idea what it was about, I just new that the audio book was 45 hours loooooooong and there was a duck on the cover.

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.

Indescribable....

Must be listened to at 1.40x speed for the full effect of the main character's incessant stream-of-consciousness narration raging at the incredulity of current society. This isn't going to be everyone's cup of pepper pot soup, but for those it speaks to, I'll see you all in Newburyport.

Why not live in this woman’s mind?

If one doesn’t expect an elaborate plot and just listens to her inner monologue, it’s not often that one can get into someone else’s head so fully. There is _some_ plot development there. And the reading is terrific. I would never be able to read this book, only to listen, with long pauses.

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 ;-)

Amazing book

Tour de force of author and reader (performer). Excellent insights into life and the various characters. Plot was such a twist, I wouldn’t dream of giving any clues. Having parallel plot line with bobcat was stroke of genius. I can’t say enough praise. I’m still amazed at the whole thing.

An incredible journey

Ms. Ellman’s novel is brilliant in both its conception and its execution; and Ms. Ellyne’s performance captures every last minute perfectly. (Also, as a comparative literature major myself, I am absolutely blown away by how the Federal Highway Administration’s “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete” bridge ratings and the inimitable Shirley Jackson could fit so seamlessly into the ramblings of a pie-baking homemaker.)

fantastic performance of a difficult novel

THIS is how "Ducks" should be experienced to truly get the full effect of the stream-of-consciousness, intrusive thought style.

An experience like no other.

This novel took me over eight months to complete, but was worth every bit of time I spent on it, given that this is one of the best books I have ever read. The plot unwinds very, very slowly, and doesn't even become apparent until page 700 or so. The prose is unusual to say the least, bombarding you with lists and references to things that seem to appear out of the blue. Most of its thousand pages take the form of a single sentence, broken up into small clauses beginning with the phrase "the fact that." Although this novel takes a while to get used to, don't give up and your patience will pay off. I listened to the second half on the audiobook version, which I highly recommend due to the skill of the narrator in conveying accurately the emotion present in the story, especially at times where it may be hard to notice while simply reading.

The Fact Is That . . .

The fact is that I never imagined I would enjoy a
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.

Immersive, accessible, intimate and original.

I was intimidated to start such a long journey but I loved this audio book. I think I'll listen again in a few months as the world of the nameless narrator was so exquisitely intimate. It's a stream of concious exploration of our time and place through the smart but anxious mind of an Ohio housewife, mother of 4. Through, memory, shopping lists, recipes, news headlines and reflections on life unfolding around her, she reveals character, backstory, relationship and plot just like any novel, but with a structure that hangs by a thread as tenuously as the world around her. You'll probably know in 15 minutes if it's for you. For me, Lucy Ellman has advanced the craft of fiction writing.

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.

The fact that

I don’t know if there are awards for audiobook narration, but the reader of this book surely deserves best performance. The book itself is pretty much beyond description. Totally alluring and satisfying and brilliant and the reader, my God! Unsurpassable! (I’m only about 5 hours in, but looking forward to listening to this for a LONG time:)