Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I'm new to graphic novels and can probably count on one hand the number of books I've read in this genre. But, not one to miss out on a new, well-hyped book, I jumped on the Ducks bandwagon after it won the Canada Reads competition and the Doug Wright Award for best book in 2023. Maybe THIS book would get me to love graphic novels!

I was initially intrigued because the author wrote about her experiences in the very male-dominated Alberta's oil sands industry. Beaton gives readers insight into the lives of the workers (there are a lot of characters to keep track of), the monotony and how female workers (who are outnumbered by male workers 50:1) are treated. Topics range from feelings of isolation and loneliness to mental health, addiction, family separation and unwanted attention from male workers (casual sexist remarks to blatant misogyny and sexual assault). 

There is a monotony in the job of an oil sands worker and that dreary sameness came through in how this story was told. There's a lot of repetition in the 430 pages (which easily could have been whittled down), but it was the repeated and abrupt jumping between scenes that was frustrating. I think I got reader whiplash.

I appreciated that Beaton shares her personal experiences and while there were a couple of emotional scenes and the topics were heartbreaking, with the limited dialogue, the emotions felt muted, and the issues handled too briefly. I also would have loved the story to discuss more about the environmental and societal impact of the oil sands industry but that was largely ignored.

In the end, this wasn't a good pick for me - please note that I am an outlier with my feelings. I appreciate the author sharing her experiences, but this massive book was a hard slog through the Alberta oil sands - a location and industry I still know little about. 

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Kate Beaton

Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir, Canadian

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

First Published: Sept 13, 2022

Book Description from GoodReads: Celebrated cartoonist Kate Beaton vividly presents the untold story of Canada.

Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant fame, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. After university, Beaton heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Beaton will be far more than she anticipates.

Arriving in Fort McMurray, Beaton finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world’s largest oil companies. Being one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. It does not hit home until she moves to a spartan, isolated worksite for higher pay. She encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed. Her wounds may never heal.

Beaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Her first full-length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.