Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Ratings87
Average rating4.5
Arriving in Fort McMurray, Katie finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world's largest oil companies. As 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. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed. For young Katie, 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.
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My favorite comic artist writing a memoir? I have been waiting for this one to come to the library for months now. It's a beautiful read about her time working in the oil sands of Canada. Topic I was totally unfamiliar with. It's got the same wry wit as Hark! A Vagrant. She went through a lot, I thought to myself many times that I would not have been tough enough to endure working there. The first quarter of the book about the shackles of student loan debt resonated with me so, so much.
I much prefer Beaton's humourous stuff and I ended up skipping a chunk because our trusty narrator was subjected to harassment that I didn't want to experience along with her. Interesting to learn about the extraction operations but not a fun read if you're female cause of the second-hand rage.
Re-reading for book club which means I will be doing the painful parts this time.
And that was even better than I remembered. Very excited to talk about this with other people.
