{"id":3725,"date":"2024-11-09T11:26:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-09T11:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2024-11-09T11:26:54","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T11:26:54","slug":"graphic-novel-recommendation-ducks-two-years-in-the-oil-sands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3725","title":{"rendered":"Graphic Novel Recommendation: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! Happy November to all of you! After having a bit of a slow reading year, I am again trying to include it consciously as part of my day. It\u2019s always in small parts in the mornings after working out or at night after logging out at work. But, reading even those 10 to 15 pages makes me happy. It feels like I\u2019m taking back control and determinedly investing time in what I want to do and what makes me me. So, yeah, I recently read a graphic novel, which I have been wanting read for quite some time, and I really liked it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Celebrated cartoonist Kate Beaton vividly presents the untold story of Canada.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times<\/em> bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant<\/em> 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving in Fort McMurray, Beaton finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beaton\u2019s 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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~~THOUGHTS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I heard about the title \u2018Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands\u2019, I thought it was a nonfiction science book talking about the adverse effects of oil sands in Canada. But, it actually turned out to be something quite different. This is actually an autobiographical take of the author\u2019s two years of life spent at the oil sands where she works to pay off her student loans but ends up paying for a lot more.<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found this book to be extremely enlightening, as I had never read anything earlier about the oil sands or even any books set in Canada. I think what\u2019s most glaring throughout the novel is sexism.<\/mark><\/strong> Kate Beaton along with very few other women worked in a place that was largely male dominated with a 50:1 ratio of men to women. I\u2019d say that even prisons were better than the work conditions that the author described in the book. It\u2019s a whole spectrum of violence against women starting with sly remarks about women\u2019s bodies, or calling them, \u201cHey beautiful\u201d, or how they need to learn to take a joke or to grow a thicker skin leading up to emotional abuse, everyday harassment and sexual assault. <\/mark><\/strong>If they complain about these instances, they are told that it\u2019s a man\u2019s world and they need to work as a team. And, when they don\u2019t complain, they are told that they should have. If you get someone fired, no one would even talk to you. It\u2019s like you cannot win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At several times, she has written about how certain things would never happen in her normal life.<\/mark><\/strong> This just goes to show that when there is a majority of men, their behaviour towards women is almost animalistic and in a normal world they would not behave this way. And yet, we see so many instances involving sexual and emotional assault happening in our normal world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a deeper level, men act the way they do in these oil sands is because of unhealthy coping mechanisms because of insufficient mental health resources.<\/mark><\/strong> And, these exist because no one thinks about how men cope with loneliness, homesickness and boredom. So, instead of working on their own mental and emotional health, they pick on women. In the normal world, they are somebody\u2019s brother, husband, father or son, but here they forget all of it like it\u2019s a different world and their brother\/husband\/father\/son role doesn\u2019t exist. Men\u2019s mental health affects men, but it just as much affects women.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With themes of women in men-dominated workplace, sexism and mental health, Ducks is an excellent autobiographical graphic novel, and I think everyone should read it.<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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~~TO READ OR NOT TO READ~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you like reading graphic novels, I think this one should definitely be on your radar. If you like memoirs and autobiographies, then read this one. If you like books with social commentary, this one is as good as it gets. There are a lot of reasons to read this one, and can\u2019t really think of any reason to not read it, so there you have it! I have rated Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton at 4\/5 stars!<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hi Readers! Happy November to all of you! After having a bit of a slow reading year, I am again trying to include it consciously as part of my day. It\u2019s always in small parts in the mornings after working out or at night after logging out at work. But, reading even those 10 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,23,3],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-book-reviews","category-mindscape-reviews","tag-graphic-novel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/PXL_20241109_105640449-1-2-1.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2347,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2347","url_meta":{"origin":3725,"position":0},"title":"Hyperbole and a Half: Funny Autobiographical Graphic Novel","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"November 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I recently read Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh. I wasn\u2019t expecting to love it as much as I did. It was a short book, so here\u2019s another short review! This amazing book is 75% text\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Picsart_22-11-19_20-14-35-242-02.jpeg?fit=947%2C947&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Picsart_22-11-19_20-14-35-242-02.jpeg?fit=947%2C947&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Picsart_22-11-19_20-14-35-242-02.jpeg?fit=947%2C947&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Picsart_22-11-19_20-14-35-242-02.jpeg?fit=947%2C947&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3825,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3825","url_meta":{"origin":3725,"position":1},"title":"Top 8 Books of 2024 \u2013 Year in Review (Part 1)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the 2024 Year in Review series!!!For those who have been with Mindscape in Words long enough, would know that every year I share a few posts in a series called \u2018Year in Review\u2019. And, for\u00a0those who started following me recently, you are in for a treat this year.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PSX_20241221_122912-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PSX_20241221_122912-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PSX_20241221_122912-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PSX_20241221_122912-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/PSX_20241221_122912-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3558,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3558","url_meta":{"origin":3725,"position":2},"title":"Highly Recommended Graphic Novel: Daytripper by F\u00e1bio Moon and Gabriel B\u00e1","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"August 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I am again in a funk reading wise, so thought I might at least share book reviews. When it comes to books I loved beyond measure, it\u2019s either always very difficult or very easy to write their review. For Daytripper, it\u2019s the former. I loved the book, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Picsart_24-08-07_11-41-52-115-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Picsart_24-08-07_11-41-52-115-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Picsart_24-08-07_11-41-52-115-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Picsart_24-08-07_11-41-52-115-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Picsart_24-08-07_11-41-52-115-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2088,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2088","url_meta":{"origin":3725,"position":3},"title":"Best Graphic Novel You Will Read: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a kid, there was a girl next door who was a year older than me. 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August sipped away like a bottle of wine.. How was the month for you? I read 8 BOOKS across 2024 PAGES in August. Three were fiction, one was autobiography & four were graphic novels. I finally have somewhat of a balance in reading. In terms of fiction vs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/PSX_20220829_230945-01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/PSX_20220829_230945-01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/PSX_20220829_230945-01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/PSX_20220829_230945-01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/PSX_20220829_230945-01-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2183,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2183","url_meta":{"origin":3725,"position":5},"title":"Books Read in July 2022!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! 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In fact, I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220730_123338-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220730_123338-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220730_123338-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220730_123338-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220730_123338-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3735,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3725\/revisions\/3735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}