Carsten Jensen (1) (1952–)

This epic, multigenerational novel is about the Danish seaside town of Marstal and spans a century of adventure. The men of Marstal are sailors and as such, many of them drown or disappear. The women of Marstal are left behind to live their lives the best they can in the absence of men. Taking place from the 1840s through WWII, there is a war for each generation. In between there are many seafaring adventures, some love, and some murders.

It's written masterfully - Jensen keeps track of a huge cast of characters and gives them all an individual personality. Lives connect in sometimes unexpected ways and the generations do as well. There's also a really clever use of "we" as narrator - the people of the town, telling their own story in the plural.

But somehow, I was still bored for large chunks of this. I loved the beginning and I was moved by the very end. But there were a couple hundred pages in the middle where I felt the book really dragged. I wasn't that interested in the characters and the situations weren't enough to keep my interest.

I think this is a great book, I just think it wasn't quite for me. I appreciated things about it, but couldn't help wishing it would end. I think it's a book that most people should give a try, but I am evidence that even a good book doesn't work for every reader.… (more)

We'll never be a family, Albert thought. We're just the wreckage of other families.

What a stunning, heartbreaking, life-affirming, devastating work. We, The Drowned covers 100 years in the life of a Danish town, Marstal, through the sailors and soldiers and their families. Jensen's prose is vivid and poetic, rarely as "simple" as the misguided reviews on the back of the cover say (even if they mean well by it), and always insightful. His characters walk the tightrope of magic realism without ever crossing over into that genre. He renders the complex relationship all lifelong coast-dwellers have with the ocean, immaculately clear.

This book is a very dense tome. At 700 pages, it uses every one of those pages to tease out heavy strands of story and character, so it's definitely not a light read. But We, the Drowned is an immensely rewarding one. There are grand set-pieces - the dehydrated butterflies spring to mind, or the early, strangely optimistic tales of a POW camp - but these are contrasted with simple character tales that elevate the mundane drama above the global events occurring around the characters.

For me, a few of the character revelations toward the end felt a tad obvious - the lead female character develops a highly unpleasant but completely understandable goal, and her late realisation of what she's been doing with her life feels a little forced - but the sheer force of Jensen's skill overwhelms any qualms. A beauty of a book, and a beast of a book, too.… (more)