Name: BC Hark's review of We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen
Item: We, the Drowned
Rating: 2
Author: BC Hark

Carsten Jensen

Carsten Jensen’s debut novel has taken the world by storm. Already hailed in Europe as an instant classic, We, the Drowned is the story of the port town of Marstal, whose inhabitants have sailed the world’s oceans aboard freight ships for centuries. Spanning over a hundred years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War, and from the barren rocks of Newfoundland to the lush plantations of Samoa, from the roughest bars in Tasmania, to the frozen coasts of northern Russia, We, the Drowned spins a magnificent tale of love, war, and adventure, a tale of the men who go to sea and the women they leave behind.Ships are wrecked at sea and blown up during wars, they are places of terror and violence, yet they continue to lure each generation of Marstal men—fathers and sons—away. Strong, resilient, women raise families alone and sometimes take history into their own hands. There are cannibals here, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, forbidden passions, cowards, heroes, devastating tragedies, and miraculous survivals—everything that a town like Marstal has actually experienced, and that makes We, the Drowned an unforgettable novel, destined to take its place among the greatest seafaring literature.

We, the Drowned

Francine Corry

Follows a century in the port town of Marstal on an island off the coast of Denmark, whose citizens' lives are indelibly shaped by forces ranging from wars and shipwrecks to taboo survival practices and forbidden passions.

I made it more than halfway through this book, then retreated, because I read reviews that others only finished because of sunk cost. That was where I was at. The book set sail in the right direction, but then the winds blew further and further into the least worthy of territories. The characters became less engaging and the book was a chore. I kept wondering how it was taking so long for anything to happen. Albert had lived for what felt like 150 years and still wasn't dead. The book was a let down. I don't recommend it. Some of the characters and stories early on were a delight, but it became so dry that eventually you will think yourself a sailor at sea with not a drop to drink. 

BC Hark

Colleen

1 Star

This review contains some spoilers.

We, the Drowned caught my eye at the library because of its gorgeous cover. The description of epic adventure on the high seas sounded awesome. The first page caught my attention, and I initially thought the writing was lyrical. 

So what happened? Why did it take me three full months to read this book?

I'll give the short version. Frankly, I spent too damn long struggling to get through this book to spend time writing a review. I don't hate it passionately enough to rant about it, but I should not have bothered to finish reading this. The problem was that I had already put so much time into reading it, that it felt more wasteful to stop. And people said the ending was [supposedly] amazing and emotional. So I trudged through all 688 pages.

Despite the poetic writing, I failed to connect with any of the characters. They all seemed to turn nasty and abusive. The adventure petered out in the first quarter of the book. From there it was just a looooooooooooong, drawn-out drama with little to no plot. It was as if the story ran aground a quarter of the way in, but the author kept waving the rigging about to try to trick you into thinking the ship was still moving. 

What was the point? It seems to be best summed up in this quote:

  "You died in the end, but you fought first." 
And that is pretty much how it went. We, the Drowned follows multiple generations who all have unhappy lives which turns them into nasty people. And then they die. I could see where the author was trying to go with the ending, but it just did not work for me. There were moments when it bordered Magical Realism, but it failed to deliver on that front as well. Then there was the way the tense switched back and forth: first person, first person plural with an undisclosed narrator, third person... it was a mess.

Worst of all, interspersing the poetic writing were crude and vulgar moments. Often times it was not the words or acts themselves that were most off-putting but the matter-of-fact way that they were presented. It was very "life is brutal; that's just how it is." But in addition to those blasé moments where violence was so casually mentioned, there were also moments when the writing reveled in its darkness and avidly described gruesome acts. The most memorable of those was the vivid, detailed description of some kids brutally torturing and killing someone's dog. There were also at least two rapes, both of which everyone knew about but no one did anything about because well, these things just happen. It was gruesome and depressing. No amount of pretty writing could make up for how low this book left me feeling. In the end, I could not have cared less what happened to any of the characters. I just wanted it to be over.

Sadly, the cover is the best thing about this book. I would not recommend it to anyone. That is not to say that people won't like this book, because the high ratings indicate that lots of people did. But I could not recommend something that was such a struggle to finish.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 1 Star
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 1 Star

Emma

One of the best books I've EVER read. Just add this to your TBR straight away. Just do it.

Eduardo Sorribas

This book has amazing story telling. A lot of the story is very exciting as well. It just feels a bit too long and some parts of the book I found boring and hard to get through. It undid some of that with a beautiful ending. And it gave me, if nothing else, a desire to visit Marstal

Laura

it's always ourselves we find in the sea

No, that quote isn't from We, the Drowned. It's from ee cummings, but it fits anyway. This time of the year, my thoughts turn towards the sea. I'm from New England, a place with deep connections to the sea, and especially the whaling industry. And every summer, my family goes to New Jersey, where my mother's side is from. My longing for the ocean has been my main reason for picking up We, the Drowned, despite a page count numbering in the high 600s. 

Marstal, Denmark, has more in common with the New England towns I've visited in my childhood than the New Jersey of my summers. New Jersey's beachside is more Edwardian, with its boardwalks and vendors hawking salt water taffy and brightly colored stately Victorians. New England seaside towns are more subdued, old fishing towns with whitewashed houses and small centers. Even the name Marstal makes me think of Mystic or Gloucester or even Newport. The point is, I was ready to love this book before I even picked it up.

The cover and the title and everything are just beautiful, by the way. On the surface, this book is about the residents of a small seaside town from the later half of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th. Looking closer, it is about love and family and loss and heartache. Strip away all that, and you will find nothing more than a love letter to the sea, from a man who understands that its call is hard to escape, even if it the hardships it brings are innumerable. 

The writing was easy, pleasant, oscillating between the rare first person plural and regular third person. I loved the use of first person plural. I've seen some uses where it's clunky or unsuccessful, but in this case it fit perfectly. It makes sense with the title (which I love so much it's my second favorite title of all time, right after The Tsar of Love and Techno). The narrators are the drowned. I could only imagine how fantastic this book is in its native language, since I presume some beauty must have been lost in translation, as is the case for all translated books. This book was entertaining. When I first opened it, I was apprehensive- am I really going to like this probably super-slow 675 page book? With small font to boot? While it wasn't the fastest book I've ever read, the pace was really nice and it was written in such an entertaining way. I only took four days to get through this book, as opposed to the two weeks it might have taken me to read books of similar length, even if I am a speed reader. It was pretty funny, too, in a subtle kind of way.

There was a definite tone shift between the first two and the second two parts though. I think I preferred the first two parts, with all the fun seafaring action and adventure. When I read those parts, I felt like I was at sea, and I adored it. However, once Albert went back to shore and Klara was introduced, the book started to get slow and drag along. It pulled me out of the nice seaside vibe I got from the book, and I didn't much like Klara. I know she was supposed to give us a woman's perspective on the sea as opposed to a man's- the man sees the sea as an adventure, the woman sees it as a graveyard- but I still didn't like how, once she got money, she set out to destroy the town's economy. She had the best intentions, but still. I couldn't imagine what Albert would think about his money being used to tear the town apart like that. 

But then we return to the sea with Klara's son Knud Erik and I loved it all over again. I loved how Knud Erik became a sailor and how his mother didn't want him to but he became one anyway because he couldn't resist the ocean and yes, the life was miserable and gruesome, but that didn't send him home. He kept at it because he couldn't resist what the sea had to offer him. Some of the most poignant parts of this book were told in letters his mother wrote him, my favorite being the second one, which almost brought tears to my eyes. 

The ending is absolute perfection. Oh my God, this book was so worth the read. If you don't care so much about a discernible plot but are just as in love with the sea as I am, this book is so highly recommended. I feel like I didn't do it justice with this review, and for that I apologize to Carsten Jensen. I wonder how much is true and how much isn't?

Francine Corry &
We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen

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We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen