We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen - Revision history

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Created page with '{{infobox |title=We, the Drowned |author=Carsten Jensen |reviewer=Robert Jams |genre=Literary Fiction |summary=Epic novel of the sea starts in a small Danish town in 1848 and spa…'

New review

{{infobox
|title=We, the Drowned
|author=Carsten Jensen
|reviewer=Robert Jams
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Epic novel of the sea starts in a small Danish town in 1848
and spans 97 years and much of the globe. An incredible achievement
with a host of wonderful characters and some of the best writing of
recent times.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|paperback=
|hardback=1846550963
|audiobook=
|ebook=
|pages=704
|publisher=Harvill Secker
|date=April 2010
|isbn=978-1846550966
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846550963</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1846550963</amazonus>
}}

In 1848, Laurids Madsen and other men of the small
town of Marstal go to war to fight the Germans, and an explosion
flings him up to heaven, as far as anyone can tell. But Laurids
returns, claiming his sea boots were too heavy for him to stay up
there – only to be lost to Marstal anyway, as he abandons his family
to sail the high seas.

Years later, Laurids’ son Albert sets sail to search for his missing
father, and finds seedy company, premonitions of warfare, and a
mysterious shrunken head. As he returns to Marstal, the town begins to
change rapidly and a woman starts to dream of reclaiming the men from
the sea.

Nearly a century after the book starts, Knud Eric, a small boy in
Marstal who the elderly Albert befriends, grows up to become a sailor
himself against his mother’s wishes. We see the Second World War
through his eyes, as he becomes a man and, along with other Marstal
natives, fights against the Nazis.

While it’s Laurids’ story which gets the book started, the main focus
is on Albert and Knud. We follow Albert through nearly his entire
life, and watch Knud grow up. They’re two incredibly captivating
characters, and the ghostly narration of much of the book by an unseen
chorus, the ‘’we’’ of the title just adds to the novel’s ability to
entrance you. The middle part is the exception to this narration,
instead being told in the first person by Albert himself as he quests
to find his father. This is just as well-written, and breaks up the
massive length of the novel well. The supporting cast – from Knud’s
childhood friend Anton, the Terror of Marstal, to Klara, Knud’s
strong-willed mother, to Herman the Seagull Killer, to Albert’s
captain Jack Lewis with his strange cargo – are all just as memorable
in their own way as the main pair.

The book is an epic in every sense, nearly as sprawling and far
reaching as the sea itself, and takes in many kinds of stories. It’s
an adventure story, a romance, a coming-of-age story, a war tale, a
drama, and a comedy. But more than any of those, it’s a book which
begs to be savoured, with gorgeous writing. The last few pages are
truly breathtaking writing which I’ve just reread several times, and
the closing paragraphs made this the first literature for a long, long
time which brought me close to tears with their beauty.

In summary this is one of the highest recommendations I can give –
certainly one of my top few books of the last decade – and despite its
massive length is extremely hard to put down once you’re hooked by the
story.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: The only literary fiction I’ve come across
in the last ten years which is at a similar level of excellence to
this book is the equally breathtaking [[Shadow of the Wind by Carlos
Ruis Zafon]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1846550963}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6863248}}

{{commenthead}}

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=We, the Drowned
 |author=Carsten Jensen
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |date=April 2010
 |isbn=978-1846550966
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099512963</amazonuk>
+|cover=0099512963
-|amazonus=<amazonus>0151013772</amazonus>
+|aznuk=0099512963
 }}

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 Further reading suggestion: The only literary fiction I’ve come across
 in the last ten years which is at a similar level of excellence to
-this book is the equally breathtaking [[Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon]].
+this book is the equally breathtaking [[The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=0099512963}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6863248}}
 {{commenthead}}

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 In 1848, Laurids Madsen and other men of the small
-town of Marstal go to war to fight the Germans, and an explosion
+town of Marstal go to war to fight the Germans and an explosion
 flings him up to heaven, as far as anyone can tell. But Laurids
-returns, claiming his sea boots were too heavy for him to stay up
+returns, claiming his sea-boots were too heavy for him to stay up
 there – only to be lost to Marstal anyway, as he abandons his family
 to sail the high seas.
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 While it’s Laurids’ story which gets the book started, the main focus
 is on Albert and Knud. We follow Albert through nearly his entire
-life, and watch Knud grow up. They’re two incredibly captivating
+life and watch Knud grow up. They’re two incredibly captivating
 characters, and the ghostly narration of much of the book by an unseen
 chorus, the ‘’we’’ of the title just adds to the novel’s ability to
 entrance you. The middle part is the exception to this narration,
 instead being told in the first person by Albert himself as he quests
-to find his father. This is just as well-written, and breaks up the
+to find his father. This is just as well-written and breaks up the
 massive length of the novel well. The supporting cast – from Knud’s
 childhood friend Anton, the Terror of Marstal, to Klara, Knud’s
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 in their own way as the main pair.
-The book is an epic in every sense, nearly as sprawling and far
+The book is an epic in every sense, nearly as sprawling and far-reaching as the sea itself, and takes in many kinds of stories. It’s an adventure story, a romance, a coming-of-age story, a war tale, a drama, and a comedy. But more than any of those, it’s a book which begs to be savoured, with gorgeous writing. The last few pages are truly breathtaking writing which I’ve just reread several times, and the closing paragraphs made this the first literature for a long, long time which brought me close to tears with their beauty.
-In summary this is one of the highest recommendations I can give –
+In summary, this is one of the highest recommendations I can give –
 certainly one of my top few books of the last decade – and despite its
 massive length is extremely hard to put down once you’re hooked by the
@@ Line 68: / Line 61: @@
 Further reading suggestion: The only literary fiction I’ve come across
 in the last ten years which is at a similar level of excellence to
-this book is the equally breathtaking [[The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon]].
+this book is the equally breathtaking [[The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon]].  I wish I could recommend [[After the Fire, A Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld]], but I didn't like it at all.
 {{amazontext|amazon=0099512963}}

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=704
 |publisher=Harvill Secker
@@ Line 73: / Line 69: @@
 this book is the equally breathtaking [[The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon]].
-{{amazontext|amazon=0099512963}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6863248}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0099512963}}
 {{commenthead}}

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |reviewer=Robert James
 |genre=Literary Fiction
-|summary=Epic novel of the sea starts in a small Danish town in 1848 and spans 97 years and much of the globe. An incredible achievementwith a host of wonderful characters and some of the best writing of recent times.
+|summary=Epic novel of the sea starts in a small Danish town in 1848 and spans 97 years and much of the globe. An incredible achievement with a host of wonderful characters and some of the best writing of recent times.
 |rating=5
 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
-|paperback=
+|paperback=0099512963
 |hardback=1846550963
 |audiobook=
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 |date=April 2010
 |isbn=978-1846550966
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846550963</amazonuk>
+|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099512963</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>0151013772</amazonus>
 }}
@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 Further reading suggestion: The only literary fiction I’ve come across
 in the last ten years which is at a similar level of excellence to
-this book is the equally breathtaking [[Shadow of the Wind by Carlos
+this book is the equally breathtaking [[Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon]].
-{{amazontext|amazon=1846550963}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6863248}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0099512963}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6863248}}
 {{commenthead}}