Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Vi, de druknede : roman (original 2006; edition 2007)by Carsten Jensen
Work InformationWe, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen (2006)
  
» 6 more No current Talk conversations about this book.  therebelprince | Apr 21, 2024 |    ) Margaret09 | Apr 15, 2024 |  ) cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 | blueskygreentrees | Jul 30, 2023 | ) Kiramke | Jun 27, 2023 |
 When was the last time you relished sitting down with a 678-page Danish novel? "We, the Drowned" might just be too much book to tote to the beach next summer, but it's powerful reading for a long winter's night. For many nights, in fact.  "Wir Ertrunkenen" schöpft aus der langen Liste berühmter Seefahrer- und Meeresromane, wir erkennen Elemente aus Herman Melvilles "Moby Dick", aus Stevensons und Joseph Conrads Romanen, stilistisch erinnert er zuweilen an Frank Schätzings "Der Schwarm". Der Roman erfüllt jeden Jungentraum von Abenteuern aus echtem Seemannsgarn, er bietet exotische Länder, Kannibalen und Schrumpfköpfe, Schiffskatastrophen und Kriegsgräuel, prügelnde Lehrer aus Zeiten, die keiner mehr kennt, eine verwirrende erste Liebe und ein unverhofftes Wiedersehen und nicht zuletzt die Hassliebe einer verbitterten Mutter - daheim herrscht die Melodramatik, auf See die reinste Action. Da Carsten Jensen ein ungemein gewiefter Autor ist und die Kunst des dramatischen Pathos beherrscht, das dem Leser den Atem verschlägt, ist dieses Buch in all seiner Schönheit und all seinem Kitsch der Inbegriff eines Schmökers, es ist der Schmöker dieses Herbstes. Seagoing legends of Scandinavia ...The translation is, in the main, finely wrought, preserving both the elegiac lyricism and straightforward, sometimes violent energies of the book. I do wish, however, that American translators (or their publishers) were not so anxious about idioms. To have a young Danish sailor, in 1845, refer to “freezing my butt off” bounces this reader out of a believable book....That said, Jensen’s talent as a storyteller shines through. We, the Drowned is a huge achievement. A first novel, it’s such a large book that I hope the author has more to say. Whatever may follow, I am grateful, engaged and moved by what he has said here. We, the Drowned makes us appreciate – in vivid detail – how our present lives in commercially successful societies at peace with each other rest even now on horrific exploitation of the inarticulate, often compelled to commit acts whose savage violence we would rather forget. In this lies the book's principal strength....Every day gives us cause for fear and sorrow but, as on the celebratory one with which the novel concludes, we can defy them by "dancing with the drowned" because "they were us". Belongs to Publisher Seriesbtb (74108)
Fiction.
Literature.
Thriller.
Historical Fiction.
In 1848, a motley crew of Danish sailors sets sail from the small island town of Marstal to fight the Germans. Not all of them return-and those who do will never be the same. Among them is the daredevil Laurids Madsen, who promptly escapes again into the anonymity of the high seas.This is also the story of the port town of Marstal, Denmark, whose inhabitants sailed the world from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War and about the women and children they left behind. The novel tells of ships wrecked and blown up in wars, of places of terror and violence that continue to lure each generation with their cannibals, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, forbidden passions, cowards, heroes, tragedies, and miraculous survivals.The result is a brilliant seafaring novel, a gripping saga encompassing industrial growth, the years of expansion and exploration, the crucible of the first half of the twentieth century, and most of all, the sea.Hailed in Europe as an instant classic, We, the Drowned, spanning four generations, two world wars, and a hundred years, is an epic tale of adventure, ruthlessness, and passion destined to take its place among the greatest seafaring literature. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)839.81374Literature German literature and literatures of related languages Other Germanic literatures Danish and Norwegian literatures Danish Danish fiction 1900–2000 Late 20th century 1945–2000LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.13)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (1)
4
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. (