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A review by gorecki
We, the Drowned by Carsten Jensen
3.0
We, the Drowned is a compilation of the stories of people, places, and ships, that covers a period of almost a century and tells the story of a few thousand people. Starting off with the war between Denmark and Germany in 1846 and the story of Laurids Madsen, it curves forward in time through World Wars I and II and Madsen’s son Albert, his acquaintance with a young boy (grown man at the end of the book) Knud Erik, and the thousands of people living in Marstal – an important port and seafaring town in Denmark.
You can see how this book can be an interesting read with so many people and stories. It seems like things are dense and never stop happening and the events in this story always seem to develop really fast on the pages of Carsten Jensen’s novel. I must admit I was quite intimidated by the size of this book at first, but once I started reading it and noticed how readable and enjoyable the story is, I eased into it. And yes, for the first half of the book, I really did enjoy reading it and made fast and enviable progress.
After that, however, I grew a bit tired and weary. I’m afraid that as well as this book may be written, it started losing my interest and started making me feel a tad impatient quite soon. After a few hundred pages and after quite a few characters appeared, lived a life, died, and then other characters took over, I felt a bit like when you are sitting in a meeting that could have easily been an email and you are listening to someone talk on and on without actually saying much. While I understand and appreciate that this was the story of a whole marine town, maybe even a whole nation, and it actually does need to span such a long period of time and involve so many people, I personally feel I can enjoy a story a lot better if it’s more precise and condensed; more sparing with words and more detailed in its giving a glimpse into the life and experience of one individual (as opposed to a whole myriad of them). Had this been the story of Laurids or Albert Madsen, I would have given this book 5 stars. But unfortunately in this case, twice as much text, means a two-times lover rating. This simply comes from my own personal preferences as a reader – I suppose I should just accept I’m a fan of shorter fiction with a tighter storyline.
You can see how this book can be an interesting read with so many people and stories. It seems like things are dense and never stop happening and the events in this story always seem to develop really fast on the pages of Carsten Jensen’s novel. I must admit I was quite intimidated by the size of this book at first, but once I started reading it and noticed how readable and enjoyable the story is, I eased into it. And yes, for the first half of the book, I really did enjoy reading it and made fast and enviable progress.
After that, however, I grew a bit tired and weary. I’m afraid that as well as this book may be written, it started losing my interest and started making me feel a tad impatient quite soon. After a few hundred pages and after quite a few characters appeared, lived a life, died, and then other characters took over, I felt a bit like when you are sitting in a meeting that could have easily been an email and you are listening to someone talk on and on without actually saying much. While I understand and appreciate that this was the story of a whole marine town, maybe even a whole nation, and it actually does need to span such a long period of time and involve so many people, I personally feel I can enjoy a story a lot better if it’s more precise and condensed; more sparing with words and more detailed in its giving a glimpse into the life and experience of one individual (as opposed to a whole myriad of them). Had this been the story of Laurids or Albert Madsen, I would have given this book 5 stars. But unfortunately in this case, twice as much text, means a two-times lover rating. This simply comes from my own personal preferences as a reader – I suppose I should just accept I’m a fan of shorter fiction with a tighter storyline.