A review by kiramke
We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

3.0

I rate up (or down) from 3 stars, but I wish I could give this a perfectly neutral 2.5, for the balance between what I liked and did not. The first 100 pages, I was sustained only by my interest in the first person plural voice. Around 130 a narrative picks up that held me for another 100 or so; then a flat bit, some terribly annoying men, a few chapters of searching for my narrator, some promising bits towards the end, and who knows what else. Here at the end I feel like I've liked it enough, but I remember those earlier phases. Too many things (voice, narrative) needed to be more developed - in any direction, but more committed to that direction. Still I love my Danes and my history and my sea narratives, so I'm rounding up to 3.