We, The Drowned - Paperback

by Carsten Jensen (Author)

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. We, The Drowned is an epic novel about generations of men who go to sea and the women and children they leave behind. Filled with adventure, cannibals, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, forbidden passions, cowards, heroes, tragedies, love, and survival, this book takes its place among the greatest seafaring literature.

We, the Drowned is 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. The novel tells of ships wrecked and blown up in wars, of places of terror and violence that continue to lure each generation. 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.

"We, the Drowned sets sail beyond the narrow channels of the seafaring genre and approaches Tolstoy in its evocation of war's confusion, its power to stun victors and vanquished alike . . . A gorgeous, unsparing novel." -- Washington Post

"A generational saga, a swashbuckling sailor's tale, and the account of a small town coming into modernity--both Melville and Steinbeck might have been pleased to read it." -- New Republic

Front Jacket

Hailed in Europe as an instant classic, "We, the Drowned" is the story of the port town of Marstal, whose inhabitants 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--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" is a magnificent tale of love, war, and adventure, of the men who go to sea and the women they leave behind.
Ships are wrecked and blown up in wars, they are places of terror and violence, yet they continue to lure each generation of Marstallers. Among them are Laurids Madsen, who vanishes in the South Pacific; his son Albert, who searches the globe for his father; Knud Erik and his widowed mother, Klara, who takes on here, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, forbidden passions, cowards, heroes, devastating tragedies, and miraculous survivals--everything that a town like Marstal has actually lived. "We, the Drowned" is a novel destined to take its place among the greatest seafaring literature.

Back Jacket

AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A THRILLING EPIC TALE OF THE SEA
We, the Drowned sets sail beyond the narrow channels of the seafaring genre and approaches Tolstoy in its evocation of war s confusion, its power to stun victors and vanquished alike . . . A gorgeous, unsparing novel. Washington Post
A generational saga, a swashbuckling sailor s tale, and the account of a small town coming into modernity both Melville and Steinbeck might have been pleased to read it. New Republic
Hailed in Europe as an instant classic, We, the Drowned is 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. The novel tells of ships wrecked and blown up in wars, of places of terror and violence that continue to lure each generation; there are cannibals here, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, 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.
Called one of the most exciting authors in Nordic literature by Henning Mankell, Carsten Jensen has worked as a literary critic and a journalist, reporting from China, Cambodia, Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and Afghanistan. He lives in Copenhagen and Marstal.
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Author Biography

CARSTEN JENSEN has worked as a literary critic and a journalist, reporting from China, Cambodia, Latin America, the Pacific Islands, and Afghanistan. A runaway international bestseller, there are now more than 450,000 copies of We, The Drowned in print.