#carsten jensen

[a-chorus-of-storytellers]

evening delight

[mangotalkies]

currently reading (at snail’s pace)

i’ve never juggled between such vastly different, yet equally heavy genres before. one boggles my mind with yet another unexplored aspect of indian history, another makes me realise how little i know about the world, and the last one could’ve just been a twitter thread.

“we said goodbye to our mothers. they’d been around all our lives, but we’d never properly seen them. they’d been bent over washing tubs or cooking pots, their faces red and swollen from heat and steam, holding everything together while our fathers were away at sea, and nodding off every night on the kitchen chair, with a darning needle in hand. it was their endurance and exhaustion we knew, rather than them."

- we, the drowned by carsten jensen

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge || March 15 || Unique Cover: We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

[dijetemjeseca]

"Ženama se ponekad svide muškarci koji im znaju izmamiti osmijeh, ali obožavaju samo one koje ih rasplaču. Poštuju samo ono što ne razumiju. U tom je poštovanju ključ. Herman je vidio dovoljno svijeta da zna kako život muškarcu ne čini podnošljivim ženska ljubav, nego poštovanje. A u poštovanju se uvijek krije i malo straha."

-Carsten Jensen, Mi, utopljenici

[elegantzombielite]

"Only the stupid steal from the rich. The clever steal from the poor. The law usually protects the rich."

Carsten Jensen, author (b. 24th July 1952)

[linusjf]

Carsten Jensen: The law protects the rich

“Only the stupid steal from the rich. The clever steal from the poor. The law usually protects the rich.” —Carsten Jensen.

[jesslovesboats]

Hello friends, I am back with more reading recommendations for your agonies! Next up we have the long awaited and much requested Sad Boat Fiction list. As with all of my lists, this is NOT exhaustive and there WILL be great books left off, and also you may or may not like these books! I only rec things that I've personally enjoyed or that come highly recommended by trusted friends, but taste in books is incredibly subjective, especially with fiction. If I missed your favorite, please add it in the comments or drop it in my DMs!

Now that I'm feeling more settled in my new job, I will hopefully have a lot more time to make book lists and do more virtual Readers' Advisory. I have lists in the works for women in polar exploration and companion reads for the HBO War series, but if there's something else you would love to see, please send me a message!

Classics of the Genre

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Media Tie-Ins

Who Goes There? (Filmed as The Thing) by John W. Campbell, Jr.

The North Water by Ian McGuire

Cold Skin by Alfred Sánchez Piñol

The Terror by Dan Simmons

Graphic Novels

Whiteout by Greg Rucka

How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy

The Worst Journey in the World- The Graphic Novel Volume 1: Making Our Easting Down adapted by Sarah Airriess from the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard*

*this is only fiction in the broadest possible sense of the term, but there is a shiny new American version of this book coming out with a gorgeous new cover and you should pre-order it immediately

Science Fiction

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson

Romance

Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond

Inspired by the Terra Nova Expedition

The Worst Journey in the World- The Graphic Novel Volume 1: Making Our Easting Down adapted by Sarah Airriess from the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard*

The Birthday Boys by Beryl Bainbridge

Terra Nova: A Play by Ted Tally

Antarctic Navigation by Elizabeth Arthur

*this is only fiction in the broadest possible sense of the term, but there is a shiny new American version of this book coming out with a gorgeous new cover and you should pre-order it immediately

Inspired by the Franklin Expedition

The Rifles by William T. Vollmann

Minds of Winter by Ed O'Loughlin

Solomon Gursky Was Here by Mordecai Richler

On the Proper Use of Stars by Dominique Fortier

Literary Fiction

The Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

Inspired by the Classics

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

Modern Day Antarctica

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Polar and Nautical Horror

Where the Dead Wait by Ally Wilkes

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

Cold Earth by Sarah Moss

The Deep by Nick Cutter

All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

Dark Water by Elizabeth Lowry

The Deep by Alma Katsu

Happy reading!

[poppletonink]

Dark Academia: An Inspired Reading Recommendations List (Part 3)

Part two is available here!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

The Hound Of The Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

A Lesson In Vengeance by Victoria Lee

Killingly by Katharine Beutner

We The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

Vicious by VE Schwab

One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

The Odyssey by Homer

House Of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

A Study Drowning by Ava Reid

The Society For Soulless Girls by Laura Steven

An Education In Malice by S.T. Gibson

In These Hallowed Halls by Marie O'Regan

[redladydeath]

Six actors who's names share a common root

Hannah (12) Jana Larell Glover, Anna Uzele, Hana Stewart, Annamaria Baranyai, Anita Gado, Hannah Lowther, Annabel Marlow, Anna Peller, Gerianne Perez, Analise Rios, Hannah Taylor, Anna Terpiłowska

Elizabeth (9) Ellie Jane Grant, Izi Maxwell, Ella Burns, Bella Coppola, Izabela Pawletko, Analise Rios, Leesa Tulley, Elizabeth Walker, Ellie Wyman

Laurence (8) Laura Dawn Pyatt, Lauren Byrne, Lauren Irving, Lauren Mariasoosay, Laura Blair, Lauren Drew, Loren Hunter, Lori McLare

Margaret (7) Małgorzata Chrusciel, Meghan Corbett, Meghan Dawson, Meg Dixon-Brasil, Megan Gilbert, Maggie Lacasse, Megan Leung

Christos (7) Kirsty "Zara" MacIntosh, Keirsten Nicole Hodgens, Cristina D'Agostino, Kristina Leopold, Christina Modestou, Kristina Walz, Krisztina Magyar

Helen (6) Ellie Jane Grant, Elena Breschi, Ella Burns, Elena Gyasi, Aline Mayagoitia, Ellie Wyman

John (6) Jana Larell Glover, Gianna Grosso, Jaina Brock-Patel, Janique Charles, Janice Rijssel, Lori-Jane McLare

Nicholas (6) Nicole Louise Lewis, Nikki Bentley, Nikolett Gallusz, Collette Guitart, Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert, Nicole Lamb

Alexander (5) Alexia McIntosh, Sasha Renae Brown, Alexandra "Zan" Berube, Aleksandra Gotowicka, Ji-sun "Lexie" Kim

Gabriella (5) Gabbi Mack, Gabrielle Davina Smith, Gabriela Francesca Carillo, Gabriella Stylianou-Burns, Gabriella Boumford

Jasmine (5) Jasmine Shen, Jasmine Smith, Jasmine Forsberg, Jasmine Hackett, Jaz Robinson

Julius (5) Juli Horanyi, Giulia Marolda, Julia McLellan, Julia Pulo, Jillian Worthing

Adal (4) Alicia Corrales-Connor, Alyssa Giannetti, Alize Ke'Aloha Cruz, Aline Mayagoitia

Amy (4) Amy Bridges, Aimie Atkinson, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Kara-Ami McCreanor

Courtney (4) Courtney Monsma, Courtney Stapleton, Courtney Bowman, Courtney Mack

Emil (4) Amelia Walker, Emily Rose Lyons, Emily Harrigan, Emilia "Millie" O'Connell

Katherine (4) Caitlyn De Kuyper, Kathryn Kilger, Caitlin Tipping, Kate Zulauf

Kayla (4) Kala Gare, Khaila Wilcoxon, Kaylah Attard, Kayla McSorley

Monica (4) Monika Nika Veres, Monique Ashe-Palmer, Janique Charles, Mónika Horváth

Sophia (4) Sophie Golden, Sophie-Rose Middleton, Fia Houston-Hamilton, Sophie Isaacs

Abigail (3) Abigail Sparrow, Abbi Hodgson, Abby Mueller

Aenor (3) Ellie Jane Grant, Ella Burns, Ellie Wyman

Danielle (3) Danielle Steers, Danielle Mendoza, Danielle Rose

Eireann (3) Aryn Bohannon, Erin Palmer Ramirez, Erin Caldwell

Hayley (3) Haley Izurieta, Hailee Kaleem Wright, Hailey Lewis

Laura (3) Laura Dawn Pyatt, Laura Blair, Lori McLare

Lucius (3) Lucy Aiston, Lucia Valentino, Lucinda Wilson

Natalie (3) Natalie Pilkington, Natalie Paris, Natalia Kujawa

Oliver (3) Olivia "Liv" Alexander, Olivia Donalson, Oliver Wickham

Rhiannon (3) Rhiannon Bacchus, Rhiannon Doyle, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky

Sarah (3) Kala Gare, Sadie Hurst, Sarah McFarlane

Theodore (3) Terica Marie, Didi Romero, Dóra Csonka

Agnes (2) Inez Budd, Agnieszka Rose

Aisha (2) Aiesha Naomi Pease, Aisha Kardffy

Alan (2) Lana Zoe Jensen, Alana M. Robinson

Amanda (2) Amanda Lee, Amanda Lindgren

Ashley (2) Ashlee Waldbauer, Ashleigh Weir

Brian (2) Brianna Brito Mooney, Brianna Javis

Cassandra (2) Cassandra Lee, Cassie Silva

Cathassach (2) Casey Esbin, Casey Al-Shaqsy

Ceallach (2) Kelly Sweeney, Kelly Denice Taylor

Cennetig (2) Kennedy Carstens, Kenedy Small

Charles (2) Carly Mercedes Dyer, Caroline Siegrist

Chelsea (2) Chelsea Lorraine Wargo, Chelsea Dawson

Chloe (2) Chloe Zuel, Chloe Hart

Eloise (2) Eloise "Ellie" Sharpe, Eloise Lord

Eric (2) Terica Marie, Erika Herceg

Grace (2) Grace Mouat, Grace Melville

Hadrian (2) Adrianna Glover, Adrianna Hicks

Henry (2) Harriet Watson, Harriet Caplan-Dean

Holly (2) Holli' Conway, Holly Musgrave

Jennifer (2) Jennifer Caldwell, Ji-woo "Jennifer" Kim

Jessica (2) Jessica Niles, Jessica "Jessie" Bodner

Ludwig (2) Lou Henry, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky

Maia (2) Maiya Quansah-Breed, Maya Christian

Martha (2) Marta Burdynowicz, Marta Skrzypczynska

Mary (2) Annamaria Baranyai, Marilyn Caserta

Matilda (2) Maddison Bulleyment, Maddison Firth

Melissa (2) Melinda Porto, Melissa J. Ford

Rachel (2) Rachel Rawlinson, Rachel "Rae" Davenport

Renatus (2) Renee Lamb, Brene "Bre" Jackson

Shannon (2) Shannen Alyce Quan, Su-jeong "Shannon" Pae

Sidney (2) Cydney Clark, Sydney Parra

Taylor (2) Taylor Iman Jones, Taylor Pearlstein

Victor (2) Victoria "Vicki" Manser, Viki Singh

[jeanharlowseyebrows]

top 5 books?

GREAT one to start off with. very difficult!

the history of love by nicole krauss is the first one that came to mind because i think it was the first "adult" book i ever read that really, truly captured me. i got on my annoying annotation game and highlighted one copy so badly i had to get another copy just to be able to re-read. i haven't revisited in many years but there are still certain lines that i can remember with perfect clarity.

the secret history by donna tartt is similar in that i read it in college and was like Wow. This Is Literature. it has just about everything i like in a book --annoying characters: check. murder: check. batshit dynamics: check.

gone with the wind by margaret mitchell is probably pound for pound my favorite book of all time, even at its most grotesque and horrendous. it is obviously a racist book written by a racist woman and simultaneously scarlett is the most fascinating character of all time To Me. like most annoying idiotic fictional woman ever and i'm also rooting for her bad. i also am very into a long as fuck narrative about the worst people of all time.

lolita by vladimir nabokov is another pick where it's like yeah obvious tumblrina pick but unfortunately nabokov is a master and lolita is a masterwork and it's not my fault.

we the drowned by carsten jensen, which is the newest read on the list and i've only read it once but it was long as fuck (love) and a huge sprawling narrative (love) and it was about men on boats (love).

[bereft-of-frogs]

dark ocean duology | summary, schedule, and chapter titles

after a full summer of....sort of losing my mind over the ocean, we've reached the final week. I've read it three times in the last two days and excepting grammar and style edits that will happen weekly (and one section I'm still sort of not happy with) I think I'm pretty much done. going to hype myself up a little bit this week. I've settled on a series title of 'dark ocean duology' so if you'd prefer to not see any more about this series go ahead and block that tag, no hard feelings!

summary: A post-Fallen Order AU in two parts: After narrowly escaping the Inquisition’s clutches on Nur, Cere and Cal are not whisked from the water by Merrin’s intervention. Instead, they must embark on a winding, perilous journey that will take each of them through their pasts, and to the edge of death.

chapter titles + posting schedule

part 1: the deep sea is a haunted house

“The deep sea is a haunted house: a place in which things that ought not to exist move about in darkness.” - Julia Armfield, Our Wives Under the Sea

9.1 -- chapter 1: caverns, haunts, and dusky mazes “There, at a depth to which divers would find it difficult to descend, are caverns, haunts, and dusky mazes, where monstrous creatures multiply and destroy each other. Huge crabs devour fish and are devoured in their turn. Hideous shapes of living things, not created to be seen by human eyes wander in this twilight.” - Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea (trans. W. Moy Thomas) 9.8 -- chapter 2: only awake and dreaming “When you’re underwater for months at a time, you lose all sense of day and night. And there’s only awake and dreaming. Not that those things are easy to tell apart.” - Underwater (2020)

part 2: to stand at the edge of the sea

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist, is to have knowledge of things that are nearly as eternal as any earthly life can be.” - Rachel Carson, Under the Sea-Wind

9.15 -- chapter 1: drowning in sight of land “Is there anything more heartbreaking than drowning in sight of land? Is there a single one of us who hasn’t at least once felt haunted by the fear of slipping away within sight of a safe haven?” - Carsten Jensen, We, the Drowned 9.22 -- chapter 2: under the great unfathomable deep, he sank “Then overwhelmed by the sense of that unknown infinity, like one bewildered by a strange persecution, confronting the shadows of night, in the presence of that i impenetrable darkness, in the midst of the murmur of the waves, the swell, the foam, the breeze, under the clouds, under that vast diffusion of force, under that mysterious firmament of wings, of stars, of gulfs, having around him and beneath him the ocean above him the constellations, under the great unfathomable deep, he sank, gave up the struggle, lay down upon the rock, his face towards the stars, humble, and uplifting his joined hands towards the terrible depths, he cried aloud, ‘Have mercy.’” - Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea (trans. W. Moy Thomas) 9.29 -- chapter 3: and the great shroud of the sea rolled on “…then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.” - Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Ok, I have to go get back to all the formatting work I maybe should have been working on before now 😵‍💫

[mangotalkies]

june so far has been filled with intense reads on tragic events, sprawling timelines, vibrant cities, once-sacred rivers, delicate familial relationships, internal conflicts, and formidable women: compelling, wronged, forgotten.

the days have been overwhelmingly long with daunting tasks, nostalgic overloads and dubious weather.

i ate enough mangoes to do justice to my username; gave up on planning tbrs; fell in love with a flower bowl; rediscovered in my shelf, an old portable cd/dvd player - a bunch of disks with it; displayed exemplary self control in a ceramics store; rewatched bojack horseman a fifth time; listened to a playlist i made back in 2014; remembered that bts just completed 10 years and felt aged.

books read -

the fishermen by chigozie obioma

the ocean of churn by sanjeev sanyal

the last queen by chitra banerjee divakaruni

kim jiyong, born 1982 by cho nam-joo

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri

currently reading -

mahabharat vol.1 by bibek debroy

we the drowned by carsten jensen

flight of deities and rebirth of temples by meenakshi jain

books added to my black hole of tbrs -

station eleven by emily st. john mandel

yellowface by r.f. kuang

complete short stories of franz kafka

hamnet by maggie o’farrell

yugandhar by shivaji sawant

i’m fine, but you appear to be sinking by leyna know

[dijetemjeseca]

9/6/2024 🧁

"Kada smo sami nesretni, čeznemo za zajedništvom s drugima kojima je jednako loše kao nama, tražimo gorko-slatku potvrdu da ne patimo jer nismo imali sreće ili smo donijeli pogrešnu odluku, nego zato što je život takav."

-Carsten Jensen, Mi, utopljenici

[focsle]

Hello, I hope you’re having a good morning.

I have a novel recommendation for you:

We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen. It’s a generational epic about a 19th century family of Danish sailors and the town they call home.

Oooh that definitely sounds like something I’d be so into! I’ve been craving something of that nature after I finished reading Galore. I’ll def check it out!

[ap-reblogs]

We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

men literally love dying on doomed sea voyages it’s so so cruel to keep them from dying on doomed sea voyages

[manuscripts-dontburn]

The Favourites

Author: Layne Fargo

First published: 2025

Rating: ★★★★☆

An ice-dancing Wuthering Heights? How could I have said no, especially after seeing that gorgeous cover? True enough, at first I was rather underwhelmed by the writing, which is, let´s be honest, quite artless. But the story is there and it just grabbed me and the more I read the more it was difficult to put the book down. The characters took me on a rollercoaster of emotions, and while the depth of the feeling of Wuthering Heights is hardly scratched, the toxicity of the relationships is definitely there. The character arcs too just feel GOOD, you know? And what am I doing now? Scrolling YouTube and watching some great ice dancing (Marina Annisina and Gwendal Peizerat forever!!!).

Coup de Grâce

Author: Sofia Ajram

First published: 2024

Rating:  ★★☆☆☆

This is a book with an interesting premise, but quite frankly, who is it for? Who is the intended reader? People who might recognize themselves in it cannot find really any consolation or encouragement there, and people who only relate slightly or not at all shall only be thrust into a truly uncomfortable state of mind. Was the intention to shock? To raise disgust? But why would you do that without offering something else as well? It is not a horror per se, I don´t think. There is hardly any story. You are trapped in a tortured mind with no way out and it just does not seem to really have a point or end.

We, the Drowned

Author: Carsten Jensen

First published: 2006

Rating: ★★★★★

Come and sit among us, reader. Enter this gloomy room and drink to adventure, ambition and death. Listen to our stories, which are many and yet it is just one. Over a century of broken families, impossible feats and human failure, of chance and luck and tragedy. Are those tears in your eyes? Or perhaps you feel your heart constrict and race upon hearing what we have to say? From the rough Northern Sea and unforgiving Atlantic to the feverish waves that cradle the tropic islands on the other side of the world, we have been everywhere and have seen what is there to see. Come and sit and listen, if you want. When the story is finished, you will have become one of us.

Evocation

Author: S.T. Gibson

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Went into this for the deal with the devil, a haunted house and secret societies. Got a polyamorous relationship I did not like, and people talking about the occult like Texas mums talk about essential oils. And TALK is really all they do. This was the third time I tried S.T. Gibson. Probably the last.

The Portrait of a Lady

Author: Henry James

First published: 1881

Rating: ★★★☆☆

A beautifully written character study, which is extremely slow-paced and very light on plot other than changing relationships. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot through the first third (I was bored), and the very end left me feeling unsatisfied.

Death of a Bookseller

Author: Alice Slater

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

While it does make you uncomfortable, on the whole, this thriller is not really thrilling. It somehow never peaks either. One also gets easily tired of endless journeys from the bookshop to the pub and the characters being constantly hammered.

Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation

Author: Octavia E. Butler, Damian Duffy, John Jennings

First published: 2017

Rating: ★★★★★

Kindred is simply an iconic and brilliant story. And I am happy to say that I believe this graphic novel made it justice. The use of colours, the choice not to needlessly leave out plot points, everything was very apt and in the end felt exactly as I wanted it to feel: as a worthy tribute to the original.

Purple Hibiscus

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

First published: 2003

Rating: ★★★★★

Told from the point of view of an introspective girl, limited in her views and experiences by an abusive and religion-obsessed father, this is a sensitive portrait of coming of age in an uneasy time and place. Of all the books I have read by this author, this one is probably my favourite. It is smaller in scope but more intimate, going straight to the heart.

Victorian Psycho

Author: Virginia Feito

First published: 2025

Rating: ★★★★☆

Completely unhinged but well-paced and well-constructed yet still so wrong I felt rather ashamed of gobbling this up in one go. I loved the slow unpacking of the wrongness, creeping in steadily and ever more with greater urgency, the ending itself left me rather speechless. It was WILD.

Clytemnestra

Author: Constanza Casati

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★★☆

Aren´t we all just sick and tired of all the retellings connected to the Ilias? Yes, yes we are. But still, I let myself be taken in by the promise of yet another attempt at looking at the most famous myth through a new lens. And I was glad for this particular version of Clytemnestra to exist. Finally, she is in the focus not as a wicked side character or just a vengeful, crazed mother, but as a complex human being. She grows, she changes, she learns through all the trials and tribulations that are heaped upon her. I especially liked the importance that was given to the familial relationships between her and her siblings. Constanza Casati dove into a legend and managed to keep to all its points and make it very realistic. Are there any gods? Who knows? Our characters live in a world much like ours, where faith is tested at every step and many feel divine interventions are nothing but accidents and coincidences. The book is open-ended, at least if you are not familiar with the myth itself and how it plays out. Perhaps the author chose to leave Clytemnestra at a point in which she felt she triumphed on purpose, instead of thrusting her into the last agony. I can respect that. But at the same time, I feel the story is thus incomplete.

The Rebel Romanov

Author: Helen Rappaport

First published: 2025

Rating: ★★★★☆

Grand Duchess Anna Fyodorovna was somebody who never truly held any importance in history but was exactly at a place to experience all the momentous things of her era and met and was related to every influential royal from the Russian Tsar to Queen Victoria. Thus when you read this book, do so for a personal story of a woman and a view into the formalities and customs of her class, rather than for politics. The book flows very freely, as is always the case with Helen Rappaport, though she is also one of those authors who will never let an opportunity for mentioning a scandal (or musing on it from the most preposterous angles) go by. Now, I believe it is finally time for someone, anyone capable, to finally write an English biography of Empress Elizaveta Alexeievna. Pretty please?