The Ritual Master There comes a time in the life of a sailor when he no longer belongs ashore. It’s then that he surrenders to the Pacific, where no land blocks the eye, where sky and ocean mirror each other until above and below have lost their meaning, and the Milky Way looks like the spume of a breaking wave and the globe itself rolls like a boat in the midst of the sinking and heaving surf of that starry sky, and even the sun is nothing but a tiny glowing dot of phosphorescence on the sea of the night.
― Carsten Jensen, We, the Drowned
Starting a book of almost 700 pages is both exciting and daunting. You know you need to give it time to unroll its story and reveal its meaning. When choosing Carsten Jensen’s epic novel We, the drowned as one of my Danish picks for Advent, I never expected it to become such a pivotal element in my understanding of Denmark.
This is a novel that spans four generations, two world wars and a hundred years. With its epicenter in Marstal, Denmark, the story takes us around the globe as our protagonists explore, discover, earn their living and live out their destinies.
I was surprised to find such detailed profiling of the archetypal sailor. From the perception of children that grow up almost entirely without fathers, to then young apprentices on ships and then sailors of great adventures, the book takes great pride in analysing and explaining to the outside reader what it meant to see the world through a sea man’s eyes. It made me think of Denmark’s history and of its unique sense of conquest in modern times. It gave me the feeling that the Danish sailor is a particularly curious type, perhaps even more so than its Norwegian or Swedish neighbours. The characters in the book all share a vivid interest in others, an almost scientific approach to cultural differences. Coming from a small town and having the chance to observe so many corners of the world, the ship becomes their school. Every harbour is a new lesson, and each meridian broadens their understanding of the world.
I cannot hide the fact that the character of Albert Madsen has been especially fascinating for me. He represents the most powerful symbols of the novel : a son, a father, and the relationship between them. A self made man of principles and great intelligence. It’s no wonder my favorite quote from the book comes from his wisdom :
Every sailing ship has miles of rope, scores of blocks, hundreds of square yards of canvas. Unless the ropes are constantly pulled and the sales endlessly adjusted, the ship becomes a helpless victim of the wind. Managing a crew is the same thing. The captain holds hundreds of invisible ropes in his hands. Allowing the crew to take charge is like letting the wind take the helm : the ship will be wrecked. But if the captain takes complete control, the ship will be becalmed and go nowhere : if he strips his men of all initiative, they’ll no longer do their best and they will go about the work reluctantly. It’s all a question of experience and knowledge. But first and foremost, it’s about authority.
It wasn’t about obeying or disobeying rules. Life had thought him about something far more complicated than justice. Its name was balance.
― Carsten Jensen, We, the Drowned
Until tomorrow, smooth sailing !
