false 17780 39 The appeal of Dava Sobel's <I>Longitude</I> was, in part, that it illuminated a little-known piece of history through a series of captivating incidents and engaging personalities. Nathaniel Philbrick's <I>In the Heart of the Sea</I> is certainly cast from the same mold, examining the 19th-century Pacific whaling industry through the arc of the sinking of the whaleship <I>Essex</I> by a boisterous sperm whale. The story that inspired Herman Melville's classic <I>Moby-Dick</I> has a lot going for it--derring-do, cannibalism, rescue--and Philbrick proves an amiable and well-informed narrator, providing both context and detail. We learn about the importance and mechanics of blubber production--a vital source of oil--and we get the nuts and bolts of harpooning and life aboard whalers. We are spared neither the nitty-gritty of open boats nor the sucking of human bones dry. By sticking to the tried and tested <I>Longitude</I> formula, Philbrick has missed a slight trick or two. The epicenter of the whaling industry was Nantucket, a small island off Cape Cod; most of the whales were in the Pacific, necessitating a huge journey around the southernmost tip of South America. We never learn why no one ever tried to create an alternative whaling capital somewhere nearer. Similarly, Philbrick tells us that the story of the <I>Essex</I> was well known to Americans for decades, but he never explores how such legends fade from our consciousness. Philbrick would no doubt reply that such questions were beyond his remit, and you can't exactly accuse him of skimping on his research. By any standard, 50 pages of footnotes impress, though he wears his learning lightly. He doesn't get bogged down in turgid detail, and his narrative rattles along at a nice pace. When the storyline is as good as this, you can't really ask for more. <I>--John Crace, Amazon.co.uk</I> 1640941 book 2000 In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex total:3425|5:1284|4:1515|3:550|2:66|1:10| 3425 14272 4483 693 5 10 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 14 04:45:53 -0700 2007 Mon May 12 14:23:58 -0700 2008
a.) Someone who experienced something interesting,...more...]]> 4 4 false false Fri Feb 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 16:14:14 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 07 22:12:29 -0800 2008 Essex in 1819 was a tragedy that haunted its survivors, took on the status of legend in 19th-century America, and inspired Melville's Moby-Dick. Philbrick does a great job not only narrating the wreck and its dire aftermath, but also providing historical context, so th...more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 19 12:19:26 -0800 2007 Tue Jan 08 17:37:30 -0800 2008
At the age of 28, George Pollard set out in command of the ...more...]]> 3 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 09 21:16:28 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 14 14:11:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 11:27:47 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 11:33:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jan 02 17:28:53 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 12:33:27 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 29 11:54:06 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 12:08:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Apr 14 21:27:57 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 21:32:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jul 05 23:05:35 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 06 11:28:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 08:55:24 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 09:10:56 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 10:24:53 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 09:16:19 -0800 2009 The tragic tale of the whaleship essex. The words of this book bring vivid images of the oil slicked vessels and blackened oak of the old days of maritime madness. The mostly Quaker community out on the island of Nantucket was at once a bustling whaling industry. La...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Fri Nov 28 09:53:45 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 28 09:54:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 18:57:47 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 19:08:25 -0700 2009
Philbrick does a good job of...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 12:03:37 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 12:14:58 -0700 2009
The true story that inspired the climactic scene of Moby-Dick, the tale of the Essex was handed to me as a sort of mental test. In the midst of my plans for a journey across the ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 28 17:43:01 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 18:30:17 -0700 2009 Moby Dick. Finishing it, I mean. I picked it up and put it back down twice. By the time I finally finished it - a point of honor - I'd probably read 1200 pages of it. About 150 years later, the source material was published. In the Heart of the Sea tells of the whaleship ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 08:55:12 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 09:11:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Apr 24 10:44:30 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 24 11:23:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 19:34:03 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 06:59:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Jul 22 08:50:02 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 18:58:06 -0700 2009
Philbrick’s In The Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award, tells the amazing story of the whaleship Essex. The Essex, commissioned out of the Quaker port of Nantuck...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 27 08:44:17 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 08:54:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=17780