In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

May 26, 2010 Esteban del Mal rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: americana, non-fiction, treadmill-to-oblivion

There’s one thing you need to know about me: I’ve never listened to a song by Rush all the way through. Really. If Alvin and the Chipmunks were re-imagined as opera singers, the lead singer could be bass. I can’t take them seriously.

Okay, okay. Really there are two things you need to know about me: I distrust people who walk on the balls of their feet. You know, that little bounce? Call it instinct, but I see something morally deficient in it. It’s like Nature is giving the rest of us a heads-up...more There’s one thing you need to know about me: I’ve never listened to a song by Rush all the way through. Really. If Alvin and the Chipmunks were re-imagined as opera singers, the lead singer could be bass. I can’t take them seriously.

Okay, okay. Really there are two things you need to know about me: I distrust people who walk on the balls of their feet. You know, that little bounce? Call it instinct, but I see something morally deficient in it. It’s like Nature is giving the rest of us a heads-up.

Hold on. There are three things you need to know about me: at the age of three, I watched the movie Jaws in its entirety from the back seat of my parents Volkswagen Bug at a drive-in theater. Poor things thought I was asleep and had absolutely no intention of traumatizing their only child. To this day, I have an abnormal fear of the ocean; and yet, I am morbidly drawn to stories about the same.

No, wait. There’re four things you need to know about me: I don’t like to work. At all. I’d go so far as to assert that I am entirely abnormal in my contempt for it. A sort of cynical pragmatism colors my approach to adult life and all its attendant cares. I think of myself as seeking out a sort of hedonistic equilibrium, whereby I maximize the amount of money I earn while doing the least amount of work. And to that end, I am happy to report, I have been largely successful.

Why am I sharing all this? Because, taken in total, it shows that I would make a very poor excuse of a whaleman in this, our present age, let alone the early-19th century. Sure, it’s altogether speculative to take a modern fellow like myself and plant him in an earlier time. What if I’d been raised in a whaling family? A whaling tradition?

Bosh.

Trust me in this. I was raised in a working class family and it didn’t take me long to understand what work does to you: it takes your best years, covering them in spoonfuls of regret little by little until you realize too late all the money in the world can’t buy back what you could’ve done, what you could've been. Why do we American inheritors of the Nantucket Quaker whaling business model always prove so stressed out whenever the United Nations releases its latest sociological metrics? Because we spend all our time away from our friends and families, doing stuff we don’t like, so we can buy stuff we don’t need.

No. Leisure is the truest wealth. Me? I would’ve sought out some petty job, made merry in my off-hours and, hopefully, have been literate enough to enjoy some letter-writing and the occasional book.

Fine, you say. What’s this got to do with Nathaniel Philbrick’s book?

Well. It means all you overachieving-types would’ve been on that doomed ship, while I sat comfortably on terra firma. You should be happy about that, at least. Consider some of the aforementioned details about me -- I’m obviously prone to psychological imbalance. I surely would have cannibalized you had we found ourselves in the dire circumstances of the crew of the Essex, adrift for over three months in the South Pacific. And my probability of success would’ve been more than fair: I stand 6’4” tall, have pointy eye-teeth and a trailer park adolescence mean streak. True, I am near-sighted, but this would only be a minor inconvenience, since I would only have to track you around a 20’ long boat.

Where are all your Goodreads votes now, fancy pants?(less)

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Mar 21, 2012 R.S. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Very well constructed re-telling of those horrible weeks following the "ESSEX" sinking (1820) after being rammed twice, by the same whale. These poor bastards were truly in the middle of nowhere (south Pacific) and were trying to decide which way to sail their smaller whale chaser boats.

They were terrified of the cannibalistic reports that came from the closest island tribes (the Marquesas), so they decided to head back east towards south America. The only problem was they would have to sail 150...more

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May 12, 2008 Adrianne Mathiowetz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Moby Dick fans, the morbid, pirates

Recommended to Adrianne by: Adam Conover

I have never, ever, in my LIFE, met a nonfiction book I was unable to put down before. This may be because I am stupid, but I like to think it's because I'm interested in the details. Most nonfiction I've encountered is either written by:

a.) Someone who experienced something interesting, but who can't write about it in an interesting way, or

b.) Someone who perhaps usually writes about things in an interesting way, but who wasn't able to experience the critical subject firsthand.

Philbrick bridges...more

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May 19, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

WAY more exciting than I expected! Philbrick knows how to resurrect history into a living, breathing present, a present filled with tension and full-immersion. If you have any interest in whaling, the age of sail, and shipwrecks, you'll not do better than In the Heart of the Sea. It's very much like the non-fiction version of Moby Dick, made all the more intense for being the real deal.

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Jul 28, 2009 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had a lot of trouble with 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 Essex which inspired Melville's opus.

In 1819, it left Nantucket and went a'whaling. An enraged sperm whale (is there any other kind?) rammed the ship in the South Pacific. The Essex sunk and its crew...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those who like a good story even if it really did happen

Shelves: nonfiction

In the ninth grade I had a world history teacher that made each class seem like a fascinating story instead of a boring lecture that can be the standard fare. Nathaniel Philbrick has brought to life the story of the sinking of the Nantucket whale ship Essex by a ferocious sperm whale.

An artist's rendition of the revenge of the sperm whale attacking the Essex:

An actual photo of a sperm whale which is about the size of a school bus:

In college I was forced to read parts of Herman Melville's cla...more

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May 09, 2010 Aerin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, history

Once I was on a ship that sank beneath me. So like the men in this book, I understand a little of that terror of being desperate and shipless at sea.

Okay, I wasn't exactly at sea, I was on a lake. And it wasn't so much a ship as a canoe. And it was the 4th of July weekend, so the reason we sank was that the lake was utterly packed with speedboats and jetskis whose combined wakes proved too much for our overloaded bitty canoe. And instead of spending three months adrift in the ocean and eventuall...more Once I was on a ship that sank beneath me. So like the men in this book, I understand a little of that terror of being desperate and shipless at sea.

Okay, I wasn't exactly at sea, I was on a lake. And it wasn't so much a ship as a canoe. And it was the 4th of July weekend, so the reason we sank was that the lake was utterly packed with speedboats and jetskis whose combined wakes proved too much for our overloaded bitty canoe. And instead of spending three months adrift in the ocean and eventually having to eat each other, we were rescued within minutes by a kindly redneck family and their pontoon boat. The patriarch even managed to dive in and rescue our canoe. No whales were involved, and the only casualties were my waterlogged camera and cellphone.

So really, I don't understand what these men went through in the slightest.

And yet! To this day I can not get into a canoe without panicking. I jokingly call it my Post Traumatic Canoe Disorder, but it's a very real anxiety. Ever since that incident, and the mounting terror of knowing we were not going to make it across that lake, that we couldn't bail the water out fast enough, that there was but one (toddler-sized) lifejacket between the three of us and none of us were very good swimmers, that I had my wallet and several much-loved worldly possessions with me that were getting ever more soaked as each wave broke over the front of the canoe, ever since then I am terrified of getting on any watercraft smaller than a tugboat. The wobbliness of them sends me right back to the middle of that lake on that miserable sunbaked day. I freak out and demand OFF! RIGHT NOW! DRY LAND FOR ME, THANK YOU.

Because of this relatively benign experience (if you want to know the whole ridiculous story, I've posted part of my journal from that date here), this book utterly terrified me. Not only have I been psychologically scarred (okay, in a pretty minor way, but scarred! SCARRED!) by the sinking of a canoe in the middle of a manmade lake in Indiana, I am also the kind of person who goes all Mr. Hyde when my lunch hour is delayed by a noon business meeting. Hunger is not a friend of mine! I literally can not imagine combining the horror of being stranded in the open ocean in a tiny rowboat with the physical torture of slow starvation. I can think of almost nothing worse. Maybe being repeatedly attacked by an 85-foot leviathan with an inexplicable bloodlust? OH WAIT, that happened to these guys too! Starvation, sea monsters, shipwrecks, cannibalism. I can't even comprehend that level of human terror and suffering.

And all for something as ridiculous as whale oil. Yes, yes, I know whale oil was far from ridiculous in the 19th century; it was Serious Business and the backbone of the economy in many places. But so much work and danger and misery for something so trivial! So much destruction of natural resources! I assume in the future when we're all on wind or solar or whatever, our enlightened descendants will feel the same way about our use of petroleum. So many wars and economic depressions over something so unnecessary! But from my myopic early 21st century viewpoint, the whaling industry really was silly. And shortsighted. And wrong. And sometimes it resulted in what happened to the Essex.

The wreck of the Essex was the inspiration for Moby-Dick: in 1821 in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, for no apparent reason, a gigantic bull sperm whale repeatedly rammed the whaleship, leaving it sunken and its 20-man crew stranded in three tiny boats. They did not reach safety for three months, during which time 12 men died and the survivors ate their corpses. Hor-ri-fy-ing. Oh, and when I say "men", I mean guys mostly between the ages of 15 and 25. And not seasoned sailors, either; most of the crew were "green hands" on their first expedition. Guys younger than me who for the most part started the journey knowing exactly as much as I do about sailing and whale hunting: jack shit. It's completely unfathomable.

This book is fascinating, extremely well researched, and more terrifying than any thriller fiction I've ever read. It has also done what I previously believed was impossible: piqued my interest in reading Moby-Dick.(less)

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Feb 07, 2008 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cultural-history, united-states-history

The wreck of the whaling ship 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 that the reader learns quite a bit about both the 19th-century whaling industry and the social history of Nantucket. A solid history that's also a page-turner; quite an accomplishment, and one that's mad...more

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Jan 08, 2008 Jared rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Got this book last year as a gift from G. As a sometime New Englander, frequent visitor to Mystic Seaport, and admirer of Melville, this book was right up my alley. I read the whole thing through on a recent cross-country flight.

At the age of 28, George Pollard set out in command of the whaleship "Essex." He had a brilliant reputation, he had the firm trust of the ship's owners, and he had two dozen able and dutiful crewmen ready to follow his orders for endless months at sea killing whales and...more Got this book last year as a gift from G. As a sometime New Englander, frequent visitor to Mystic Seaport, and admirer of Melville, this book was right up my alley. I read the whole thing through on a recent cross-country flight.

At the age of 28, George Pollard set out in command of the whaleship "Essex." He had a brilliant reputation, he had the firm trust of the ship's owners, and he had two dozen able and dutiful crewmen ready to follow his orders for endless months at sea killing whales and rendering their flesh into valuable oil. Two years later, he was found in a whaleboat with one of his crew, drifting near South America, delirious and near death. He had lost his ship in a bizarre incident in which it was attacked by a whale. He had lost his crew during terrifying weeks at sea in small boats. He and the other survivors had fallen to cannibalism, eating their fellows as they died of starvation. Not only that, but one of the dead was his own nephew, whom he had sworn to protect! And not only that, but the rescuers found the two men gnawing desperately on the marrow-bones, which they refused to let go of, as if they were the most precious thing possible! It is hard to imagine a more vivid example of how the hazards of seafaring could drag a man down from the peaks of success. And that is why the history of sailing holds such a great fascination, because it presented such harsh challenges to the men who sailed, in a way that starkly tested the men's character.

Melville grasped how the roles of the men on a whaler serve as archetypes for qualities of leadership, courage and duty. It is the conflicts between Ahab, Starbuck, the harpooneers and and the crew, reflected in the greater conflict between duty and ontology, that give "Moby Dick" its power. In Philbrick's analysis, the fate of the "Essex" and its survivors were determined by the character and conflicts among captain Pollard, first mate Chase and a few of the crew. While the first mate was too self-sure, the captain was too diffident, and sought consensus with his subordinates when he should have issued orders based on his own opinion. Most critically, Pollard followed the mates' wishes in sailing the whaleboats against the wind towards South America, rather than with the wind towards Tahiti. They were afraid to find cannibals in Tahiti, and the captain thought they were wrong but didn't know enough facts to argue them down. The irony of their own eventual cannibalism is evident. And yet the headstrong first mate led the men better in his own little boat, and saved more of them, than did the captain. The counter-examples to the "Essex" are striking. The crew of another whaleship, sunk by a whale years later, sailed their little boats towards a heavy shipping route and were saved in two days. At another time a ship's crew, adrift in lifeboats, lost a member to starvation and decided not to eat him, but to cut up the body as bait. This way they caught enough sharks to feed the other survivors.

If the survival story is supremely harrowing, the working routine on a whaler was grueling enough, as the book deftly relates. Aside from the bad pay and the back-breaking labor, the sheer youth of the crew is shocking. The captain was 28, the first mate 23, most of the crew were teenagers, and one was only 14. The camaraderie of coming from the same hometown of Nantucket must have eased the harsh conditions for many of the crew. But here the survival story acquires a sinister ethnic overtone. All the ship's officers and about half of the men were Nantucketers. Of the ones who survived, almost all were Nantucketers. None of the African-American sailors survived. While the author discounts any deliberate factional killing, it is clear that group mentality and perhaps even racism influenced who survived and who didn't.

This book is a tale well-told, rich with many compelling insights on history, character and society. Well-deserving of its National Book Award.(less)

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Feb 14, 2008 Ramorx rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: cannibals, human rights activists

I have a perennial seafaring thing going on in my life, despite being completely landlocked in the crucible of San Cristobal at a vertiginous 2200m - for, I don't know, oh, interminable years. Once I worked on a banana ship traversing the Atlantic ocean and despite the factory-like conditions, I loved it. So I devour any books dealing with the sea, hoping that the beautiful aroma of the surf two weeks from land can be conjured up in word or prose.
But most sea books are shite and fail to conjure...more I have a perennial seafaring thing going on in my life, despite being completely landlocked in the crucible of San Cristobal at a vertiginous 2200m - for, I don't know, oh, interminable years. Once I worked on a banana ship traversing the Atlantic ocean and despite the factory-like conditions, I loved it. So I devour any books dealing with the sea, hoping that the beautiful aroma of the surf two weeks from land can be conjured up in word or prose.
But most sea books are shite and fail to conjure up anything except the regurgitating feeling of seasickness - like the clownish Redmond O Hanlon on his north sea Trawler.
In the Heart of the Sea is another book that is ostensibly about the ocean but ... isn't. Oh its a seafarers story all right, of whaling vessels and men who know the sea. But its more a tale about the limits of human endevour and, ultimately, the morality of cannibalism. Interesting topics of course, but not...the sea.
I was looking for a book to conjure up the essence of the ecstatic maritime and instead I got a book that brought me back time and time again to torture. Specifically Guantanamo, extraordinary rendition destinations, H-block, the Irish and Turkish prisoner hunger strikes, the repression in Argentina and Chile during the dictatorships, all that horror. The ghastly experience of the whaling men adrift in the Pacific ocean for 3 months in a little boat, starving and coping with untold suffering - well this is surely the territory of modern torture, of isolation units, psychological warfare and waterboarding.
The day-by-day documenting of the ordeal of the men adrift under the punishing sun (or punishing gales and storms) with diminishing supplies of food, and scant water brings me back unrelentingly to the testimonies of the torture victims emerging from Turkish or Mexican jails, of their terrifying ordeals.
In the Heart of the Sea dwells upon the crucial moment when the sailors start eating other - cannibalism - and it's a jolting subject to be sure. But for me, eating the flesh of a perished human when you are starving to death is, well, understandable. Torturing a living human, on the other hand, to extract information or even for the thrill of it - now thats really morally repugnant.
Cannibalism or torture? Well, to re-paraphrase Cheney, its a no-brainer, isn't it?
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Aug 06, 2008 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not being much into maritime affairs, I have to admit that I didn't expect much from this book, notwithstanding the National Book Award seal. Fortunately, the history of whaling on Nantucket turned out to be pretty darn interesting, particularly when you throw in an attack by a whale and some cannibalism to boot. The second half of the book was far more interesting than the first. Overall, it would have been more captivating if it was styled as a novel rather a history lesson.

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Apr 02, 2012 Gerald Kinro rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the event that gave rise to Melville’s Moby Dick. In 1819, the Essex leaves Nantucket for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific, they are rammed by an angry sperm whale and are relegated to survive in their lifeboats. In a story of what ifs, they opt not to go to the Marquesas Islands, the easiest route, for they fear cannibals. They rule out Tahiti, the second easiest route. What if, before this ill-fated journey, they had communicated wit...more

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Feb 16, 2008 Grace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Becca B - and everyone else

Shelves: age-of-sail, non-fiction

This book is fascinating! It's the true story of a whaling ship destroyed by a whale, and the survival (or death) of the crew. The event was the partial inspiration for Moby Dick. The book starts off a bit slow, and even a little bit condescending at times about nautical terminology, as the ship prepares for the voyage and leaves Nantucket. But once the trouble begins, it's totally gripping. I actually finished reading it as I was *walking* through an airport to visit a friend, and I was actuall...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Fred rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel the sea swell beneath the keel as I am pushed suddenly toward the low sky, then the rush of a bow wave rolls against the resting ship, a massive creature slams into the hull, and I am rocked off my feet, arms flailing for a secure hold, until my head collides with the planked deck and the skys turns pale, then gray, then black, and I am enveloped by a foreboding silence.

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Apr 14, 2009 Ben Knowlton rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. An incredible true story. I hung on every page waiting to see how this maritime tragedy ended up. Quite depressing at times. The whaling culture is a fascinating piece of our history. It is easy to see why Herman Melville was attracted to this story. It was a lot easier read than Moby Dick, from what I have heard.

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Jul 06, 2007 Eleanor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: survival-adventure-wilderness

This book chronicles the voyage and sinking of the whaleship Essex, the story of which was the inspiration of Melville's Moby Dick. Truth is stranger than fiction, however, and when the book opens, we find a second whaling vessel has come upon an open dinghy where there are two emaciated men at either end who are gnawing on the bones of their dead crewmates... It was pretty gruesome, but in an I-can't-stop-reading kind of way. Philbrick has definitely done his research -- he tells a compelling t...more

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Feb 27, 2008 Leilani Clark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nathanial Philbrick writes in a historically and emotionally engaging way about the doomed whaling voyage of the Essex--which was rammed by an enraged sperm whale in the "offshore grounds" about a thousand miles off the coast of South America. The crew, crammed into three whaleboats, entered into a desperate bid for survival that ended in marooned sailors, killer whale attacks, violent dehydration and finally, cannibalism. I liked how Philbrick addresses issues like race (the black sailors were...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, book-club, non-fiction

I really had no interest in the subject matter of this book whatsoever, yet the author kept me interested. I would one day like to see New England and Nantucket even if it is no longer about a place about whales and more about tourists. The life of the whalemen were interesting, and their survival story on the Essex was intriguing. I am not quite inspired enough to read "Moby-Dick" because of it, but maybe one day....

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Feb 12, 2009 Colin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ohhh yes, a classic indeed.
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. Large square riggers loaded to the bilge with casks of hard tack, salt beef and whale oil sluggishly drifting in and out of port. I love it, its so... old and salty. Of coarse I obviously don't love wholesale...more

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May 14, 2013 Chelsea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, history, non-fiction, own

"Hey," I said, to a very sweet and somewhat shy woman I work with. "I just read this great book, and someone else has to read it too, so I can talk to them about it."

"Okay!" She exclaims, enthusiastically. She had recently lent me the first in the The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax series, about a sweet older lady who becomes a spy. We were book friends now! "What's it about?"

"Whaling and cannibalism!"

Because, really, how else do you sell this book? "It's about New England whaling culture! It's about...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. (2000). Nathaniel Philbrick. ****.
In 1819, a whaling ship set out from Nantucket with a crew of 20 men. It’s goal was to come back in two to three years with its hold full of sperm oil. It never came back. In the middle of the Pacific, it was attacked by an angry bull sperm whale and sunk. The crew all managed to fit themselves into the three whale boats, but their troubles were only beginning. They were forced to endure months of dep...more IN THE HEART OF THE SEA: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. (2000). Nathaniel Philbrick. ****.
In 1819, a whaling ship set out from Nantucket with a crew of 20 men. It’s goal was to come back in two to three years with its hold full of sperm oil. It never came back. In the middle of the Pacific, it was attacked by an angry bull sperm whale and sunk. The crew all managed to fit themselves into the three whale boats, but their troubles were only beginning. They were forced to endure months of deprivation and agony while essentially drifting around the ocean. There followed a series of deaths from dehydration and starvation – all told in full gory detail. At a point in time, the men began to realize that the only way they could survive was to eat the meat of the men who had just passed away. To make a long story short, five men were ultimately rescued by a passing ship and returned to Nantucket, but the story became one of the major ones of their time. The story of the Essex and its encounter with the whale was very well known back in the early nineteenth century. It was the inspiration for Herman Melville’s, “Moby Dick.” It was not the only instance of an attack by a sperm whale, but was – up to that time – the most spectacular, especially when combines with the elements of cannibalism. The author tells the story well. In addition to the facts of the incident as they have come down to us, he also tells us of the history of Nantucket and the history of whaling. We also learn about the market for sperm oil and about the habits of the sperm whale. He also goes on to explore the history of cannibalism in other major catastrophes.. One study he cites was conducted at the University of Minnesota during WW II at their Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene under the direction of Dr. Ancel Keyes. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of starvation and dehydration on men over a long period of time – similar to what might be encountered in enemy prison camps. The results weren’t surprising, but the data did show how any captured men should best cope with such conditions. Dr. Ancel Keyes was later honored by having the “K-Rations” names after him. The whole industry based on the collection of sperm oil from sperm whales was ultimately supplanted after Edwin Drake’s discovery of petroleum in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. This is an excellent book that tells its story well. Recommended.
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Oct 19, 2012 Erica Verrillo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is how history should be written! Philbrick's account of the tragedy of the Essex is gripping, vivid, and painstakingly researched. Not only does Philbrick cover the events that led to the sinking of the ship, but he gives you the necessary background on the whaling trade, the epoch, and the personalities of the crew, so the reader can completely understand the context of the event. Philbrick writes with an authority and an ease which will keep you turning the pages far into the night.

The s...more This is how history should be written! Philbrick's account of the tragedy of the Essex is gripping, vivid, and painstakingly researched. Not only does Philbrick cover the events that led to the sinking of the ship, but he gives you the necessary background on the whaling trade, the epoch, and the personalities of the crew, so the reader can completely understand the context of the event. Philbrick writes with an authority and an ease which will keep you turning the pages far into the night.

The story of the Essex was as well known in the 19th century as the Titanic in the 20th. (Melville's famous novel, Moby Dick, was based on the Essex.) Due to a series of mishaps, the Essex found itself in less than perfect condition when it was rammed by a whale in the middle of the Pacific. It was not long before the ship sank, leaving its crew members crowded on two few whaleboats, with scant provisions. What followed was a decision that was mind-boggling in its stupidity. Instead of allowing the crosswinds to take them to the Polynesian Islands, they decided to make their way to Chile. (The crew was afraid of encountering cannibals, which was ironic given the outcome of their voyage.) In spite of their best efforts, the winds eventually blew the boats to Polynesia. Now came their biggest mistake. In true, pig-headed Nantucket fashion, they STILL tried to cross the Pacific, a voyage of several thousand miles. What followed was predictable--they ended up eating one another. By the time they were rescued, the survivors of the Essex made a horrifying sight, "their beards caked with blood...sucking on the marrow from the bones of their dead shipmates."

Several things stood out from this account. One was the degree to which the whaling trade dominated American life in the mid-18th century. Whale oil was the petroleum of the 19th century, which meant whalers exerted enormous economic influence. Another was the degree to which cannibalism was resorted to after shipwrecks. (It was so common that when sailors were rescued, they felt compelled to make a declaration if they had NOT eaten one another.) The last was the undeniable fact that the enormous whale which sank the Essex didn't accomplish this feat by accident. The whale chose the weakest spot of the ship to ram, then backed up, increased its speed and rammed the boat again. It was very clear that it intended to kill the ship, and that it knew how. One cannot help but be impressed.

This is an account that will stay with you. If I were teaching American history, I would make it required reading.(less)

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Sep 25, 2012 Bob Schmitz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story of the Essex a Nantucket whaler being attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific in the early 1800's was the basis for Melville's Moby Dick. Some interesting gems from the book:

-George Pollard, captain was 26 years old!

-Half the 21 member crew had never been to see before! there was a shortage of seamen at the time. Getting out of harbor initially was a problem.

-About one third of the crew were African-Americans.

-At one point when the whale boats were out the ship was left with...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Pam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have such little connection to this on the surface. I've never been to Nantucket nor do I know anything about whaling or sailing, other than one painfully long chapter I once read deep inside Moby Dick. I remember wondering why that captain guy couldn't just take a deep breath and let it go.

Philbrick's book explains why the captain couldn't let go better than Melville did by a long shot. Perhaps it's because he's my contemporary and Melville is not; Philbrick just says it so beautifully in 21s...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Thea Boyle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Nantucketers had good reason to be superstitious. Their lives were governed by a force of terrifying unpredictability-the sea. Nantucket, which means “faraway land” in the language of the island’s native inhabitants (the Wampanoag) was a mound of sand eroding into an inexorable ocean, and all of its residents, even if they had never left the island, were all too aware of the inhumanity of the sea.” –Nathanial Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea.

In the early 1800s, the smallislandofNantucket, tw...more “Nantucketers had good reason to be superstitious. Their lives were governed by a force of terrifying unpredictability-the sea. Nantucket, which means “faraway land” in the language of the island’s native inhabitants (the Wampanoag) was a mound of sand eroding into an inexorable ocean, and all of its residents, even if they had never left the island, were all too aware of the inhumanity of the sea.” –Nathanial Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea.

In the early 1800s, the smallislandofNantucket, twenty-four miles off the coast of southernNew England, was the whaling capital of the world. Holding this reputation for more than a century,Nantucketbecame fairly wealthy off the slaughter of sperm whales. Boats set sail by the hundreds from the docks on a mission for whale oil and blood. The whaling vesselEssexwas no different compared to the lunging wooden structures plunging in and out of the sea by every surge of waves. Perhaps only the crew, composed of many greenhands (men of the mainland with no experience on a ship.) held the obvious difference. The voyage was the same but the atmosphere was more chilling, more pressing, of an unthinkable fate.

In July of 1819, the 238-ton Essex set sail from the shores of Nantucketheading into the vast, merciless sea, never to return. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathanial Philbrick, brings this century old tale into a new light with nothing of fiction, only real accounts by the seamen who survived. Philbrick describes the events in chronological order from leaving the dock of Nantucket all the way up to the survivors’ rescue. The true happening of the Essex being sunk by an enraged sperm whale is what gave Herman Mellvile the inspiration for the classic, beloved novel Moby-Dick. Unlike Moby-Dick, the men of the Essex had to face the fate of cannibalism rather then the internal conflict held between Moby-Dick and Ahab (the Pequod’s captain). The survivors, ironically, feared cannibals on the westward islands, so they set sail in three small boats towardsSouth America. ”Being alone at sea would be terrifying, especially with no food,” commented Nicholas Ready, a sophomore. The boats’ bows never touched the coast ofSouth America, but were adrift for three months until one boat and eight survivors were discovered by a passing vessel.

Nathanial Philbrick brings the century old tale, that was as well-known as Titanic is today, to its rightful place in American history. “Sounds like a gloomy, nail-biting book,” remarked Taharka Ankhenaton, a junior, “just like the rest of history, but pretty suspenseful.”
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Apr 05, 2012 Kelly Rittenhouse rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book last year in preparation for my Advanced Placement US History's class annual trip to Nantucket. I'd read Philbrick's Mayflower at the beginning of the year and I hadn't particularly enjoyed it, since I'd honestly found it to be quite dry. In The Heart of the Sea made me thirsty, but it certainly wasn't dry. Perhaps it was my sixteen year old mind and the minds of five others of the same age that made this book so enjoyable- we had at least three classes where we talked about lit...more

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Mar 10, 2012 04ZackeryM rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well Goodreads, we meet again. Thompson has yet again had me post a book review on here. Well Thompson, wish me luck, and here we go.

I choose the book called In The Heart of The Sea. I choose this book because it was a choice of four diffrent books in Mrs. Brinkerhoff's class for term projects. The reason I choose In The Heart of The Sea, out of those four is because, no it was not the shortest. But it seemed as if the book was a little bit more intresting from all the others. The thought of a...more Well Goodreads, we meet again. Thompson has yet again had me post a book review on here. Well Thompson, wish me luck, and here we go.

I choose the book called In The Heart of The Sea. I choose this book because it was a choice of four diffrent books in Mrs. Brinkerhoff's class for term projects. The reason I choose In The Heart of The Sea, out of those four is because, no it was not the shortest. But it seemed as if the book was a little bit more intresting from all the others. The thought of a ship filled with whale hunter's sorta intrested me.

"The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819, the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little–known documents-including a long–lost account written by the ship’s cabin boy-and penetrating details about whaling and the Nantucket community to reveal the chilling events surrounding this epic maritime disaster. An intense and mesmerizing read, In the Heart of the Sea is a monumental work of history forever placing the Essex tragedy in the American historical canon." After reading that passage of the book, I said "What the heck!" and picked up the book and finally began to read.

The Essex was an older ship, in command of Captain Pollard. It was his first crew and command. He had a hard time finding enough men to make the three year voyage to the Pacific. Finally getting together a crew, they set sail on August 12, 1819. From the start, bad luck just seemed to fallow them. They almost lost the ship in a storm in the Atlantic, and lost several whaleboats. It took the very inexperinced crew a while to get hang of whaling. But on November 20, 1820, with the ship beginning to fill with oil, they were attacked by a large sperm whale that knocked the ship on its side. When this happened, most of the men were in the whale boats chasing another whale. Seeing their ship sink was a very scary and tragic thing. Rowing back to the ship, they took in all the supplies they could hold and made sails and other supplies for the boats and started for South America.

A lot of the story is about the men’s struggle to survive in the open ocean in three small whaling boats. They were at sea for three months. Of the crew of twenty one, eight survived. It was a small ammount of survival. At first, it was just the dead who died, but in one of the boats, lots were drawn and one sailor who killed to provide food for the rest. The boats never made it to shore. Two were discovered by whaling ships and the third was later found up on the beach, with the skeletons of four ship mates inside. Three other men survived on an island that had little food and water.

The story is a tragedy. Several times in the journey Captain Pollard allowed himself to be bossed around by his younger officers. He had wanted to turn back while still in the Atlantic to secure more whaleboats and to repair the ship, but had been encouraged to go on. The inferior boats would later have many problems. After the sinking of the Essex, Pollard’s instincts told them to try for some islands in the Pacific. But his lower crew members managed to yet again convince him otherwise. The reason the other crew members conviced Captain Pollard is because, they feared cannibals on some of the islands.

In the Heart of the Sea, is not just a story. It's said that it's history. I enjoyed this book somewhat. I gave it three stars. In the Heart of the Sea was just not a book that would pick up on my own. I do not enjoy the feeling of being forced to read a book that I did not put my intrest twords. This book took me just about all term to finish because I did not feel the need to want to read In the Heart of the Sea. But after reading it, I found that it was an ok book. I do recommend it to teens and adults that have the time to read it and have an intrest twords it.(less)

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Mar 07, 2012 03lcoon added it · review of another edition

I started reading In the Heart of the sea because I needed to do a term project for my science class. I could have chosen a different book but this one seemed the most interesting of the 4 or 5 that were on the page with the book we could read. In the Heart of the Sea is about the Whale Ship from Nantucket called The Essex, and its adventures before and after the ship sank. Pollard was the captain of the ship, his first Mate was chase and the Cabin boy was Nickerson. All three of these guys made...more
I started reading In the Heart of the sea because I needed to do a term project for my science class. I could have chosen a different book but this one seemed the most interesting of the 4 or 5 that were on the page with the book we could read. In the Heart of the Sea is about the Whale Ship from Nantucket called The Essex, and its adventures before and after the ship sank. Pollard was the captain of the ship, his first Mate was chase and the Cabin boy was Nickerson. All three of these guys made it to the end along with five others out of the twenty person crew. I Think the book was pretty good but boring at some parts. It took me a long time to read because it didn’t capture all of my attention. It wasn’t one of those books were I want hurry and go home right after school and start reading it as soon as I walked in the front door.

After a few days after the Essex left Nantucket they got caught in a big storm they lose two of their smaller boats. Pollard was contemplating going back but Chase convinced him to keep on going and that they would find a few more boat at their first stop. They did end up getting a few other smaller boats but they weren’t that great. They eventually got to around 2000 miles out on the Pacific Ocean. A large enraged male sperm whale rammed into the Essex and it sank. All twenty men got onto the three boats they had. After a few weeks of traveling on the ocean they reach and island and get food and water from it and then all but three of the men go back out to sea to see if they can make it to South America. Two of the boats make it and get rescued although they are separated for the last week of their journey and the third boat is lost at sea. They tell their rescuers about the men they left on an island. They didn’t land on the island they thought they were on but were actually on an island about 100 miles away from the Island they thought they were one. So after about 2 months after they Essex sank they were rescued. All of the survivors that made it had to resort to cannibalism of the men you died on the way or ells no one would have survived.
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Jan 26, 2012 Nshslibrary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Thrashing waves pound against the sturdy hull of the whale ship Essex as it surges through the Atlantic Ocean. Heart of the Sea, a stunning thriller by Nathaniel Philbrick, leaves readers, their eyes amazed, in awe. If you want a book that grabs you in and keeps you hooked, this is the book to read. Nonfiction is one of my favorite genres and this is on my top ten. It’s about a whale ship called the Essex that sets sail, rocking in the sea, off of the coast of Nantucket and is rammed by a sperm...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Aaron A rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, nautical, history

I just finished reading In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick and it was so good, and I’ve been so bored lately, that I felt an urge to get my thoughts down on paper. Metaphorically.

Even if you’ve never read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (I haven’t), you’ve heard some form of the phrase “There she blows!” (Pronounced, of course, ‘thar’), or you know of the great white whale that the captain obsessively hunts like a fat boy chasing an ice cream truck.

(Hi...more

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