Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Movie Tie-in)” as Want to Read:
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Movie Tie-in)
by
"With its huge, scarred head halfway out of the water and its tail beating the ocean into a white-water wake more than forty feet across, the whale approached the ship at twice its original speed - at least six knots. With a tremendous cracking and splintering of oak, it struck the ship just beneath the anchor secured at the cat-head on the port bow..."
In the Heart of the ...more
In the Heart of the ...more
Audiobook, 10 pages
Published
February 24th 2015
by Books on Tape
(first published May 8th 2000)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
In the Heart of the Sea,
please sign up.
Popular Answered Questions
Jennifer
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Movie Tie-in)

Jan 23, 2016
Jeffrey Keeten
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-sea,
book-to-film
”I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots (44 km/h), and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent thrashing of his tail. His head about half out of the water, and in that way he came upon us, and again struck the ship."
—Owen Chase, first mate of the whaleship Essex.
“There she blows!” was as mu ...more
—Owen Chase, first mate of the whaleship Essex.

“There she blows!” was as mu ...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 ...more
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

Aug 14, 2007
Adrianne Mathiowetz
rated it
it was amazing
·
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
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

Jul 28, 2012
Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Florence (Lefty) by:
Michael Edwards
Best piece of non-fiction I’ve read in years – I know it’s a cliché but you can’t make this stuff up! In 1819, a whaling ship is rammed by a sperm whale, not once but twice and the surviving crew drifts for 90 days in three tiny boats, Captain Bligh’s 48 day ordeal pales in comparison. They eventually turned to cannibalism which call me weird I didn’t have a problem with. A card carrying organ donor I figure I’m dead anyway - eat me. When it came down to drawing lots though, that pushed my butto
...more

"It was a tale of a whale-man's worst nightmare: of being left in a boat far from land with nothing left to eat or drink and perhaps worst of all......of a whale with the vindictiveness and guile of a man."
This deadly true story of the 1820 (85' long, 80 ton) whale attack on the Essex was not exactly what I expected, but oh so much more. It begins with background of Captain and crew, the unimaginable time spent away from home and how their wives coped in their absence often resorting to use of l
...more
Sep 20, 2016
Michael Finocchiaro
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history,
non-fiction
This book was a fantastic tale, the facts of which were an inspiration to Melville who met the surviving captain years later. The ship Essex headed to whaling groups in - as Phibrick excellently describes as the most desolate spot on Earth - a thousand miles off the coast of Chile in the Pacific. Beset by bad luck, the boat is stuck for weeks in the doldrums with no wind, struck by an unhappy (but not white) whale which founders the boat, and then struggle (mostly unsuccessfully) to survive with
...more

A phenomenal telling of the disaster at sea, that spurred Herman Melville to write Moby Dick,In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is exceptional. Philbrick takes us inside the tragedy with painstaking care and newly discovered research. He describes hour to hour what happened on the ill-fated voyage. This is my favorite type of historical writing. It never feels stodgy or stilted. You feel like you are there suffering along with the crew. Ultimately, it is a tale of the optimism of the
...more


This review is a Chris Hemsworth-free zone!
Yes, he was in the crappy film version of this book.
No, I won’t use any pics in my review.
Heh
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who was so big he could…
The island of Nantucket has loads to answer for beyond smutty limericks. About 200 years ago, they were at the very pinnacle of the whale slaughtering business.

Top of the world, indeed.
The Nantucket whalers were about due for a cosmic bitch slap, hence the events depicted in this book.
Avast ye, Capta ...more

MOBY-DICK is one of my favorite books, so I'm ashamed that it took me so long to read IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, the inspiration for Melville's classic and the true tale of the Essex's sinking by an angry sperm whale. I'm a sucker for historical nonfiction, especially when it concerns an event I have a little preexisting knowledge of. That said, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the "great American novel" was based on a tale of such brutal survival and sheer terror.
Nathaniel P ...more
Nathaniel P ...more

This book was so engrossing that I felt as if I had worked on a whaling ship and had survived a disaster at sea.
In 1820, the whaleship Essex was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean when a massive whale rammed the ship not once, but twice, sinking it. The crew had to scramble for provisions and escaped into three boats. They set sail for South America, which was nearly 3,000 miles away. They soon ran out of fresh water and food, and eventually resorted to cannibalism. Only eight men out of 20 sur ...more
In 1820, the whaleship Essex was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean when a massive whale rammed the ship not once, but twice, sinking it. The crew had to scramble for provisions and escaped into three boats. They set sail for South America, which was nearly 3,000 miles away. They soon ran out of fresh water and food, and eventually resorted to cannibalism. Only eight men out of 20 sur ...more

WAY more exciting than I expected! Nathaniel 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.
In fact, the historic event depicted in this book is the basis for Melville's story. Philbrick gives ...more
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.
In fact, the historic event depicted in this book is the basis for Melville's story. Philbrick gives ...more

Hang on. So the crew of the Essex (quite apart from their whole whale-killing society being an early contributor to majorly endangering the species as a whole):
-go on one of their epic whale-killing journeys;
-slaughter a bunch of whales;
-capture, abuse and slaughter a huge bunch of Galapagos tortoises;
-set fire to an entire Galapagos island for a fucking lark;
-get COMPLETELY UNFAIRLY, UNPROVOKEDLY AND WITH MALICIOUS INTENT attacked by a sperm whale (I mean, how very DARE that fucker?) so their s ...more
-go on one of their epic whale-killing journeys;
-slaughter a bunch of whales;
-capture, abuse and slaughter a huge bunch of Galapagos tortoises;
-set fire to an entire Galapagos island for a fucking lark;
-get COMPLETELY UNFAIRLY, UNPROVOKEDLY AND WITH MALICIOUS INTENT attacked by a sperm whale (I mean, how very DARE that fucker?) so their s ...more

I probably can't say anything that hasn't already been said about IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. This was just an amazing account of not only the Essex, but the early days of whaling in the American colonies. Fascinating stuff and also so tragic. I liked the film version very much as well.
...more

Buddy-read with Jeff-fah-fah and Holly! Guys, it was awesome!

For anyone not knowing: this is a true story. The Essex, a ship full of whalers, ventures into the Pacific to kill a lot of animals, usually in a very horrific way, and the men get what they've got coming when a male sperm whale attacks and sinks the ship.
The story even inspired Herman Melville, the famous writer of Moby Dick, who met the son of Owen Chase (the first mate on the Essex).
This book presents a detailed account of the life ...more

For anyone not knowing: this is a true story. The Essex, a ship full of whalers, ventures into the Pacific to kill a lot of animals, usually in a very horrific way, and the men get what they've got coming when a male sperm whale attacks and sinks the ship.
The story even inspired Herman Melville, the famous writer of Moby Dick, who met the son of Owen Chase (the first mate on the Essex).
This book presents a detailed account of the life ...more

Apr 02, 2018
Sarah
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
historical
The whaleship Essex, 15 months into an expected journey of three years, is head-butted and sunk by a sperm whale, an unprecedented and bizarre attack that inspired Herman Melville's classic "Moby Dick." Left at a point in the Pacific that could not be further from land, the twenty crewmembers board three leaky whaleboats with limited food and freshwater. While south Pacific islands to west are more easily reached via the prevailing winds, Captain George Pollard yields to the officers' fears of
...more

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The great reader in the sky has answered my prayers and made a movie based on this story - starring Chris Hemsworth - so I already count one ironclad reason to watch this. The trailer states that the Essex goes beyond the known world, which no it didn't, but I'm also fairly sure that Owen Chase's jaw wasn't nearly as square as Hemsworth's, so I'm willing to allow poetic license. Also, I may root for the whale. The first trailer is here.
----
This was SO gruesome and weirdly gripp ...more
----
This was SO gruesome and weirdly gripp ...more

Oct 05, 2014
Candi
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
adventurers-explorers
This was a fascinating and very readable true account of the whaleship Essex and its crew which left Nantucket in 1820 only to meet with disaster fifteen months later in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. I have been interested in learning more about this tragedy for some time, but honestly didn't expect to become so absorbed in this book! Having very little knowledge of the whaling industry and maritime travel in general, I was nevertheless easily able to follow the story thanks to the tale
...more

“In the Heart of the Sea” is my first time reading the work of Nathaniel Philbrick. It will not be my last. This is an excellent and engaging text, and like the best nonfiction the reader feels the immediacy and importance of the events described therein.
The book follows the last voyage of the Nantucket whaleship “Essex” and the trek for survival made by the ship’s crew. It is an adventure tale, interspersed with lessons on everything from the behavior of sperm whales, the intricacies of sailing ...more
The book follows the last voyage of the Nantucket whaleship “Essex” and the trek for survival made by the ship’s crew. It is an adventure tale, interspersed with lessons on everything from the behavior of sperm whales, the intricacies of sailing ...more

If I had to come up with a torturous way to die, I would immediately start talking about this book. Holy mackerel, how much tragedy can one group of people endure? This story was an atmospheric and truly terrifying account of an ordeal that defies comprehension. I have had a visceral reaction throughout this one. It's a shock to the system. My muscles are cramped from tension, my heart is pounding, and I am overcome with guilt (and gratitude) for every glass of water I drink. A wonderful histori
...more

A gruesome tale of death and survival at sea told with suspense and drama to keep us aboard. Philbrick skillfully delivers the graphic details without overwhelming the reader. As in Mayflower he embellishes the story with fascinating insights and background. He profiles Nantucket’s boom and bust history. In the early 19th century Nantucket was a blackened and smelly place despoiled by the whale oil industry. This was the height of its whaling days when Nantucket whale ships were crisscrossing th
...more

Once I was well into this non-fiction record, I could not put it down.
The detail and research! The maps, the retained evidence and not the least is the history and onus of Nantucket.
Nathaniel Philbrick not only relates all minutia of this chronological multi-year saga of the Essex, but also sets that in the proper setting- like a gem in an elaborate piece of jewelry.
The Quaker religion, worldview and how that worked into the patterns of work for whaling! The language itself surrounding itself ...more
The detail and research! The maps, the retained evidence and not the least is the history and onus of Nantucket.
Nathaniel Philbrick not only relates all minutia of this chronological multi-year saga of the Essex, but also sets that in the proper setting- like a gem in an elaborate piece of jewelry.
The Quaker religion, worldview and how that worked into the patterns of work for whaling! The language itself surrounding itself ...more

This is a truly fascinating account of the true events of the inspiration behind Melville’s basis for Moby Dick. There are several accounts to speak for here, most of which are from different actual crew members. Combined, these shed some rather critical anthropological light and revealed vital information in my eyes.
Here, too, is Nickerson’s account, presented alongside that of Pollock, the Captain of the Essex; and Chase, first mate. There are also accounts from other whaling ships of the day ...more
Here, too, is Nickerson’s account, presented alongside that of Pollock, the Captain of the Essex; and Chase, first mate. There are also accounts from other whaling ships of the day ...more

Jan 06, 2020
Diane in Australia
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction-disaster-trauma-survival
Fantastic book! Extremely well-researched, written in an easy-to-understand style, just superb in every way. You will feel like you've lived the lives of these men after reading this book. I read passages aloud to my hubby ... which is always a sign that the book is fabulous.
No disrespect to Herman Melville, but this true story of the Essex is MUCH better than Moby Dick. MUCH!
5 Stars = Great book! The story really came alive, and leapt off the page. ...more
No disrespect to Herman Melville, but this true story of the Essex is MUCH better than Moby Dick. MUCH!
5 Stars = Great book! The story really came alive, and leapt off the page. ...more

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
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

Mar 23, 2015
Ashley Marie
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook-would-recommend,
nonfiction-history
Meticulously researched, written in a way that is easy to follow the narrative, and excellently narrated by the ever-reliable Scott Brick. Looking forward to another book by Nathaniel Philbrick!
I got sucked into the idea behind this in part, and mainly due to, the imminent release of the film adaptation -- and seeing in the trailer that this is the story which inspired Moby Dick (another classic I have yet to read, but that's another story for another time). Beyond that limited knowledge, I went ...more
I got sucked into the idea behind this in part, and mainly due to, the imminent release of the film adaptation -- and seeing in the trailer that this is the story which inspired Moby Dick (another classic I have yet to read, but that's another story for another time). Beyond that limited knowledge, I went ...more

I have read Moby-Dick twice, and am now midway in rereading it. As always, it is an enthralling book.
The resolution of Moby-Dick was inspired, as plainly indicated by its author, by the fate of the whaling ship Essex. One supposes that were it not for Moby Dick, the story of the Essex would be a near-forgotten bit of sea lore.
The charm in Moby-Dick does not lie in its cliff-hanging suspense. Does anyone not know how Moby-Dick ends before they ever come to read it? Coming to this book, I was skep ...more
The resolution of Moby-Dick was inspired, as plainly indicated by its author, by the fate of the whaling ship Essex. One supposes that were it not for Moby Dick, the story of the Essex would be a near-forgotten bit of sea lore.
The charm in Moby-Dick does not lie in its cliff-hanging suspense. Does anyone not know how Moby-Dick ends before they ever come to read it? Coming to this book, I was skep ...more

The mesmerizing story of the 19th century Nantucket whaleboat Essex, sunk after being rammed by a giant sperm whale, its crew afloat in whaleboats in the Pacific for weeks as their limited provisions eventually expire. Philbrick's well-researched account not only synchronizes multiple witness recollections, but provides historical context with regards to the Nantucket community and the 19th century American whaling industry, all in 238 unputdownable pages. And this real-life story was also the i
...more

Most glad to be sitting on my comfortable couch right now, not having to resort to cannibalism. I mean, there's cannibalism in this is what I'm saying, and while it's not described in extreme detail, it is *described* . I feel like I might have gotten PTSD from having to read about these people I didn't even really like (except for maybe the cabin boy) having to eat each other. So: that is my warning to you, and historical spoilers? I guess? This book climaxes in cannibalism.
But it was really i ...more
But it was really i ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Catching up on Cl...: In the Heart of the Sea | 11 | 41 | Apr 24, 2020 07:39PM | |
Rolla Public Libr...: Feb BotM "Heart of the Sea | 4 | 4 | Feb 18, 2020 04:25PM | |
Play Book Tag: In the Heart of the Sea - Nathaniel Philbrick (4 stars) | 2 | 13 | Feb 17, 2020 06:51AM | |
Around the Year i...: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick | 1 | 10 | Jan 13, 2019 06:05PM | |
General Fiction F...: In The Heart of the Sea Midweek Questions | 6 | 13 | Nov 17, 2017 11:58PM |
Philbrick was Brown’s first Intercollegiate All-American sailor in 1978; that year he won the Sunfish North Americans in Barrington, RI; today he and his wife Melissa sail their Beetle Cat Clio and their Tiffany Jane 34 Marie-J in the waters surrounding Nantucket Island.
After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during whic ...more
After grad school, Philbrick worked for four years at Sailing World magazine; was a freelancer for a number of years, during whic ...more
Articles featuring this book
Clear some space on your bookshelves, readers. Another packed season of irresistible books is just around the corner!
To help you find your...
144 likes · 107 comments
16 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“Hope was all that stood between them and death.”
—
27 likes
“The sperm whales' network of female-based family unit resembled, to a remarkable extent, the community the whalemen had left back home on Nantucket. In both societies the males were itinerants. In their dedication to killing sperm whales the Nantucketers had developed a system of social relationships that mimicked those of their prey.”
—
7 likes
More quotes…