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Álvaro Carrasquel asked this question about In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex:
Don´t you think that "In the Heart of the Sea tells perhaps the greatest sea story ever" is so exaggerated? What about Moby-Dick itself?
Nihilistic Librarian I think the exaggeration comes from the first hand accounts of the survivors (one in his 80s looking back on his 15 year old self--we all know from mu…moreI think the exaggeration comes from the first hand accounts of the survivors (one in his 80s looking back on his 15 year old self--we all know from multiple studies done on the human brain how completely and utterly useless our memories are), and the fact that the author did have to insert information that simply wasn't available. I'm enjoying the historical background information, and was devastated at the scene where one of the crew set fire to an island in the Galapagos. That was anything but exaggerated. One person was literally responsible for the destruction of entire species.

If it "took a while" for the story to get going, well, that's because it's about a ship that is sailing from Nantucket to the Pacific Ocean. The top speed any of these men encountered was when they were literally being pulled by whales in their boats. (less)
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In the Heart of the Sea
by Nathaniel Philbrick (Goodreads Author)
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