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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?
Bonnie I feel that this question is comparing to incomparable things. While the fictional account of Moby Dick has real-world details (as most works of ficti…moreI feel that this question is comparing to incomparable things. While the fictional account of Moby Dick has real-world details (as most works of fiction do), there is still the veil of fiction and the knowledge that the events did not occur. However, poetic and compelling Moby Dick is, I feel that the compelling and in-depth research performed by Phillbrick truly captures the events.
In truth, this story and Moby Dick tell two different tales!! Moby Dick takes place in a fictionalized universe before the main events of this work. While Moby Dick is a whale and man chasing each other back and forth, working toward some unreachable goal of man, In the Heart of the Sea mainly captures the survival of the men after the event. This book takes off when Moby Dick ends, making the two incomparable. Looking at it this way and the timeline involved, Moby Dick is completely fictionalized, vaguely grasping details from many 1800s accounts of whales attacking shipping vessels (as described in this work).(less)
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In the Heart of the Sea
by Nathaniel Philbrick (Goodreads Author)
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