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Summary: Very enjoyable historical tale...
Review: Very quick read. Philbrick provides a nice combination of direct quotes from the accounts of the events and historical context to these events. In certain ways, it reads like a historical novel, but these events did happen. Very interesting book, well written, easy read.
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Summary: Best whaling documentary since Moby Dick!
Review: I always thought Moby Dick was it...a profound historical account of the whaling industry before the 1900's. Kids struggled thrugh it as Melville recounted the tale, yet the wade was painful to a point. The Essex adventure, though, while providing a fairly perfect account of the industry, doesn't have to be digested, analyzed, or dissected much to get inside the characters or get a solid, historical feel for the whaling industry and the Nantucket lifestyle. Thoroughly enjoyable and painlessly educational.
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Summary: Breathtaking account of an epic maritime tragedy
Review: This book is by far one of the best historical narrative I've read. Philbrick's in-depth research lends itself to an amazing story that sweeps you back in time and place to the once fabled epicenter of the whaling world. The reader is drawn in and viscerally hit with images reflecting the experiences of the surviving whale ship Essex crew members. Think "Alive" but spun with the flair for adventure one might get from "Into Thin Air" or "The Perfect Storm". If you enjoy historical accounts, look into Philbrick's in-depth notes relating to how he was able to craft this seamless narrative.
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Summary: rewarding literature any reader can enjoy
Review: After arriving in the mail, it took but a few hours to indulge all Mr Philbrick had written about the 'Essex', and the life by which a Nantucketer lived in the apex of its whaling might. Mr Philbrick deftly combines the true events of the 'Essex' from numerous written accounts, details which fill in the story with the concepts of whaling, and superb analysis of physical and psychological effects of the events which the men endured. He also uses his own professional knowledge to speculate about certain events where true facts were missing.
Through cementing all these , Mr Philbrick creates a work which engrosses the reader into what whaling meant to the men on those ships, and the gruesomeness of their daily lives. Mr Philbrick obviously did his homework for this novel, which results in a rewarding experience for the reader. HIGHLY recommended.
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Summary: A page turning model for MOBY DICK
Review: Philbrick writes a fascinating account of the struggles of the crew of the whaleship Essex after a disasterous encounter with a sperm whale. He manages to capture the essence of the mindset of the inhabitants of Nantucket, the whaling center of the U.S., which explains many of the actions of the crew. The fight for survival is portrayed with both clarity and emotionalism. Having no previous knowledge of this calamity, I was amazed that at the time it had a similar impact in the 1800's that the Titanic had in the 1900's. It was enlightening that this tragedy served as the inspiration for Melville's, Moby Dick, which I consider to be one of the masterpieces of American literature.
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Summary: Powerful Sea Story
Review: In 1820 the whaleship Essex of Nantucket, shipping a vacillating captain and a headstrong first mate, was attacked by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean. For three months, crewmen survived in open boats, until a handful of survivors finally washed up in Chile. "In the Heart of the Sea" is a fascinating introduction to the nineteenth century whaling industry and a peek at the clannish Quaker community that was Nantucket island. The story of the Essex inspired Herman Melville to write "Moby Dick", and perhaps the elements that Melville magnified are the most powerful part of the tale - the personalities of the officers. Philbrick carefully explains the social significance attached to being a Nantucketer versus an off-islander as well as the importance of intricate old-family ties in the whaling industry. Set against this context we have Captain Pollard, a courageous if weak commander, and first mate Owen Chase, a daring officer whose command skills improved as he shared the suffering of the men in the small whaleboats - though he was the one to convince Pollard to make the disastrous mistake of sailing eastward in the tiny boats. As much as this is an introduction to whaling and a rousing sea tale, it is a story of contrasting personalities. Men at sea live and die by the quality of their commanders, and in the story of the Essex we see them do just that.
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Summary: Wish I could give it 6 stars!
Review: Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" is an incredible work of non-fiction that reads like a novel. Several times throughout the book I found myself in stunned disbelief that these events really took place. The book is not just the result of a strange historical occurrence, but of a people apart from all others. This book is fascinating not only because it was the first ship to attacked and sunk by whale, but because it is a tale of survival and the strength of the human spirit. Philbrick is lucky because he is able to draw upon several eye-witness accounts of survivors, unlike other recent sea-disaster books like "The Perfect Storm". Through these first hand accounts, the reader can more fully grasp the suffering these men endured. Not only that, but the author's description of the whaling industry and of life on Nantucket, transports the reader into a bygone era. Surviving three months and 4,500 miles on the open ocean in small, 6-person whaleboats, the men of the Essex experienced something that very few have known, and probably no one will ever experience again. The book provides a unique insight into this ultimate trial, and any reader will find themselves gripped by the story, unable to put it down until the conclusion is known. In short, it is an unforgetable adventure and worthy of your time.
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Summary: The tale of an Island culture...
Review: Mr. Philbrick tells a great story about a tragedy in the Pacific Ocean, the tragedy that inspired Herman Mellville to write Moby Dick. But he does more than tell of a ship smashed by a whale and the unfortunate survivors, he tells how they got to be months of sailing from home, out in the middle of the ocean hunting one of the largest mammals on the planet. That is the story of Nantucket and how it became the island that dominated the whale oil trade, about their customs and culture that allowed them to surpass many larger and better situated communities. It is an impressive tale and well worth reading.
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Summary: Gripping Tale of Survival
Review: DON'T WAIT ANOTHER DAY! Read this book. It is simply one of the best stories I've ever read. I am a high school history teacher and my US History class will be reading it soon. It is a story about a crew lost at sea but also sheds light into what life was like on Nantucket during the early/mid 1800's. For those who haven't been exposed to whaling history this is a great introduction.
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Summary: A WHALE OF A TALE...
Review: This is a first rate, well crafted work of non-fiction. The author has a gift for putting together a compelling narrative about the unusual ordeal of the whale ship, Essex, which sailed out of Nantucket and was done in on the high seas by an extremely aggressive sperm whale who attacked it. So complete was the damage that the ship sank, its crew of twenty cast adrift upon a seemingly infinite ocean to find their way back home in three small boats. This real life, unheard of attack by a whale was the basis for Heman Melville's classic work of fiction, "Moby Dick". What the author does is ground what happened to these most unfortunate of men in the historical context of the time. He paints a picture of the milieu in which they lived. Their lives were governed entirely by the whaling industry that was the bread and butter for Nantucket Island, the whaling capital of the world. Drawing upon narratives by some of the survivors, as well as other historical data, he paints in intricate detail what life must have been like for these men. He weaves a tapestry of early nineteenth century life on the island of Nantucket and the preeminence of whaling in the lives of those who lived there, as well as the role of the Quakers. In essence, he brings the men, who were involved in this most notorious of survival at sea stories, to life for the reader. It is a balanced narrative. This was to be the first voyage as Captain for the democratic George Pollard, who was teamed up with a very aggressive and ambitious first mate, Owen Chase. This was later to prove to be a poor combination. Nearly a third of the crew was African-American, which was an interesting twist, arising out of the abolitionist views of the Quakers, whose views were the mainstay of Nantucket. Most of the crew was very young, the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, being but fourteen years of age. When the Essex was attacked while on the high seas by a gigantic, aggressive sperm whale and destroyed in the process, the story of the what happened to the crew makes for one of the most engrossing and amazing stories of survival ever to be told. Against the odds, eight of them survived their ordeal, which lasted for months. Dehydration and starvation were to drive them to to a new frontier of human behavior. That threshhold, however, once crossed, was one that would forever haunt those who survived. Their agonizing journey and foray into anthropophagy is chillingly chronicled. This is a riveting and triumphant book. It is a tale richly told by a masterful storyteller, who is able to make this work of non-fiction come to life for the reader. This is simply a great book.
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