Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whalesip Essex

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Summary: Richie's Picks: REVENGE OF THE WHALE
Review: Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,
Swim so wild and you swim so free.
Heaven above and the sea below,
And a little white whale on the go.--Raffi

REVENGE OF THE WHALE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX is Nathaniel Philbrick's adaptation for young people of his National Book Award-winning bestseller, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. While I have not read the adult version, I can tell you that this edition of the author's compelling account of the real-life catastrophe of 1820-21, in which a whale attacks a whaleship in the middle of the Pacific, was detailed and gory enough to keep me horrified for hours, to the extent that it caused me to forget all about my initial delight that at least one whale had apparently gotten even with humankind for what our forefathers had done for the sake of lamp oil and ambergris.

Your mama told you never
to eat your friends
with your fingers and
hands, but I say you
ought to eat what
you will - shove it
in your mouth any way
that you can. --Silver Spoon by Grace Slick

Utilizing primary source material, including two accounts written by survivors of the wreck about their nightmarish journey across thousands of miles of the Pacific from the middle of nowhere to their rescue off the coast of Chile, the author has crafted a first-rate adventure story that is also a tale of unbearable tragedy.

"Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coast of South America, zigging and zagging across a living sea of oil. For that was the Pacific Ocean in 1821, a vast field of warm-blooded oil deposits known as sperm whales."

From the early portions of this saga, which take place before an obstinate, eighty-five foot long sperm whale decides that enough is enough, we learn a vast array of information about the port of Nantucket and the whaleships. The author clearly describes and provides illustrations of the ship's layout, including the names of the masts and individual sails, the crews makeup, including their respective duties and the system of remuneration, their navigational tools, and the graphic details of converting those floating oil deposits into big bucks for the shipowners. I was amazed to discover that the wind patterns dictate that in order to sail from New England around the 'Horn to the Pacific, the whalers would nearly scrape the west coast of Africa! And the fact that ambergris--literally worth more than its weight in gold to perfume manufacturers--was generated as the result of whale constipation.

But it's also fascinating to learn at the end about the later lives of those eight men who somehow survived for three months on the ocean in the worst of circumstances--and how the son of one of those survivors grew up to become a whaler, lent a shipmate his father's account of the Essex disaster, and thus became indirectly responsible for that shipmate, Herman Melville, being inspired to write MOBY DICK...

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Summary: revenge of the whale not a good book you better not read it
Review: i read this book the reveng of the whale.it is about a huge sperm whale that attacks a ship that is trying to capturen it.they are trying to kill it beacuse of the sperm oil it has.they bring it back to land and sell it.i didnt like the book becase it didnt really have a main charecter.all it talked about is what the ship did and how they capiutur the whales.i also didnt like it because i thought it was going to have more action in it.most of the time ther just sailing and not really doing anything really exiting.it also dont really have a story line all it talkes about is what the ship is doing.it has no charecter conflicts.i was expecting more fights seenes with the whale and i would have hopped the would have discribed the whale better and how it attacked the ship more.some of the things i did like about it was it had one vwery god part in it.when the capterd one of the whales.it told how the got it and what they had to do to get it.i also like the pictures in the book it showed what the whales looked like and all the tools they had.i really didnt like this book but if you read it mabey you will u might be suprised.

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Summary: Interesting...
Review: Revenge of the Whale is a somewhat gory book. The prelude really gets you interested, but when the stroy starts, it's pretty boring; all about the island of Nantucket and how sailing and whaling is their life...lalala. Once they hit the water, the story starts to get a little interesting, though. A whale rams the Essex ship and all twenty men get onto the smaller whaleboats floating out in the middle of the ocean. The captain is a very pressured man and never goes withwhat he thinks. Everyone can change his mind if there's majority. This course eventually leads to seperation of the crew, thirst, hunger, and cannibalism... It's up to you if you want to read it. Moby Dick was based on the story of the Essex so if you liked MOby Dick, you might like this.

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Summary: Indomitable Survival Overcomes Impossible Circumstances
Review: This story has to be one of the most astonishing tales of survival in recorded history. Before I say more, let me caution you that this story (and parts of this review) is not for those with weak stomachs.

After their ship is disabled by an attacking sperm whale, the survivors find themselves on three open boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean over 2,000 miles from their targeted landfall in South America. With luck, they will make it in 30 days. They soon find themselves in a stall as the winds fail to cooperate, except to provide severe storms that threaten to capsize the boats.

Soon, all the food is encrusted with salt and everyone is suffering with severe dehydration. Then things start to get worse! I won't go further, but you have an amazing story of survival ahead of you.

Two of the few survivors of this terrible ordeal later committed their experiences to writing, which provide great resources for this well-researched book.

At another level, the book is also extremely interesting because these experiences were important influences on Herman Melville's writing of the American classic, Moby Dick. The book makes the connection, including how Melville came to learn the story.

At a third level, the book is a fascinating history of whaling around 1920. If you are like me, you will cringe when the whalers devastate island after island. But that's not the limit to their willingness to use nature to their own advantage.

The ultimate irony is that the survivors went the wrong way. Those from Nantucket did not know about Tahiti and Hawaii, and chose not to go in either of those directions -- either of which would have provided more rapid safety and comfort. The primary reason they chose not to go in these directions is because they feared running into cannibals. Soon the survivors were studying the remains of dead shipmates with hunger. And then it gets worse.

So, you have three different kinds of books to read here, anyone of which could be enormously enjoyable to you. Get ready for the trip of your life!

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Summary: Blow The Whale Down
Review: What is this book about? Whale revenge? What is that? I read the whole book and all they do is ride around in a boat. And there's a whale. And they kill it. This is basically Moby Dick for kids. I'm guessing the whale is the main character as none of the characters are memorable. I don't fault the author, but what editor allowed this book to sneak by? I guess somebody who likes whales a real lot.