Author: Nathaniel Philbrick
ISBN: 978-0-00-812683-4
RRP: $22.99
I feel like I should start this with some background. I had read a little about the book but wasn’t really familiar with what I was getting myself into. What I did read was enough to intrigue me, but not prepare me.
In The Heart of the Sea is a TRUE STORY, it is also the story that inspired Moby Dick. I feel that I need to mention here that I haven’t read Moby Dick, I know it was about a whale but that’s about it. It’s a classic that I always thought I should read but never quite got around to.
I thought this was a new book but it’s just a new edition. First published in 2000 In The Heart of the Sea is now being made into a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth and this is the new edition. I want to say the movie tie in release but I’m not sure.
This book was written long after the story took place so as well as the events as they took place we read about all of the research that has gone into the book, all of the findings that have been made in the years since about the events and their effects on the people.
In The Heart of the Sea is the incredible tale of the sinking of the whaleship Essex from Nantucket but it is also an extensive study of Nantucket and of whaling in the early 19th Century.
Nantucket is a place I am familiar with, though it’s history was completely new to me. I know of it through books set in the trendy seaside tourist island, I did not know of it’s whaling history. Whaling, too, is something I knew of but nothing substantial about. I know that within my lifetime people have lobbied to have it stopped but that was about it.
In The Heart of the Sea has given me a working knowledge of 19th Century whaling and I feel that it’s barbaric, there were whaling scenes that turned my stomach. It was certainly eye opening and education is never a bad thing, I can certainly understand the lobbying to have whaling stopped.
I am struggling a little with what I want to say because I still haven’t fully processed it. Non-fiction is not usually my thing and my relationship with history is sketchy at best. This was written to follow the timeline of the Essex voyage though peppered with newer information and research. The writing style was well done, the way newer information was integrated with the account of the Essex voyage was easy to follow and always relevant.
This is where I am going to have real trouble vocalising because I found the book dragged and it was quite heavy reading. Yet I can’t really say that the pacing was off or slow because these poor whalemen was stranded at sea for 93 days and not a lot happens, I’m sure they felt it dragged a lot more than I did.
I think the movie will be fantastic and I don’t think it will drag because it will need to be condensed into a couple of hours. Having said all of that I think this was a well researched and well written book that Philbrick was clearly passionate about.
The way that Melville and Moby Dick are woven into In The Heart of the Sea tells the story of how Moby Dick was inspired to give a little insight into that book as well. I am definitely considering adding Moby Dick to my list of books to read.
I will be interested to hear other’s thoughts on this one, and especially from those who have read Moby Dick. An engrossing and educational read that captivated me even when I felt that I was working hard to make progress.
Nathaniel Philbrick is on Facebook and his Website.
In The Heart of the Sea is available from Harper Collins, Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
30 of our lucky readers will also be reading In The Heart of the Sea so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
I am looking forward to read this book. It sounds interesting and well researched. I love the intense world of the sea and whaling. A cruel and sad world.
You know what, I have never read the book Moby Dick either, all I knew was it had a whale.
I’m not sure I would enjoy reading about whales being tortured…for the last 4 years I have been out on the whale boats enjoying the spectacle they put on. I am a huge lover of these beautiful creatures and to this day, I hate the killing of whales.
I’ve seen the movie previews with Chris Hemsworth coming out soon and tend to look away when it comes on.
Will be interested though to see what comments come out with this book though.
In the Heart of the Sea sounds like a fascinating read. I enjoy alternating my reading between fiction and non-fiction and I’m up for a challenging read while I’m on leave over Christmas and will have the time to get engrossed in a great book.
I have Moby Dick to read while waiting for In The Heart of The Sea to arrive. I read it many years ago but decided to do a little advanced reading to refresh myself.
Thank you for selecting me to read this book what an incredible story, the lives of the men and women back in those days must have been so difficult, I had no idea the whaling boats were gone for 2-3 years to sea and the dangers faced by the crews were dreadful, was very sad reading about how they harpooned the whales and the dragging till the whales tired so they could kill them got a bit gory with how the whales were sliced up, was also very sad to read about the Galapagos tortoises though I guess I can understand that the men had to eat, spending 94 days in a little boat running out of food and water I guess they had to resort to cannibalism I will not judge the seamen on this as I have never been in their situation,back in those days no one knew about conservation and life was so hard for everybody, the pictures in the book are brilliant the book is heavy reading but I found interesting I am pleased that the whaling industry has ceased in most countries
This is a fast-paced true story that reads like tragic adventure. It is the tale of the sinking of Essex, a whaling ship and the ordeal the crew encounters stranded at sea. The background material provided through drew me in and it is really well written reminding us all about the terrors of whaling. The graphic and long tale of the men’s survival at sea was gripping lengths they are driven for survival. I enjoyed reading this book and have recommended it to family and friends.
The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is an incredibly well researched and detailed book, drawing upon historical records and survivor accounts, to tell the true story of the Nantucket whaling ship, The Essex, which was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale, leaving the surviving crew adrift for 90+ days in three tiny boats.
However the book is not only a harrowing survival story, which details the horrors the survivors were forced to endure, as one by one they started to die. It also provides a potted history of whaling in the Nantucket area and details the life and economic fortunes of those who depended on the whaling trade, back at the turn of the century.
The book is an interesting and informative historical piece and you can almost taste the sea spray in the air as you read it, but it is not an easy read. At times it is a little long winded as you wade through all the facts and information you are provided with. And the details about the slaughtering of the whales, the effects of extreme dehydration and starvation and eventual cannibalism are quite graphic. However the book is well written, the narrative is never boring and you really do feel a part of this incredible, true, man vs nature, adventure story.
I had not heard of Nathaniel Philbrick before reading IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, but there is no doubt that he is a great writer. I am also impressed by how much research he must have done. He has masterly compiled and linked all of the log, journal and written accounts into one impressive narrative.
IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is an exciting read. I loved all of the historical detail. The inclusion of copies of documents, art works, photographs and especially maps added to my understanding.
I had a basic understanding of whaling and the life aboard the ships before reading IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, but now fully appreciate the dangers to the men and how horrific the killing and butchering of the whales truly is.
The disastrous incident with the mighty whale and the sinking of their ship saw the men at the mercy of the sea in just the smaller whaling boats. The plight of the sailors out in the small boats got very real very fast once they began to run out of food.
Not a read for the faint hearted, but one I do recommend.
Did I enjoy In the Heart of the Sea? NO – but I didn’t expect to – this isn’t a book for enjoyment, in my opinion. However, it is incredibly well researched and dealing as it does with such a tragic event and the barbaric whaling industry it is fascinating. A telling sentence early in the book says “A whaler was, after all, a factory ship – (which) tended to desentize the men to the awesome wonder of the whale.”
I haven’t read Moby Dick. The way Moby Dick, the sinking of the Essex and the narrative of survivors was woven together throughout the book is incredibly well written. Having said that, though, I agree completely with Michelle, that the book dragged. I don’t think it would have been possible to “speed it up” without losing the integrity of the novel.
I was impressed that the book continued on after the survivors all reached Nantucket so that there were no “loose ends.” The factual way the story continues so that we have an insight into lives led by the survivors once they returned to some sort of “normal existence” is well done.
My over riding impression, apart from the barbaric nature of whaling, which I was fairly well aware of, is that so much tragedy continued to haunt some of the survivors. Their very survival extracted so much from the men that “normality” was impossible for the most part. The incredible research that has gone into this book makes it something special.
There are times when it is good to read something well out of my comfort zone and this was one of those times. Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for taking me “out of my comfort zone” and giving me an insight into something I wouldn’t have otherwise considered.
Truthfully, I was a little ambivalent about this before I started it. When I read non-fiction, I prefer biographies or occasionally history, and this combined both to some extent. But I have read “Moby Dick”, and thought it was the most boring piece of stodge I’ve ever dragged myself through. So I thought this might be a “love it or hate it” book.
In fact, it fell somewhere between those extremes. I found it readable, and interesting, but not riveting. One of the difficulties is that there isn’t a strong character that you feel you know well and are interested in. This is partly because Philbrick has focused heavily on one incident, leaving much of the men’s history (and indeed, futures) rather vague. It is also because he’s tried to be historically accurate, and portray only those things about the shipwrecked men which are “known”. At such a distance in time, a lot has been lost. The result is that you don’t really have anyone to be invested in as you read. I was, however, interested in the occasions where Philbrick attempts to weigh up the relative credence of conflicting accounts. With limited other contemporary sources, he sometimes leans towards simple knowledge of human nature – and that helped bring the book to life for me.
Another of the positives, for me, was that Philbrick occasionally used modern knowledge or studies to cast light on what happened to the shipwrecked men. This was interesting, and helped to make the book about more than some distant event.
I was also particularly interested in some of the discussion of the kind of society that developed on Nantucket, and what it meant for gender roles and relationships in general. Although maybe not essential to the main story, I found this fascinating.
This is a well researched and detailed account of a fairly horrifying event, and one most people have at least a vague awareness of. I did find it interesting to find out what “really” happened – or at least as accurately as is possible after so long. However, I found the long period of floating around in small boats rather boring – largely, as I’ve said, because I hadn’t been given a chance to know or care about any of the men except in an abstract way.
I suspect this book might have a fairly small audience; but those who are interested in the events behind “Moby Dick”, or in whaling history in general, will probably really appreciate this book. It’s meticulous, and as I said, quite readable, although it drags in places.