Wednesday, August 14, 2013

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Reading behavior is a funny thing. Some people read several books at one time or others only read mysteries or historical novels.  I have one friend that reads the ending right away and then works from the front and back, finally meeting in the middle to finish the book.  I tend to read in themes.  I read one book at a time, but I find myself reading book after book based on a common theme.  A few years ago I went on a sea voyage binge.  For about six months I read lots of sea voyage fiction.  It was really fun to learn about those early seamen (and women) who braved unbelievable odds and little knowledge of the earth to travel the world.  Somehow in my bingeing and bias against nonfiction, I missed In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.  Boy am I glad I found it this spring.  What an adventure!

I've read Philbrick before (Mayflower) and found him really engaging and interesting (for a nonfiction writer), but this book was especially good.    In the Heart of the Sea is an account of the Whaleship Essex, a Nantucket whaleboat that was stove in by a rogue sperm whale in 1819 and sank in the South Pacific.  Its crew inhabited three lifeboats and survived, drifting on the open sea for over 90 days.  Its story is the one that inspired Melville's Moby Dick.  The story is told from the point of view of the ship's cabin boy who wrote a little known account of his adventures. Philbrick used his account as the basis for the book.  Its a harrowing tale of the whaling industry, survival and how people live with the consequences of their actions.

Philbrick is a Nantucket sailor himself and an obsessive researcher.  His breadth of knowledge on these subjects is amazing.  The detailed accounts of the Nantucket whaling industry and the inner workings of life on a whale boat were fascinating.  Coupled with the explanations of how the human body reacts to starvation and the psychological musings about why the participants acted as they did, Philbrick transports us into a story of cowardice and bravery, ego and intellect.  I am always intrigued by the human spirit and how it beats unbelievable odds to survive, especially 200 years ago when modern technology and scientific information was all but nonexistent.  The fact that these people were bobbing around the oceans of the world with little or no reliable navigation with little to live on for years at a time just boggles my mind.  Its amazing to me that anyone came home, with or without whale oil.  

As a career wildlife educator, I was leary of how the wholesale killing of our largest mammals would sit with me.  I surely wasn't anxious to read about the slaughter of these critically endangered species, and, yes, it was hard to imagine the process, but Philbrick was careful to tell the story of the whales as well.  I learned quite a bit about pre-whaling population numbers and behaviors and why sperm whales might behave as they do. Little is known about these reclusive animals today so the information that he was able to uncover was very interesting. 

As I thought about this post, it struck me that late summer is a time for one last beach book before life begins again in the fall and an sea adventure story is a great choice.  Usually I get bogged down in the factual details of nonfiction but this book read more like a novel and less like a text book. I had fun thinking about my friends who would enjoy it - those fishermen or sailors who would be intrigued by the tale as much as I was.  I know its a good nonfiction book if I keep prodding my husband and telling him what I'm learning.  Let's just say, his arm is sore.  

2 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed Mayflower. Thanks for reminding me about this author. Will definitely check it out. I am on a scifi binge right now. Reading 5th wave and really enjoying it.

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    1. If you liked Mayflower, you'll love this one. Haven't been on a scifi binge in a while. Don't miss Dog Stars if you haven't tried that one. Its great!

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