A review by jay_sy
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
informative
medium-paced
4.0
In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is a history book about the whaling ship Essex.
Thoughts while reading:
-It’s quite interesting to hear about the different enclaves in the US during that time period, and now the lifestyle of the Quakers shaped life on Nantucket. I really liked hearing some of the first hand accounts and songs/poems written by the people
-It’s quite fascinating to hear of how independent the women were, since they had to manage the businesses while men were off for years at a time. They seem to have spent a great deal of time socializing and also regularly used opium.
-I felt bad for the cabin boy and greenhands. It must have been harsh going from a life of being under a mother’s care to then a harsh and merciless first mate
-it's hard reading about the treatment of animals such as the way the whales were killed or how the tortoises were gathered for food and then starved over a period of a year since the sailors assumed they didn't feel hunger. It's also absolutely horrifying how one of them burned down one of the Galapagos Islands and eradicated all the species there
-it was really interesting how the crew of the Essex could have been saved if they had gone to the Society Islands but they were afraid that the natives were cannibals even though at the time there were reports saying it was safe
-I really like hearing about the culture of how people organize themselves. For example the captain was expected to be authoritarian (or what they call ‘fishy’) while the first mate was supposed to be more personable. In the case of the Essex it was the other way around
-I liked how the book covered different shipwrecks and how the sailors survived with some of them resorting to cannibalism while others used the dead bodies of their peers to catch fish
-it was interesting how the survivors of the Essex were so keen to talk about their experience including the cannibalism which is apparently common among survivors. It was also interesting to learn how the Essex wasn't the only ship to have been sunk by a whale
-feel bad for what happened to the captain, for being considered bad luck for having captained two ships that sunk. He didn't seem like the best leader but he sounded like a very affable person. The movie really did him dirty.
Overall, I found it informative and quite fascinating. I always love historical tidbits that give you a sense of how people in the past lived. I'd give it a 4 out of 5
Thoughts while reading:
-It’s quite interesting to hear about the different enclaves in the US during that time period, and now the lifestyle of the Quakers shaped life on Nantucket. I really liked hearing some of the first hand accounts and songs/poems written by the people
-It’s quite fascinating to hear of how independent the women were, since they had to manage the businesses while men were off for years at a time. They seem to have spent a great deal of time socializing and also regularly used opium.
-I felt bad for the cabin boy and greenhands. It must have been harsh going from a life of being under a mother’s care to then a harsh and merciless first mate
-it's hard reading about the treatment of animals such as the way the whales were killed or how the tortoises were gathered for food and then starved over a period of a year since the sailors assumed they didn't feel hunger. It's also absolutely horrifying how one of them burned down one of the Galapagos Islands and eradicated all the species there
-it was really interesting how the crew of the Essex could have been saved if they had gone to the Society Islands but they were afraid that the natives were cannibals even though at the time there were reports saying it was safe
-I really like hearing about the culture of how people organize themselves. For example the captain was expected to be authoritarian (or what they call ‘fishy’) while the first mate was supposed to be more personable. In the case of the Essex it was the other way around
-I liked how the book covered different shipwrecks and how the sailors survived with some of them resorting to cannibalism while others used the dead bodies of their peers to catch fish
-it was interesting how the survivors of the Essex were so keen to talk about their experience including the cannibalism which is apparently common among survivors. It was also interesting to learn how the Essex wasn't the only ship to have been sunk by a whale
-feel bad for what happened to the captain, for being considered bad luck for having captained two ships that sunk. He didn't seem like the best leader but he sounded like a very affable person. The movie really did him dirty.
Overall, I found it informative and quite fascinating. I always love historical tidbits that give you a sense of how people in the past lived. I'd give it a 4 out of 5