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Title details for In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick - Available

In the Heart of the Sea

The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

by Nathaniel Philbrick
Scott Brick
Audiobook
1 of 3 copies available
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1 of 3 copies available
Soon to be a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Wishaw, and Brendan Gleeson, and directed by Ron Howard.
The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the sinking of the Titanic was in the twentieth. In 1819, the Essex left Nantucket for the South Pacific with twenty crew members aboard. In the middle of the South Pacific the ship was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale. The crew drifted for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival. Nathaniel Philbrick uses little-known documents-including a long-lost account written by the ship's cabin boy-and penetrating details about whaling and the Nantucket community to reveal the chilling events surrounding this epic maritime disaster. An intense and mesmerizing listen, In the Heart of the Sea is a monumental work of history forever placing the Essex tragedy in the American historical canon.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 24, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781101887912
      • File size: 289650 KB
      • Duration: 10:03:26

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Written from the journals of two survivors, this true-life story is said to be the inspiration for Melville's MOBY-DICK. Narrator Scott Brick introduces the listener to the nuances of whaling in l820. Following the voyage of the ESSEX, whose port is Nantucket, Brick's reliably tracks the mission of its crew, before and after it is rammed by a bull sperm whale and left in peril in the Pacific Ocean. Brick's casual yet composed manner reports this chronicle of courage and survival, creating an appreciation for the tale it tells. B.J.L. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 1, 2000
      With woody intonation and a suitably somber cadence, Tony Award-winning actor Herrmann reads this chilling tale of the Essex, a whaling ship that was sunk in the middle of the Pacific by an 80-foot sperm whale in 1820. The story would come to mark the mythology of the 19th century as the Titanic did the 20th--Herman Melville, for one, based Moby Dick on certain key elements of the tragedy. In Philbrick's spare, well-paced version, we learn much about how Nantucket's culture was affected by the whaling industry boom, from its economy to its social habits. But the horrific heart of the narrative details the fate of the 20 sailors who attempted to sail several thousand miles back to Chile using only three pathetic open boats. Reaching home 93 days later, only eight sailors survived the ordeal of thirst, starvation and despair. Near the tape's end, Herrmann delivers one of the finest funereal orations ever offered on behalf of seamen. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Forecasts, Apr. 10).

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The story of early nineteenth century whalers stranded in three small boats for 89 days keeps listeners on their toes, as facts about the oceans, the industry, the men, and their prey add education to enjoyment. The reader's pace, like the author's, neither hurries through background information nor slows to spoil the gripping story of starvation and cannibalism. The slightly dramatic inflections Mr. Brick uses make a nice addition to a sea story without equal. Technical terminology abounds in this tale, covering parts of the ships to parts of the whales. The narrator's familiarity with the sea of words adds salt to a story with lots of its own pepper. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      In 1819, the Nantucket whaleship ESSEX set off to sea with 20 seamen only to be attacked and demolished 15 months later by a sperm whale the magnitude of the ship! Adrift (except for a short stop at a tiny island with limited water supplies) for more than 90 days and using only celestial navigation, these God-fearing, strapping men were driven to physical and psychological boundaries. Edward Herrmann's dignity and respect for the heroic whalers is obvious as he reveals Nantucket's history in a global industry it mastered. Heart-wrenching is his portrayal of these men in their most desperate hours as starvation and dehydration forced unavoidable cannibalism. TITANIC, MOBY-DICK, and THE PERFECT STORM fans won't be disappointed! B.J.P. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 1, 2000
      In 1821, a whaling ship came upon a small boat off the coast of Chile containing two deranged men surrounded by human bones that they alternately chewed and clutched to their shriveled bodies. The two were survivors of one of the most well-known marine disasters of the 19th century: the sinking of a 240-ton Nantucket whaleship by an 80-ton sperm whale. A maritime historian, Philbrick recounts the hellish wreck of the Essex (which inspired Melville's Moby-Dick) and its sailors' struggle to make their way to South America, 2,000 miles away. Of the 20 men aboard the two boats, only eight would remain alive through the ravages of thirst, hunger and desperation that beset the voyage. With a gracefulness of language that rarely falters, Philbrick spins a ghastly, irresistible tale that draws upon archival material (including a cabin boy's journal discovered in 1960). Philbrick shows how the Quaker establishment of Nantucket ran a hugely profitable whaling industry in the 18th and 19th centuries and provides a detailed account of shipboard life. A champion sailboat racer himself, Philbrick has a particular affinity for his subject. His fastidious, extensive notes and bibliography will please historians, but it's his measured prose that superbly re-creates a cornerstone of the early American frontier ethos. 16 page photo insert not seen by PW. 15-city author tour; foreign rights sold to nine countries.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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