logo
Wrong email address or username
Wrong email address or username
Incorrect verification code

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex - Community Reviews back

by Nathaniel Philbrick
sort by language
Lora Hates Spam
Lora Hates Spam rated it 5 years ago
by Nathaniel Philbrick This is a seafaring story based on the records of a real whaling ship, The Essex, which was the basis of the story Moby Dick. It's about a ship that actually was attacked by a whale, as recorded in the ship's log and private notes written by a cabin boy. My first impressio...
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents rated it 8 years ago
3.5 starsI picked up this book because I saw a preview for the film. It looked interesting. The book was more than I was expecting. It's mostly about what happened after the infamous whale attack that brought down the ship. The author does a great job of delivering the facts. Sometimes it's a d...
Hooked on Books
Hooked on Books rated it 9 years ago
In the Heart of the Sea is a true story about the Essex, a Nantucket whaling ship and its tragic encounter with an angry, revenge-seeking sperm whale. Since the movie was recently being released, my friend Eva and I decided to do a buddy read together. I'll admit I was impressed with the amount of r...
Jenny's Book Bag
Jenny's Book Bag rated it 9 years ago
3.5 StarsThis was so sad. It could have been four-stars, but I don’t think Scott Brick has the right voice to narrate this book. His voice made it sound like he was reading a financial statement instead of a true story about a horrific event. I broke my own rule by seeing the movie before reading th...
JLee22
JLee22 rated it 10 years ago
I wanted to give this book a lower rating because of the poor transitions from observations on the persons in the scene (usually the Essex survivors, such as they were) to third-party sources of information augmented by the author's opinion that it was directly applicable to the original situation. ...
JeffreyKeeten
JeffreyKeeten rated it 10 years ago
”I turned around and saw him about one hundred rods [500 m or 550 yards] directly ahead of us, coming down with twice his ordinary speed of around 24 knots (44 km/h), and it appeared with tenfold fury and vengeance in his aspect. The surf flew in all directions about him with the continual violent t...
Chris Blocker
Chris Blocker rated it 10 years ago
By now, you may have seen the trailer for the movie In the Heart of the Sea. If not, and if movies are your thing, I recommend you do so. Go ahead. I'll wait right here. [In the Heart of the Sea Trailer] Wow, right? Therein lies the problem with this book: one of comparison. In the Heart of the Se...
Lillelara
Lillelara rated it 10 years ago
Herman Melville got inspired by this story to write his novel "Moby Dick" and it is truly a remarkable tale. In the Heart of the Sea tells the true story of the whaleship Essex that has been sunk by a sperm whale in the middle of the pacific and its crew being shipwrecked in the aftermath of this at...
msleighm books
msleighm books rated it 10 years ago
5 stars. I understand there's a movie coming out about this book, the timing of my reading it is completely coincidental. I actually pulled it off my shelf to read it Sept 1, but didn't start in earnest until the 22nd. I hope the movie is as conscientious about historical accuracy as the book trie...
Perrin Pring
Perrin Pring rated it 11 years ago
Warning: This book is about killing whales. Turtles and birds die too. Still worth the read, just go in knowing animals die.Okay, now that that's done.I've been on a kick for non-fiction sea faring disaster stories. Having read The Hungry Ocean (not technically a disaster story, just more like a sea...
Need help?