In the Heart of the Sea

"And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea."

Exodus 15:8

Moby-Dick is one of my favorite novels. The story of revenge and obsession, the wonderful bromance between Ishmael and Queequeg, and the language used to describe it all speaks to me on such a wonderful level. So when I found that this tale was based on the accounts of the Whaleship

Essex, I found that I had to know more. 

In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick, is the historical account of the Essex and her crew as they sailed from Nantucket around Cape Horn into the Pacific to hunt the sperm whales whose oil (or spermacetti because it looks like, well, seminal fluid) lubricated the machinery and lit the lamps of the world. On this journey their ship was sank by an 85 foot bull whale 3,000 miles from the coast of South America. The crew of twenty loaded into three small boats, only eight of them  survived. 

This book was fantastic. It examined the whaling industry of the early 18th century, and examined the events that contributed to its fall. I find the history of the whaling industry fascinating, though the practice of whaling is appalling, as it was such a big part of the world economy and it drove maritime explorations for quite a while. 

It also looked into the decisions that led to this disaster, and went into depth on what the survivors faced in the desert of the Pacific. The starvation and dehydration they faced was incredible, and I ultimately led to the survivors eating their ship mates in order to push on. A decision that some of them were never able to cope with. 

I highly recommend this book, and I think that every one should read Moby-Dick. These stories remind us of the "slender thread upon which our lives were hung" and how precarious our existence is. I am also very excited for the screen adaptation of the book, starring Thor, to be released this summer. There are things to look forward to, and lessons to be learned by looking back.