''In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex'' is a book by American writer

Nathaniel Philbrick Nathaniel Philbrick (born June 11, 1956) is an American author of history, winner of the National Book Award, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His maritime history, ''In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex'', based on w ...

about the loss of the

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

''Essex'' in the Pacific Ocean in 1820. The book was published by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

on May 8, 2000, and won the 2000

National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...

. It was adapted into a film of the same name, which was released in December 2015.

Summary

The ''

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

'', an American

whaleship A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

from

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

, sank after a

sperm whale The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the s ...

attacked it in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in November 1820. Having lost their ship, the crew of the ''Essex'' attempted to sail to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

whaleboat A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the s ...

s. After suffering from starvation and dehydration, most of the crew died before the survivors were rescued in February 1821. In retelling the story of the crew's ordeal, Philbrick uses an account written by Thomas Nickerson, who was a teenage

cabin boy A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant. Duties Cabin boys ...

on board the ''Essex'' and wrote about the experience in his old age; Nickerson's account was found in 1960 but was not authenticated until 1980. In 1984, an abridged version of his account was finally published. The book also uses the better known account of

Owen Chase Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 – March 7, 1869) was first mate of the whaler ''Essex'', which sank in the Pacific Ocean on November 20, 1820, after being rammed by a sperm whale. Soon after his return to Nantucket, Chase wrote an account of the ...

, the ship's

first mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

, which was published soon after the ordeal.

Reception

According to

Book Marks ''Literary Hub'' or ''LitHub'' is a daily literary website that was launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and '' Electric Literatur ...

, based mostly on American publications, the book received "rave" reviews based on seven critic reviews, with four being "rave" and three being "positive". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' reported on reviews from several publications with a rating scale for the novel out of "Love It", "Pretty Good", "Ok", and "Rubbish": ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'', ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specificat ...

'', ''

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

'', and ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' reviews under "Love It". ''In the Heart of the Sea'' won the 2000 U.S.

."National Book Awards – 2000"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...

. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

Film adaptation

The story was adapted into a feature film by director

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, starring

Chris Hemsworth Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, and Bulman, Northern Territory, he rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series ''Home and Away'' (2004� ...

Ben Whishaw Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Whishaw, various accolades, including three British Academy Television Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

, and

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...

. Advertising for the film points out that the historical story inspired the ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' mythology.

References

External links

*
Presentation by Philbrick on ''In the Heart of the Sea'', June 23, 2000

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Presentation by Philbrick on ''In the Heart of the Sea'', May 8, 2001

{{Moby-Dick, state=collapsed 2000 non-fiction books Ambassador Book Award–winning works Non-fiction books adapted into films National Book Award for Nonfiction–winning works Non-fiction books about cannibalism Viking Press books History books about shipwrecks Books about whaling Books about Massachusetts

Summary

Reception

Film adaptation

See also

References

External links