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Title: The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex by Owen Chase, Iola Haverstick, Betty Shepard ISBN: 0-15-600689-8 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 12 August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.1 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Harrowing, well-written, and true.
Comment: "The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex" is much more than just the inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." It stands alone as a remarkable account of survival in a hostile environment. It's probably difficult for modern readers to truly grasp the impact First Mate Owen Chase felt when his ship the Essex sank in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, leaving 20 men to fend for themselves in three frail whaling boats. In 1820, the loss of the ship meant that Chase and his men were truly on their own. His account and shock reflect the enormity of what losing a ship meant to these men. The ship was their world and without it, they faced an ardorous journey. Chase also accurately captures the shock of seeing a whale attack his ship twice. An experienced whaler, Chase watched dumbfounded as a creature he always thought to be gentle and placid appear to deliberately sink the Essex.
Chase has managed to balance these feelings of anguish and fear with determination to survive. His story also vividly recounts a bygone time when Nantucket whalers seemed to own the seas, and industry at home depended on the oil these men brought back. We seem to forget that whaling and its fruits were an essential part of early American commerace and life. This book puts Chase's account of his survival clearly in context with its times. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: "My god, this really happened"
Comment: Just imagine the unthinkable:- a whale, that most placid animal, suddenly turns on its tormentors with malice apparent in its intent and within a few minutes, reduces the ship, not the boat that harpooned it, to a sinking wreck, a thousand miles from any land. The subsequent journey to safety of the eight survivors is recounted by the first mate in graphic detail and with great literary skill; you have to admire the fortitude displayed by Mr. Chase in keeping an accurate log, even in the extremes of privation and heat exhaustion, as well as the psychological assault of that ultimate horror (at that time) of cannibalism. Put in their position, would I do the same - absolutely! It speaks volumes that very little was said about the Essex party, whereas the Donner party were unjustly vilified for doing exactly the same thing to preserve the remaining members of their company. I can do no better justice to this book than to quote Gary Kinder:- "...settle back into that overstuffed leather chair and let the most amazing story in the annals of the sea transport you to a different time, a different breed, an experience few could believe...".
Rating: 4
Summary: Way better than Moby Dick for adventure and drama
Comment: Moby Dick is so dry for young readers with all the details of life on a whaler, this book is much more the adventure, the what happens when the whale decides that he's had enough. How men endure when they run out of food, then water, then people start to die. It's a fairly fast read and Owen gives a fairly good account of the problems and the horror of the men as they watch the whale ram their ship.
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Title: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick, Nathaniel Philbrick ISBN: 0141001828 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Nickerson, Owen Chase, Nathaniel Philbrick, Thomas Philbrick, Owen Chase ISBN: 0140437967 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Narratives of the Wreck of the Whale-Ship Essex by Owen Chase ISBN: 0486261212 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: November, 1989 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Stove by a Whale: Owen Chase and the Essex by Thomas Farel Heffernan ISBN: 0819562440 Publisher: Wesleyan Univ Pr Pub. Date: 15 September, 1990 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing ISBN: 078670621X Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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