Narrative

I'm always amazed when I read a non-fiction book where the author has recreated events from 100 or even 1000 years ago. The author must find the research and the dedication to the project first of all fun and secondly, it must be a passion. Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" is such a book. I could not put it down which surprised me because it sounded so dry and well not something I would enjoy.

It's the story of a Nantucket whaling boat, The Essex that was rammed by a sperm whale and consequently sunk in the South Pacific. The story follows the survivors as they drift in row boats without any food.

"The Essex shook as if she had struck a rock. every man was knocked off his feet. Galapagos tortoises went skittering across the deck. 'We looked at each other with perfect amazement,' Chase recalled, 'deprived almost of the power of speech.'
As they pulled themselves up off the deck, Chase and his men had good reason to be amazed. Never before, in the entire history of the Nantucket whale fishery, had a whale been known to attack a ship.