I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time, and the impending release of Ron Howard’s adaptation spurred me to finally pick it up. It’s one of the better reading choices I’ve made this year.
For the uninitiated, the Essex was a whaling ship that was sunk in 1820 roughly halfway between Hawaii and the coast of Peru; almost as far from land as you can be and still consider yourself terrestrial. The ship was attacked by a sperm whale, which ultimately inspired Herman Melville to write what many have described as the greatest American novel ever written: Moby Dick. What followed the sinking is possibly the most harrowing and terrifying account of human resilience that I’ve ever encountered. What these men went through is truly the stuff of nightmares.
Nathaniel Philbrick expertly interweaves the story of the Essex and it’s crew with the history of Nantucket (the island from which it sailed) and the industry of whaling. He never loses the thread of his narrative, but bolsters the account with in-depth descriptions of the life and times of an early 19th century sailor. And, I must say, I never would’ve imagined such accounts would be as fascinating as they were.
What will forever stay with me, however, is the sheer brutality of this book. Not just the descriptions of what these men went through, but the descriptions of whaling, itself. Philbrick makes the effort to explore what it must’ve been like to be a Quaker at this time, and the effect of going from a clean life free of violence to a life centered around the brutal and heartless slaughter of monstrous and magnificent creatures of the deep. Also described, much to my dismay, was the practice of turpining. Without recounting the gory details, it involved Galapagos tortoises. As an animal lover, these sanguinary descriptions actually left me rooting for the whales, and celebrating the ultimate destruction of the ship.
My horrified jubilation, however, was very short-lived (and not truly felt, in any case). For what these men went through…..well. It’s impossible to understand.
Truly, this is an effecting book. It’s left me with a hallowed out and haunted soul, and I feel that it will stay with me for a long time.
I just hope Ron Howard carefully edits the slaughter of the whales from his movie. And the turtles. Oh, god save us, those poor turtles……
