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Title: Incredible tale, well-told
Review: I came to this book as a fan of Melville's 'Moby Dick', having recently re-read it and wanting more. That the climax of Moby Dick is taken from an actual incident, and further, that Melville's Ahab might in fact be loosely based on an actual person (the Essex's first mate Chase) is fascinating to me. Also, it is astounding to read about and consider what the men when through during their three months in the open whaleboats after the Essex sank. Philbrick augments this part of the narrative with information gleaned from contemporary medical studies and accounts of persons who have been subject to starvation and lethal dehydration.I can't imagine what it must have been like to contemplate eating the flesh of one's comrades in order to survive, to suck the marrow from their bones to avoid dying of thirst. Incomprehensible.
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