Friday, February 08, 2013

In the Heart of the Sea

Last night Kadizzle finished reading "In the Heart of the Sea".    The book chronicled the sinking of the ship Essex.  A whale struck the ship in the worst possible place in the Pacific.  Moby Dick was based on this incident.  Of the 17 people on the ship about 7 survived by resorting to cannibalism.

Most whaling ships had some black sailors.  A strange aspect of the social order on the ship was that if you really wanted someone to pray and get some results it was the black man you asked to lead prayers.  On the other hand blacks got paid poorly and were usually the first to be eaten when times got tough.  It may not have been a racial thing.  Black people have less body fat than white people so often they die more quickly in a starvation situation.

If Kadizzle with his abundant fat were in the small whaling boat with six other men it could go either way.  The nice store of fat might get him to Chile, or it might look like a wedding cake to the other starving whalers.

The book is an amazing story of survival and what humans can endure.  Kadizzle wants to start a book club like Oprah,  so this is the first book on the recommended list.

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