Book: The Lost City of Z
ISBN-13: 978-0385513531
Author: David Grann
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Non-fiction / Doc-u-tainment
Release: February 24, 2009
Length: 352 pages (Hardcover)
Verdict
Despite essentially being a biography, The Lost City of Z is a gripping tale that combines the intellectual stimulation of your favorite History Channel documentary with the high-adventure of a classic Victorian fantasy novel. Grann’s descriptions of the hardships endured in the Amazon were more riveting than Tolkien. His colorful peppering of trivia was better than a Discovery Channel documentary.
Anyone with a love of science or a childhood dream of far-flung exploration should add this title to their wishlist, secure in the knowledge it isn’t the sort of book that can be spoiled by giving away the end. It’s spell lies not in its destination, but in the way it carries readers along on Fawcett’s journey through the darkest jungles of South America.
Synopsis
Official: After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve “the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century”: What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z? In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, vowing to make one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son to prove that this ancient civilization–which he dubbed “Z”–existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.
For decades scientists and adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett’s party and the Lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes, or gone mad. As David Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett’s quest and the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, drawn into the jungle’s “green hell.” His quest for the truth, and his stunning discoveries about Fawcett’s fate and “Z,” form the heart of this enthralling narrative.
Review
The Lost City of Z, aptly subtitled “A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,” follows the journeys of legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett through the depths of the Amazon, the many expeditions that attempted to retrace the steps if his final, disastrous attempt to find the lost city of “Z,” and the modern day travels of author David Grann as he seeks out the real story behind Fawcett’s disappearance.
In it, Grann attempts to put to rest the mystery of Fawcett’s fate, the question of which has lured hundreds of men to their deaths, but in the course of the investigation, he himself becomes obsessed with the legend of the eccentric adventurer and his legendary disappearance. So, despite being a lifelong New Yorker with an admittedly lousy sense of direction, he sets out to trek through the Amazon. There, nearly eighty years after Fawcett’s final expedition, Grann comes to a startling conclusion about “Z” that serves as a fitting denounment to the eight decades’ worth of mystery.
Throughout his narrative, which shifts between the expeditions of the Conquistadors, the Victorian age, and the present day, Grann contemplates such heady matters as the evolution of mankind, the nature of courage, and very real historical possibility that grand cities that rivaled ancient Greece once sprawled across a jungle that modern men only survive by luck, even as he spins a fascinating story.
I’ve rarely read a book so engaging as The Lost City of Z. I found myself jumping making trips to the kitchen for snacks in the middle of Grann’s descriptions of the hunger Fawcett endured. My hand would involuntarily reach for my water as he described the grueling heat of the jungle and the fevers that threatened death at every turn. And about mid-way through the book, I had to read with my laptop running, because no sooner would I crack the book, than I would have to spring back up to Google some barely credulous new curiosity. I scoped out the jungle Fawcett explored with Google Earth. I read looked up the tribes he encountered, many of which still exist today. I started reading the books and novels Grann touched on throughout The Lost City of Z out of sheer curiosity.
In short, I was blissfully swept up in not just the adventure of the story but also the research Grann had to cover in order to write his book, which covers an amazing scope of topics, including the history of World War I, famous Victorian authors, anthropology, conservation and ecology issues, and hosts of exotic wildlife species.
I recommend this books to Geeks from all walks of life. Pick it up, download the audiobook, or catch one of the many documentaries cropping up on the topic while you wait for the movie version to hit big screens!
Similar Books
If you enjoy this book, you may also enjoy these very similar books:
- Exploration Fawcett by Percy Harrison Fawcett and Brian Fawcett
- The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail by Michael Baigent
- The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Further Information
- Author David Grann’s Official Website.
- IMDB for the upcoming film based on The Lost City of Z.
- NPR interview with author David Grann.
- David Grann and The Lost City of Z on Public Radio International’s The World.
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