THE LOST CITY OF Z: A TALE OF DEADLY OBSESSION IN THE AMAZON: David Grann: Doubleday: Nonfiction: 339 pages.In this true and bestselling adventure story, David Grann takes his out-of-shape, comfort-loving body into the Amazon jungle to see whether he (after 100 others had died trying, no exaggeration) could find out what happened to Percy Harrison Fawcett, an early 20th century explorer who disappeared while looking for an El Dorado-like city in South America. But before he goes (not until the latter chapters of the book), he shares Fawcett's remarkable story. The last of the great Victorian British explorers, Fawcett spent years mapping and exploring the Amazonian rain forest, his iron constitution and steely will carrying him through extremes of climate, danger, and disease that quickly felled lesser men, and everyone was lesser. Also fascinating is the paper and person trail Gramm follows to get a true bead on Fawcett's likely path, as Fawcett threw out red herrings galore in his public pronouncements so no one would beat him to the punch. What Gramm finally discovers through the expert offices of Michael Heckenberger, a University of Florida researcher, is evidence of what anthropologists have long thought not possible: a large civilization with moated, byrmed cities laid out on north-south/east-west quadrants with plazas, roads, bridges, causeways and sophisticated art. A staffer for the New Yorker, Grann is a fine writer, creating atmosphere and conveying information in a readable, unobtrusive style.
LW
LW
2 comments:
As a whole, a really enjoyed this history/adventure. Grann does an excellent job of bringing Colonel Fawcett and his adventurous contemporaries to life. His description of expedition life in the Amazon was graphic enough to assure I will never visit the area. The only real criticism I have is that the conclusion left me a little disappointed. After building through the entire text the final revelations were a bit anticlimactic. But, it was still a fascinating read.
CZ
In 1925, Percy Fawcett set out into the Amazon hoping to find an ancient civilization, and was never heard from again. For decades scientists and adventureres looked for evidence of Fawcett's party and what might have become of them. The author, David Grann, stumbles upon a trove of Fawcett diaries and is hurdled into his own quest to find out what happened. Grann goes into incredible detail about the Amazon, the history of its exploration as well as the dangers one might encounter there. This was an engrossing story, but I do have to say that the Amazon sounds like a terrible place that I never want to visit! I'm content to hear about it from several thousand miles away.
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