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xkrow's review against another edition
4.0
Similar to The Wager, what I got from the book was quite different from what I went in expecting. There, I thought the book would be set entirely on the island, yet it was bereft of anything such until almost a third of the way in, instead focused on the social conditions of the time and the on the ship that led to the later animosity with a broad focus towards the very end. Similarly, I went in expecting the story of a singular journey here, but got instead a general chronicle of Fawcett’s life alongside a recount of Grann own’s journey into the Amazon.
Throughout the book, we see the savage in the jungle; not the one born in there, but rather the one made there. Fawcett and co. mused on the lengths hunger would drive them to survive (even cannibalism was not completely off the table), but surprisingly, laid bare in these pages is the primal hunger that haunts humanity – that of fame, fortune, and power. Grann peppers the pages with lengthy details of the arduous journey these explorers took, the manner of disease, animals, and interpersonal problems they faces. They don’t quite give you the impression of “going along the journey”, but are certainly enough to make you never want to enter a rainforest. Which is surprising considering Grann does just that, sifting through the various historical facts about Fawcett’s journey to detail the divergence between his actual and perceived path, talking with the many who have gone hunting for the man and suffered, and also learning the passed tales of white explorers that persist amongst the communities native to the region. The book is split into the modern and the past, describing sometimes parallel journeys, and is told wonderfully.
The book highlights the kind of that soul that longs to be alone, pushing themselves to the limit, to be the first to do something. Given his fascination with Fawcett and the burning desire to discover what happened to him, that focus is not at all surprising. Many throughout the book question Grann’s desires and intentions, himself included, but that desire ultimately wins out. And thankfully so, because in the end, Grann does find Z, but the manner in which is best left undescribed here lest it ruin the feeling that the end evoked within me. Suffice it to say, it is worth reading the book for if you have even the slightest of interest in the subjects of pioneering, anthropology, colonialism, and, well, humanity.
Carried within us are the spirits of those that built the first cities. The pioneers who left behind what they knew to seek out the unknown. The ones that built empires, created rituals and customs, laid down stone and wood, made us. Grann reflects on the nutrients left behind in ancient pots that reflect a tribe’s modern diet, realizing that the hunt for the ancient overlooks the wonder of today. The Europeans who stumbled onto the continent spent centuries wondering how exactly these people got here – about which European people left behind their stragglers that gave birth to the complex customs they saw before them because it was impossible for the “non-humans” they saw before them to do so. The entire time, they did not realize the devasted “savages” in front of them were survivors of the invisible war of pathogens and the visible cruelty of colonizers, driven to the brink of extinction and only recently allowed to bounce back. Maybe, we should stop looking for the glories of the bygone past and hope instead to create a golden age of today, lest the people of tomorrow have nothing to call home.
megganly's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
3.25
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed The Lost City of Z. Percy Harrison Fawcett, affectionately referred to as PHF by his family, was a thoroughly interesting person to read about, though I'm pretty glad I didn't know him in real life. He strikes me as a hard guy to be around if you have any sort of weakness. And I couldn't help thinking often how hard it must have been for Nina to remain married to him. His obsessions took him into dangerous places for months or years on end, leaving her behind to raise their three kids and barely eke out an existence.
PHF truly had wanderlust, and nothing was going to stand in his way. At one point he wrote in his journal, “Deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling. At first scarcely audible, it persisted until I could no longer ignore it. It was the voice of the wild places, and I knew that it was now part of me for ever.” This stayed with me throughout the rest of the book, and it's the one statement that best sums him up in my mind. I absolutely love "...the voice of the wild places." It's such a poetic and beautiful way to think about the obsession that eventually took his life and made the lives of his family members such a struggle.
Reading this book it was easy to understand the "Fawcett Freaks," the people who became obsessed with discovering what exactly happened to him. I had never heard of PHF before I began reading this book, and when it got to the part where the author was seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and walking away my mind was crying out, "No! Don't stop! We don't have answers yet!." Without realizing it, I'd joined their ranks, although I am only an armchair freak, not a diehard. I kinda still have nightmares of the stories emerging from the many expeditions PHF made, especially about the bugs and creepy crawleys. I can safely say that these passages will keep me from ever wanting to follow in his footsteps. Ugh!
At one point Paolo says to Grann, "Only the jungle knows all," meaning that he believes nobody will ever find out what truly happened to PHF's last expedition. I thought that was the shortest and best description of the mysteries surrounding the last expedition. I think he's probably right. The jungle knows, and she's not telling. Fawcett's disappearance will most likely remain one of the great mysteries.
But the city of Z, on the other hand....well we get some tantalizing clues in the last chapter. I absolutely loved Michael Heckenberger, whom Grann encounters towards the end of his journey. This anthropologist has uncovered so many fascinating things about the history of the Kuikuro people. The remains of their vast settlements and how beautifully they were laid out...this part took my breath away. It was fascinating. I would definitely like to read more about him and the work he's doing, because it's fascinating. When he says, "You can see the past in the present," and shows Grann all the things around him and how they point to a magnificent history that most people in the world overlooked it gave me goose bumps.
There is still so much we don't know. And to a person with wanderlust, that's what will always make our world a fascinating place to explore.
PHF truly had wanderlust, and nothing was going to stand in his way. At one point he wrote in his journal, “Deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling. At first scarcely audible, it persisted until I could no longer ignore it. It was the voice of the wild places, and I knew that it was now part of me for ever.” This stayed with me throughout the rest of the book, and it's the one statement that best sums him up in my mind. I absolutely love "...the voice of the wild places." It's such a poetic and beautiful way to think about the obsession that eventually took his life and made the lives of his family members such a struggle.
Reading this book it was easy to understand the "Fawcett Freaks," the people who became obsessed with discovering what exactly happened to him. I had never heard of PHF before I began reading this book, and when it got to the part where the author was seriously thinking about throwing in the towel and walking away my mind was crying out, "No! Don't stop! We don't have answers yet!." Without realizing it, I'd joined their ranks, although I am only an armchair freak, not a diehard. I kinda still have nightmares of the stories emerging from the many expeditions PHF made, especially about the bugs and creepy crawleys. I can safely say that these passages will keep me from ever wanting to follow in his footsteps. Ugh!
At one point Paolo says to Grann, "Only the jungle knows all," meaning that he believes nobody will ever find out what truly happened to PHF's last expedition. I thought that was the shortest and best description of the mysteries surrounding the last expedition. I think he's probably right. The jungle knows, and she's not telling. Fawcett's disappearance will most likely remain one of the great mysteries.
But the city of Z, on the other hand....well we get some tantalizing clues in the last chapter. I absolutely loved Michael Heckenberger, whom Grann encounters towards the end of his journey. This anthropologist has uncovered so many fascinating things about the history of the Kuikuro people. The remains of their vast settlements and how beautifully they were laid out...this part took my breath away. It was fascinating. I would definitely like to read more about him and the work he's doing, because it's fascinating. When he says, "You can see the past in the present," and shows Grann all the things around him and how they point to a magnificent history that most people in the world overlooked it gave me goose bumps.
There is still so much we don't know. And to a person with wanderlust, that's what will always make our world a fascinating place to explore.
kingutis's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.75
It was an interesting reading, although I didn't get the answer as to what happened to Percy Fawcett.
trin's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, I officially do not want to go to the Amazon. I am open to the possibility of going almost anywhere—I love adventure! In a please-god-let-there-be-adequate-bathroom-facilities sort of way—but the Amazon is now officially off my list. The bugs! The snakes! The parasitic worms! Haha, okay, I think I am perfectly happy visiting this region from my armchair only.
Fortunately, Grann makes the journey exciting and vivid. He combines the story of Percy Fawcett—one of the last of the terribly English, gentlemanly explorers, who disappeared in the Amazon while searching for a (possibly apocryphal) lost city he called Z—with his own search for evidence of Fawcett’s fate and with a wealth of history about the region and about exploration in general. There is so much fascinating information in this book it’s almost overwhelming, and yet that narrative is also fast-paced and consistently engaging. This is the kind of true-life story that even the best fiction would have a hard time rivaling.
Fortunately, Grann makes the journey exciting and vivid. He combines the story of Percy Fawcett—one of the last of the terribly English, gentlemanly explorers, who disappeared in the Amazon while searching for a (possibly apocryphal) lost city he called Z—with his own search for evidence of Fawcett’s fate and with a wealth of history about the region and about exploration in general. There is so much fascinating information in this book it’s almost overwhelming, and yet that narrative is also fast-paced and consistently engaging. This is the kind of true-life story that even the best fiction would have a hard time rivaling.
mannim's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.0
harini1308's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5