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adunten 's review for:
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
It's most interesting to read this book if you've ever visited Peru. If you've been there, then you've almost certainly been to Cusco, former seat of the Inca Empire and gateway to Machu Picchu, and to Machu Picchu itself, as they're considered non-optional stops for any tourist trip to Peru. I'm sure it's an even more interesting read if you've ever hiked any part of the “Inca Trail,” which I haven't. It's fun to recognize the names of places you've been (for me, it was major stops like Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo), and the more of them you've been to, the more fun the pointing and grinning “I've been there!” aspect of the story is.
The story is in three layers with frequent switching between them – a structure I found interesting and not as hard to follow as you might think. In Layer 1, you have our author/protagonist, Mark, a writer for an outdoor adventure magazine who lives in New York City and is, ironically, about as unadventurous as they come. He's your relatable average schmoe who somehow landed this job despite not being particularly outdoorsy or adventurous, and for reasons I've now forgotten but which are explained at the beginning of the book, decides around 2010 he's going to hike the Inca Trail, and not just the popular one that everyone hikes. He's going to get out on the some of the other, much lesser known, Inca trails and have himself a real adventure, despite being ignorant, out of shape, and unprepared. He hires himself an expert guide and a bunch of porters, cooks, and mules, and off he goes. Aside from speaking some passable Spanish and having a Peruvian wife, he's your basic entitled white norteamericano. Some hilarity and plenty of eye-rolling moments ensue as our hapless hero encounters the realities of the Andes. Some people have panned this book because Mark is such a typical example of the infamous white American traveler's sense of privilege, but you don't have to like him or approve of all his choices to find this book an enjoyable and interesting vread. And honestly, how much better would you really do? I spent six months learning rudimentary Spanish before my Peru trip, but it sure never occurred to me to learn Quechua, which at least one reviewer thought any responsible traveler to the Andes should do.
Mark is following the footsteps of Hiram Bingham, the man widely (and in the purest sense of the word, incorrectly) credited with “discovering” Machu Picchu in 1911, and Bingham's story makes up Layer 2. Mark begins with some personal history about Bingham, and the story follows the ups and downs of Bingham's career as well as the literal ups and downs of his expeditions through the Andes and the things he saw and wrote about. (It's more fair to say that what Bingham really did was rescue Macchu Picchu from obscurity and neglect, and ensure it would be known to the world and preserved as a treasured part of Peru's national heritage, rather than being destroyed by rapacious treasure hunters as so many other Inca ruins have been. Still a significant accomplishment, even though it wasn't "lost" in the sense that people like to think of.)
Layer 3 is the more ancient and obscure history of the latter days of the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, which in many cases is filled with inferences and guesswork because so little is firmly known and nearly all of it is filtered through the lens of the victorious Spanish conquistadors. It deals with mysteries like, “Who built Machu Picchu and what was it for?” and “What's the significance of all these extremely well-built roads that lead to incredibly obscure and hard-to-reach places (even by Peruvian standards) deep in the mountains and cloud forests?” and “What really happened at the legendary last stand of the Incas at Machu Picchu?” These are the kinds of questions that have captivated adventurers, historians, and archaeologists for centuries, and it's hard not to find yourself a little captivated, too.
Other travel/adventure books it led me to: [b:Wind, Sand and Stars|8837|Wind, Sand and Stars|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328876428l/8837._SY75_.jpg|1198592] [b:The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom|9013|The Long Walk The True Story of a Trek to Freedom|Slavomir Rawicz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417980460l/9013._SX50_.jpg|1019008] [b:The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|3398625|The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320487318l/3398625._SY75_.jpg|3438638]
It's most interesting to read this book if you've ever visited Peru. If you've been there, then you've almost certainly been to Cusco, former seat of the Inca Empire and gateway to Machu Picchu, and to Machu Picchu itself, as they're considered non-optional stops for any tourist trip to Peru. I'm sure it's an even more interesting read if you've ever hiked any part of the “Inca Trail,” which I haven't. It's fun to recognize the names of places you've been (for me, it was major stops like Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo), and the more of them you've been to, the more fun the pointing and grinning “I've been there!” aspect of the story is.
The story is in three layers with frequent switching between them – a structure I found interesting and not as hard to follow as you might think. In Layer 1, you have our author/protagonist, Mark, a writer for an outdoor adventure magazine who lives in New York City and is, ironically, about as unadventurous as they come. He's your relatable average schmoe who somehow landed this job despite not being particularly outdoorsy or adventurous, and for reasons I've now forgotten but which are explained at the beginning of the book, decides around 2010 he's going to hike the Inca Trail, and not just the popular one that everyone hikes. He's going to get out on the some of the other, much lesser known, Inca trails and have himself a real adventure, despite being ignorant, out of shape, and unprepared. He hires himself an expert guide and a bunch of porters, cooks, and mules, and off he goes. Aside from speaking some passable Spanish and having a Peruvian wife, he's your basic entitled white norteamericano. Some hilarity and plenty of eye-rolling moments ensue as our hapless hero encounters the realities of the Andes. Some people have panned this book because Mark is such a typical example of the infamous white American traveler's sense of privilege, but you don't have to like him or approve of all his choices to find this book an enjoyable and interesting vread. And honestly, how much better would you really do? I spent six months learning rudimentary Spanish before my Peru trip, but it sure never occurred to me to learn Quechua, which at least one reviewer thought any responsible traveler to the Andes should do.
Mark is following the footsteps of Hiram Bingham, the man widely (and in the purest sense of the word, incorrectly) credited with “discovering” Machu Picchu in 1911, and Bingham's story makes up Layer 2. Mark begins with some personal history about Bingham, and the story follows the ups and downs of Bingham's career as well as the literal ups and downs of his expeditions through the Andes and the things he saw and wrote about. (It's more fair to say that what Bingham really did was rescue Macchu Picchu from obscurity and neglect, and ensure it would be known to the world and preserved as a treasured part of Peru's national heritage, rather than being destroyed by rapacious treasure hunters as so many other Inca ruins have been. Still a significant accomplishment, even though it wasn't "lost" in the sense that people like to think of.)
Layer 3 is the more ancient and obscure history of the latter days of the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, which in many cases is filled with inferences and guesswork because so little is firmly known and nearly all of it is filtered through the lens of the victorious Spanish conquistadors. It deals with mysteries like, “Who built Machu Picchu and what was it for?” and “What's the significance of all these extremely well-built roads that lead to incredibly obscure and hard-to-reach places (even by Peruvian standards) deep in the mountains and cloud forests?” and “What really happened at the legendary last stand of the Incas at Machu Picchu?” These are the kinds of questions that have captivated adventurers, historians, and archaeologists for centuries, and it's hard not to find yourself a little captivated, too.
Other travel/adventure books it led me to: [b:Wind, Sand and Stars|8837|Wind, Sand and Stars|Antoine de Saint-Exupéry|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328876428l/8837._SY75_.jpg|1198592] [b:The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom|9013|The Long Walk The True Story of a Trek to Freedom|Slavomir Rawicz|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417980460l/9013._SX50_.jpg|1019008] [b:The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|3398625|The Lost City of Z A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon|David Grann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320487318l/3398625._SY75_.jpg|3438638]