From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In 1925, renowned British explorer Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett embarked on a much publicized search to find the city of Z, site of an ancient Amazonian civilization that may or may not have existed. Fawcett, along with his grown son Jack, never returned, but that didn’t stop countless others, including actors, college professors and well-funded explorers from venturing into the jungle to find Fawcett or the city. Among the wannabe explorers is Grann, a staff writer for the New Yorker, who has bad eyes and a worse sense of direction. He became interested in Fawcett while researching another story, eventually venturing into the Amazon to satisfy his all-consuming curiosity about the explorer and his fatal mission. Largely about Fawcett, the book examines the stranglehold of passion as Grann’s vigorous research mirrors Fawcett’s obsession with uncovering the mysteries of the jungle. By interweaving the great story of Fawcett with his own investigative escapades in South America and Britain, Grann provides an in-depth, captivating character study that has the relentless energy of a classic adventure tale. (Feb.)
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I really enjoyed this book. I read it based on Rainy Day Books recommendation. This is not my usual genre, and it did take me a little while to get into it, but then I was hooked. I was fascinated by Colonel Fawcett and what he would do next, how he would do it, and if this trip would be his last. I’d never in my life considered what it would have been like to hike the Amazon, much less in the early 1900′s with very little technology. I am astounded that anyone made it out alive. And if they did, that they would ever want to go back.
I was a little disappointed in the part of the book that happened in modern times. I don’t feel that there was much to that part of the story. It seemed very thin. But maybe the author was too busy trying to survive to have time to take good notes.
I do wonder what happened for sure. I mean, I know he died, but how? And was Z really there? Did it really just sink down? There are some amazing things that tribes did thousands of years ago. I guess we’ll never know, just like the Kennedy assassination and the Holy Grail.
I give it 4 out of 5.
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