Last week, I reviewed an audiobook about one of North America’s greatest explorations, The Lewis and Clark expedition. This week I thought it might be fun to follow the path of one of the greatest explorers in South America so I listened to the audiobook, The Lost City of Z by David Grann.
The following is my review of this work…
The premise of the book is great! We have a modern day writer (the author) whose curiosity is piqued by a story about Percy Fawcett who, in 1925 set out on a quest to find the lost city of Z, an El Dorado like place with an ancient and seemingly very advanced civilization located deep in the Amazon forest. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the explorer never returned from his trek! In an attempt to solve the mystery of the disappearance, David Grann determines to retrace the route of the explorer but first he must research Percy Fawcett’s life prior to the expedition. This book is the resulting work of the author’s research and ensuing adventure. I enjoyed becoming acquainted with Mr. Fawcett as the author introduced and wrote about this man’s life up until he vanished. I also found Grann’s description of the flora and fauna of the Amazon to be quite interesting - so very near to sounding like an entirely different planet from our own or perhaps the stuff of science fiction and yet, it could be encountered on a daily basis in that region! I was also intrigued by the idea of a previously undiscovered ancient civilization.
This was a fun one to listen to, my only critique being that the author does become a bit digressive at times (or perhaps my patience was simply tried as I wanted to learn what happened and if there really was a lost city)!
The subject material was very interesting and I am envious of the author’s journey of discovery. However, it was a bit wordy and digressive for me.
Submitted by: Tracy Sisson