Cost: $3.00US
Page Count: 319
I'm going to review a book I read a while ago. So, bear with me. This installment of Stale Reviews is The Lost City of Z by David Grann. This book was excellent, but not what I expected when I picked it up. For some reason, I was expecting a thriller-type narrative. This is not what Grann put in the book. The Lost City of Z was a biographical expose on the hunt by British explorer Percy Fawcett of the Amazon rain forest in search of the title city.
Z was supposedly a lost civilization tucked deep within the jungles of the Amazon. Fawcett, an avid and experienced explorer, was determined to find it and set out with a small army of people to find the city. Why would someone put themselves and their fellow explorers at such risk? Well, that answer is easy: Gold, dude. However, after a while searching for gold and the city in the harsh and unforgiving jungle...he disappeared. The story is based on journals and the stories of surviving family members.
I am a fan of travel fiction. The Lost City of Z is travel fiction to the extreme. Grann does a fantastic job of building a solid narrative while staying true to the story of Fawcett and his expedition. Without Grann's awesome storytelling prowess, this novel would have been really short. It would've been like this: Fawcett wants to find Z, goes into the jungle and never comes back, the end. That would've been lame. The Lost City of Z goes far beyond and gives history, personal narratives, family history, and the like.
I am considering giving this book another read. It's worth the time and effort to read through the book once more just to get the story down. I cannot say enough about this book. It's way worth the three bucks I spent. In fact, I probably should've bought this one new...if I could afford it.
The Lost City of Z is an absolute winner. Pick it up if you get the chance.
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