The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon in Around the World in 80 Books

Mar 01, 2011 Kay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: travelogues, eccentrics, nonfiction, audiobooks, latin_america, exploration-adventure, credulity

Any book that makes me re-examine an opinion has got something going for it. Years back I read and reviewed several books on Percy Fawcett, the famed explorer who disappeared in the 1920's while on a quest to find a lost civilization he called "Z" in the Amazon. One of these books was a compilation of Fawcett's writings edited posthumously by his son Brian. If I remember correctly, my assessment of Fawcett was that he was a crackpot. This opinion was reinforced by the other Fawcett-related book Any book that makes me re-examine an opinion has got something going for it. Years back I read and reviewed several books on Percy Fawcett, the famed explorer who disappeared in the 1920's while on a quest to find a lost civilization he called "Z" in the Amazon. One of these books was a compilation of Fawcett's writings edited posthumously by his son Brian. If I remember correctly, my assessment of Fawcett was that he was a crackpot. This opinion was reinforced by the other Fawcett-related book I read, Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming (Ian's brother), a tragi-comic account of an expedition Fleming joined which sought to find out what had happened to Fawcett nearly 10 years after his disappearance.

However, it was clear to me after reading The Lost City of Z that Fawcett was less buffoonish than I had imagined; indeed, he comes across as quite complex and even admirable in many ways. The fact that he became obsessed with a quest for an unlikely sort of El Dorado, influenced heavily by theories of charlatan spiritualists of his time such as Madame Blavatsky, shouldn't really overshadow his other accomplishments.

There is also an undeniable fascination about his disappearance. In fact, as David Grann estimates, there have been almost a hundred people who have perished while trying to follow in Fawcett's footsteps. Some, granted, were as misguided as Fawcett. Indeed, Fawcett's disappearance has spawned a whole subculture that believes, among other things, that the 57-year-old Fawcett finally succeeded in finding an advanced race deep in the jungle, and that he still lives among them in the subterranean city of Ibez. (By my calculation, that would make Fawcett 143 at this writing. Try googling "Ibez" + "Fawcett" and see what turns up.)

However, despite Fawcett's unconventional views, it seems that he really was on to something. Grann does a terrific job of telling two tales: that of Fawcett's quest and that of his own, to find out what happened to him. It would be a real spoiler to reveal Grann's ultimate conclusion, but suffice it to say it vindicates Fawcett in a way I'd never anticipated. I was happy to have my former opinion of this famous and ill-fated explorer revised. ...more

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Jan 10, 2019 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-books-read, brazil, nonfiction

AUTHOR Grann, David
TITLE The Lost City of Z
DATE READ 01/09/19
RATING 4/B
GENRE/ PUB D ATE/PUBLISHER / # OF Non-Fic/2005/Random House/319
SERIES/STAND-ALONE SA
CHARACTERS British Explorer Percy Fawcett
TIME/PLACE Early 1900's to 1990's
COMMENTS In the mid 1920's British Explorer Percy Fawcett along with his son Jack went on an expedition to Amazonia -- to find the Lost City of Z. This City was expected to be very deep into the jungles of Brazil. Percy Fawcett believed that this city predated other ...more

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