From The Shelf

THE LOST CITY OF Z - This is the story of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who set out to find the lost city of "El Dorado" in 1925. Fawcett forged deep into the Amazon jungle and south america in search of a "lost civilization," an unknown city he referred to as "Z." But eventually he disappeared and was never heard from again. As years and decades passed explorers and Fawcett fanatics all trekked through the Amazon in search of Fawcett and the city of "Z," and almost all of them disappeared as well and were never heard from again. Written by David Grann, this is both a retelling of Fawcett's life and disappearance, as well as a new expedition in search of what happened to Fawcett...led by Grann himself. In ways this book reads very similar to HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad...but the story is unbelievably true. Dark jungles, hostile tribes, wild animals, canoe rides down jungle rivers...it's all here. Overall I enjoyed this book, but I was hoping it would be better. The story and setting read like a classic jungle adventure, but the author's own adventures into the jungle and his expedition leave much to be desired. He does eventually learn where the lost city is, and he does come close to learning what happened to Fawcett, but the book never reached out and grabbed me like I thought it would. I think while the topic is very interesting the book would have been better served if it was written by a first-rate "adventure/non-fiction" author, such as Jon Krakauer. Good book...but could have been a lot better.