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A review by grace_b_3
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
informative
sad
slow-paced
2.0
I really liked Killers of the Flower Moon, but this one wasn’t as compelling for me.
This was an earlier book by Grann, so part of it may be him figuring out his writing style and such. I didn’t like how present he was in the narrative of this book.
I also found the subject matter of Killers more interesting. There were things in this book that I would like to learn more about (mainly about the various Amazonian tribes and the lost civilization found there), but the focus, Fawcett, is what I found the least interesting. I did like the angle of his family and learning how his and Jack’s disappearance affected them, but the actual narrative of various expeditions to the Amazon was not what kept me reading. Exploring the Amazon seems like a horrible experience and reading about someone repeatedly subjecting themself and others to it just wasn’t for me.
If you find people pushing themselves to the limits of their endurance in harsh environments compelling, this might be the book for you. Especially if you enjoy a story with a tragic, doomed air—from the start you know he went into and never came out and the book is just building towards that moment.
This was an earlier book by Grann, so part of it may be him figuring out his writing style and such. I didn’t like how present he was in the narrative of this book.
I also found the subject matter of Killers more interesting. There were things in this book that I would like to learn more about (mainly about the various Amazonian tribes and the lost civilization found there), but the focus, Fawcett, is what I found the least interesting. I did like the angle of his family and learning how his and Jack’s disappearance affected them, but the actual narrative of various expeditions to the Amazon was not what kept me reading. Exploring the Amazon seems like a horrible experience and reading about someone repeatedly subjecting themself and others to it just wasn’t for me.
If you find people pushing themselves to the limits of their endurance in harsh environments compelling, this might be the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Abandonment
Insects