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This is another book selected by my book club that I never would have picked up on my own. It’s about exploring the Amazon in search of an ancient civilization. I’ve never had much interest in the Amazon and this book only confirmed my lack of desire to go there myself. Nevertheless, reading about it was fascinating.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book by David Grann, narrated by Mark Deakins. Deakins is a pretty good narrator, although he had some odd pronunciations for a few words that threw me off. Nevertheless, I found myself totally engrossed by this audiobook as I ran errands or did housework.
The book chronicles the life and adventures of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who made multiple excursions into the Amazon in order to explore the area. In 1925 he set off on his last mission, claiming he would return with proof of an ancient civilization that had been located at a city he named “Z.” Fawcett and his team were never seen or heard from again.
In addition to Fawcett’s life, the book talks about the myth of El Dorado and the numerous explorers who never returned from missions to find that famous mythical city. It also discusses Europeans’ original take on Native Americans and how their conceptions of them changed with increased exposure, especially with explorers like Fawcett who actually interacted with these people and learned respect for their ways (which is not to say Fawcett was not a racist. He totally was and had a pretty tough time trying to reconcile his preconceptions with his actual experiences).
Much like with the pilgrims and Native Americans on North America, the white guys kept dropping like flies while the Native Americans had no problem living in their own environment. Fawcett had an amazing constitution that gave him way more energy than the average person and protected him from the various bugs and diseases that infected most of his traveling companions. His decision to ask questions first and shoot later when it came to the natives allowed him to learn their ways and figure out how to live off the land of the Amazon, whereas most white people starved to death shortly after their rations ran out.
Despite these advantages, Fawcett, his son, Jack, and Jack’s friend who accompanied them, disappeared into the Amazon and were never heard from again. No one knows if they starved, fell ill, were taken captive and/or killed by natives. Despite his friendly terms with many of the tribes, some were known to be more hostile than others, and it seems like the latter was most likely their fate.
Scattered between chapters of Fawcett’s expeditions were chapters that covered Grann’s own growing obsession with the topic the more he learned about it. It got to the point where he decided to go on his own expedition to the Amazon, despite being a confirmed city dweller who loves and consistently takes advantage of all his modern comforts.
I think the best part of the book was at the very end. In the Amazon, Grann runs into Michael Heckenberger, an anthropology professor from Florida. Not only that, but the two men just happen to meet at what appears to be Fawcett’s lost city of Z. According to Heckenberger, Fawcett’s problem was that he was assuming the city would be constructed of stone, like so many European cities. But stone is much harder to come by in the Amazon than it is in parts of Europe, so it’s much more likely the inhabitants of Z used materials such as wood and mud, which decompose much more quickly.
Heckenberger starts by pointing out a ditch to Grann, then telling him it was once a moat, probably at least 900 years old. It turns out that moat was just one of three moats, in concentric circles, all surrounding an ancient dwelling. Heckenberger also points out shards of pottery, which can be found anywhere in the area with very little digging, and compares them to modern pottery, a process that reveals striking similarities. There are also darker patches of earth, which probably got that way by being enriched by the ashes and charcoal of fires centuries ago. There even appear to have been roads and causeways that formed a grid pattern. The civilization was most likely wiped out when the Europeans came over, leaving only a few survivors whose descendants make up at least some the tribes of Amazon Native Americans today.
Although reading about Fawcett and various explorers’ fascination with both the Amazon and Fawcett’s mysterious disappearance, I was astounded by the surprise ending. To think that Grann (or at least Heckenberger) succeeded where Fawcett failed.
What did you guys read this week? Anything you wouldn’t have picked up on your own but found fascinating anyway?