The Lost City Of Z Summary

David Grann is now 49 years old and was born in New York City in 1967. He is married to Kyra Darnton, a television producer, and has two children. He is a writer for the New Yorker magazine and The Lost City of Z is his first best-selling book (and was made into a movie) and was rated #4 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2009. Grann’s other works include an anthology of twelve essays, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, published in 2010 and his current task of writing a book about the Osage Indian murders.
This book revolves around a more negative aspect of wanderlust. Grann writes about explorers’ obsessions, in this case with the Amazon Forest and hidden cities filled with gold and advanced civilizations.

Fawcett insists that there is a lost “city of Z” in the Amazon and intends to find it. The fact that he willing to risk his life dozens of times by returning to the nearly uninhabitable forest many times and leaving behind his wife and children behind proves that there were personal and sociological issues in Fawcett’s life. He was also constantly hurting for money to provide supplies and equipment for his trips- an economical problem. Fawcett is challenged spiritually when he is faced with challenges constantly, and his life is a continuous scientific trial.
None of these issues affect me personally. There may be cases in the future when I wish to travel around the world and may be lacking money, creating a financial issue. Also, family members and friends may object to my leaving at a time if they consider a country to be dangerous or if I choose to go on my own.
All of the information Grann uses to describe Fawcett’s life and encounters are strictly scientific and factual. He gathered this information from old documents and interviews, with both white and tribal people. A smaller portion of the book is based on Grann’s personal experience in finding this information. In this part, he talks about his original beliefs Fawcett and the potentiality of advanced civilizations, and then his later opinion of the matter after going through all the hard evidence.
The language that the author uses is very objective.

Although this story is about how over a hundred people died trying to find and rescue Fawcett and also find the Lost City of Z, there is not much passion about these tragedies. All of these people knew the endless amount of dangers in the Amazon Rain Forest, the most dangerous being hostile cannibalous tribes. Certain documented deaths were expressed with some passion and sympathy, but overall only the facts were displayed and in an organized manner. I think that the way the author writes helps his premise but I also believe he could have been a bit more passionate and tried to turn the book into more of a “story”.
The book ends with the confirmation that advanced civilizations existed in the Amazon years ago and no longer exist because of disease. Grann wording suggests that there are other things that twentieth century scientists have deemed impossible and will deem impossible could truly be real and may simply exist in a form that exceeds their comprehension. The Amazon Rain Forest is a popular topic because it is roughly the size of Australia and its canopies hide secrets that have yet to be explored. It would be surprising if there weren’t more positive discoveries in the

future.
Most of the issues that come up in this book apply to Fawcett solely. But there are a few things that come up that affect the tribal people of the Amazon and those willing to explore the forest. Because many groups of white people have shot any tribes’ people on sight, conflicts have arisen and affected other explorers that mean no harm. Fawcett had to risk his life many times when he had a poisoned arrow pointed at his heart by setting down his weapons and walking towards the “enemy” slowly. This ended up working out well until the one time that it didn’t. Some of the tribes raise their children up to fear and hate anyone with white skin, reasons behind this being numerous murders and the diseases that wiped out complete thousands. When the world learned of the people living in the Amazon, they treated them as beasts instead of humans and this disrespect continued until they were proved otherwise by ancient artifacts that proved there were people in South America hundreds of years ago that were more advanced than Europeans today. I believe that everyone should be treated equally and no one is inferior, despite their circumstances or abilities.
Many accidents happen to white people because they don’t believe their dreams. When Grann was talking to an old tribal woman about Fawcett, this was said. The tribes in the Amazon are much more spiritual and in touch with nature and the earth than the Europeans surrounded by busy cities and schedules. It is said that your dreams are messages from your subconscious mind and this old woman is one of many that take it to a more extreme level. I thought that this was an interesting and important quote because, in a way, it defines the widespread culture in the Amazon. Different surroundings can impact how one lives their life and the habits and beliefs they develop. I think that the tribespeople are more in tune with their inner self and that is why they believe that dreams are so important and can affect the future.
The title “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” is extremely relevant to the contents of the book. Fawcett was an explorer who spent his life searching for this lost city that he called “Z”, a city that was never found until years after his death. Z is lost in two senses because, while Fawcett was still alive and searching, there were rumors and legends of this city but no hard evidence. In the other sense, after Fawcett had died, Grann went searching himself and found that there had indeed been a city but those who populated it had been wiped out by disease, therefore leaving the city to be forever lost. And as for the subtitle of “obsession”, I think this is very appropriate because that is what Fawcett had- an obsession with finding this city that supposedly was extremely advanced and beautiful and overflowing with gold and jewels.
My favorite part of this book was when Fawcett faced a tribe in the bravest of ways. He did not believe in killing anyone, or any animals for that matter, and before heading out on a expedition, made his men swear to not shoot or attack a person, no matter the level of danger. They always agreed but were hesitant to obey Fawcett when the time actually came. There was an instance when they group was on the opposite side of a bank as a hostile tribe, who had poisonous arrows drawn and aimed. In response, Fawcett demanded every one of his men to drop their guns and knives, and he proceeded to do the same. His men watched, shocked, as he held up his hands and slowly walked into the river, advancing towards the “enemies”, completely vulnerable. They were amazed that this man was approaching his death with such bravery, and the chief had his men lower their weapons and greeted Fawcett in the middle of the river. He then led Fawcett into the forest, leaving behind Fawcett’s men in a panicky mess on the opposite bank. A few hours later, Fawcett returned to inform the others that they had been offered shelter and food for a night. I thought that this was a very noble and humane act because other explorers would have simply shot at the tribespeople and lives would have been lost on both sides.
Things I Learned
The Amazon Rainforest is nearly the size of Australia
There were many tribes centuries ahead of the Europeans as far as technology goes
Fawcett was the explorer that started the time of Amazonian exploration
There are “white” Indians
The Europeans originally thought that the people living in the Amazon were not even human
Maggots can live in you skin
There are tribes that are cannibals
Shoes that are too tight can kill you
There are bugs that will eat through clothing
Tribes kill the weak to keep down their numbers
Why do some people have such a great need to travel while it doesn’t even cross the minds of others to leave their hometown? Fawcett wanted to travel so much because he had a purpose- a lost civilization, treasure and scientific advancements. Perhaps the reason some people don’t want to travel is because they simply don’t see a reason to. Others wish to gain knowledge and experience and broaden their horizons, in addition to more objective reasons.
Why are others’ cultures so attractive and interesting?

Other cultures are interesting because they are different and we don’t usually understand the things that they do and why they do them. Learning about other people’s traditions from all over the world shows the diversity in people’s beliefs, habits and routine occurrences in everyday lives.
Does wanderlust have any correlation with eleutheromania? In the book it is said that "Explorers are not, perhaps, the most promising people with whom to build a society. Indeed, some might say that explorers become explorers precisely because they have a streak of unsociability and a need to remove themselves at regular intervals as far as possible from their fellow men.” Not wanting to be confined by society all the time can be viewed as a form of needing freedom, therefore following the definition of eleutheromania. So, yes, wanderlust does have something to do with eleutheromania.
How does traveling expand one’s horizons? Because both Fawcett and Grann traveled, the whole world’s horizons were expanded. The two men proved to the world that advanced civilizations did indeed exist in the Amazon, and the tribespeople living there today were discovered and challenged every scientist's view in that area of

expertise.
I really liked this book but am surprised that others viewed it good enough to make a movie out of. I thought it was very informational and appropriately organized. The entire story about Fawcett and how he inspired so many people with his ideas and determination made me realize how influential humans really are and how they will willingly risk their lives and others if money is involved. I have always been fascinated with the Amazon, especially with the drastic deforestation and death of animals that are occurring this very moment. This book didn’t talk much about that, but it did talk about the enslavement and killing of tribespeople by whites. It also mentioned how some tribes were cannibalistic and killed their weak to keep their numbers manageable, which I thought was a bit scary. I would recommend this book to others because not many people know about the largest rainforest in the world and the people and stories that inhabit it.