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Welcome to the final Online Book Club discussion of The Lost City of Z!

How did the end of the book go for you? Did it end like you thought it would? 

Wasn’t it really sad that Fawcett had to endure such poverty and loss of position after World War I? I thought it was interesting that he fought in the war, but I couldn’t believe how hard it was for him to get back to the Amazon after the war. His family endured a lot while helping to support his dreams of finding Z. It was really sad that his family never really got closure and was always waiting for Fawcett and his son to come back. 

David Grann’s narrative was pretty interesting in this last section. He was able to talk to a lady who might have seen Fawcett and his crew. Do you think she really met Fawcett, or was she remembering another group of explorers? Were you afraid that Grann was going to be really hurt while traveling around the jungle? When he got separated from his guide, it seemed like he might come to real harm. I was really relieved when he made it back to his guide and made it safe to his destination. 

Were you shocked when Grann was shown the remains of that civilization by Heckenberger? There were roads, defensive moats, canals, and human dwellings. Do you think this was the elusive Z that Fawcett tried to find? Wasn’t it so sad that he was so close to finding a civilization like this? 

Throughout the book, Grann mentions that people went to the Amazon trying to find Fawcett, and many people claimed to have information about him. We looked at the Fawcett Adventure website last week, and it also includes old newspaper articles about Fawcett. These articles show that Fawcett was an elusive figure and many false stories circulated about him throughout the years. Make sure to click through a couple of the articles to find out more about Fawcett and the search to find him. 

I hope you enjoyed the book this month! It was a pretty fun adventure story, wasn’t it? Make sure to let me know if the story of Fawcett inspired you to take any summer explorations. 

Join us again next month as we read Everything, Everything. And, make sure to leave me a comment to tell what you thought of the end of the book! I look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Lost City of Z.

Are you still enjoying the story? Have you been inspired by Fawcett and are now itching to go and explore? I think this story is reinforcing my inclination to stay inside and not go into creature-infested jungle water.

The hardest and most disgusting thing to read in this section was the description of James Murray, the polar scientist who accompanied Fawcett on one exploration, and the maggots that infested his body. I almost passed out when I read that he had maggots growing under his skin and was able to count 50 around his elbow alone. Just thinking about that now makes my skin crawl and makes me start to itch all over. I cannot imagine seeing such a sight. The physical toll that these explorations took on the men is just astounding. Everything they encountered was extremely dangerous and left them with all sorts of injuries and ailments. Could you believe that Fawcett appeared to be unaffected by the conditions, though? He seemed to be the only person who didn’t have some sort of horrible injury.

Wasn’t it so cool that Grann was able to connect with one of Fawcett’s granddaughters? It was really neat that she was willing to share documents with Grann and was willing to let him look through Fawcett’s journals. The little tidbit she shared about Fawcett’s signet ring bathed in blood was pretty chilling. Do you think that shows that Fawcett was brutally murdered on his last expedition? What do you think about the Dead Horse Camp and the fake coordinates? Do you really think that Fawcett left those behind in an effort to stop people from finding Z?

If you’re interested in learning more about Fawcett, author Ben Hammott’s website has historical articles and modern information about him, including a photo of Fawcett’s granddaughter wearing what she claims to be his signet ring.

This section ends with Grann describing a historical document that he viewed in Rio de Janeiro. It was pretty brave of Grann to travel all the way to Brazil without knowing for sure if he was going to be able to look at the document. This document was really important, though, because it claimed that a Portuguese soldier found an ancient city in the middle of the jungle. This document was enough, in Fawcett’s mind, to prove that there was a lost city to explore. What do you think? Do you think this document was definitive proof that there was an ancient city like Z? Why didn’t more people know about it, and why couldn’t anyone find it? 

What were your impressions of this section? Do you think that Grann will be able to discover a lost city by the end of the book? Do you have any ideas about what might have happened to Fawcett during his last journey? I’m anxious to hear what you’re thinking about the book so far.

Make sure to finish the book before you join us next week. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section.

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Lost City of Z!

I don’t know about you all, but I was totally hooked by the preface. Wasn’t it so good? Immediately, I was transported into the jungle with David Grann, and I could imagine myself in his shoes as he tried to follow his map despite the fact that he was lost and covered in bug bites. Were you worried about Grann? Did you wonder how he made it out of the jungle intact enough to write the book?

What were your first impressions of Fawcett? In those first pages of description, we see that he is hardened, adventurous, and determined. Did he fit your image of what an explorer should be? Did he make you think of Indiana Jones? I loved the descriptions in chapter six about the explorer school he attended before he went out on his first missions. Those classes and skills that Fawcett learned there were indispensable—especially since he was embarking into completely into unknown territory. Could you imagine having to learn so many different ways to survive and adapt since you didn’t really know what you would encounter once you got to your destination? My favorite thing that Fawcett learned was that if he got a venomous snakebite, he would have to “ignite gunpowder in the wound” and “burn out” the infected area with an iron ramrod. If I heard that sort of suggestion, I would immediately give up all of my dreams of becoming an explorer. Can you imagine thinking about attempting those sorts of medical procedures? Would explorer school have scared you away from being an explorer?

In chapter eight, Grann casually mentions that Theodore Roosevelt explored an Amazon tributary in 1914. I had no idea that Roosevelt took an Amazon journey, so I did a little digging to find out more about his trip. Apparently, Roosevelt went on the trip after losing the election that would have given him a third presidential term. The journey was so hard that he almost died—at one point, he demanded to be left alone to die in the jungle. If you want to read more about his journey, check out this article from History.com. And, if you want to watch a documentary about his journey, check out Into the Amazon from American Experience on PBS. Check out the trailer, if you’re interested.

What other parts of these first eight chapters stood out to you? What did you think of the story of the father and son team who tried to follow Fawcett’s journey, only to be kidnapped by Indians? What did you think of the sections where Grann writes about his own preparations for attempting to explore the jungle?

I hope you’ll leave a comment telling me your thoughts on these first chapters. I’m really interested to see if you are enjoying this book as much as I did. Make sure you read chapters 9-16 for next week. I look forward to interacting with you in the comments section!

Welcome to a new Online Book Club discussion for June! This month, we’re reading The Lost City of Z by David Grann.

The Online Book Club, in case you’ve never joined us before, is a book discussion group that takes place entirely online. Each week, I write a new blog post that talks about different aspects of the book, and you can interact directly with me and other readers by leaving a comment in the comments section. Make sure you check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about!

The Lost City of Z is a true story of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who traveled all over the Amazon in search of a lost civilization he called “Z.” After several journeys through the jungle, Fawcett took one final journey and completely disappeared. Determined to solve the mystery of Fawcett’s last trip, David Grann, the author, attempted to follow Fawcett’s footsteps to see if he could find the city that Fawcett so desperately wanted to find. The story jumps between Fawcett’s work as an explorer in the 1920s and Grann’s work from the early 2000s.

This book reads like an adventure story, so it’s a perfect read for summer. If you’re not convinced that you want to read the book along with us, though, check out the The Lost City of Z movie instead. Feel free to leave comments on our blog posts, even if you’re just watching the movie and not reading along. Check out the movie trailer if you want to know more about the story.

We’ll be discussing the first eight chapters next week, so make sure to read those before checking out the blog post. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!