The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon Visions of the Amazon

The Amazon is more than a river. It's more than a jungle. It's more than a super convenient website where you can order anything. And it's more than the setting of The Lost City of Z. David Grann paints us a vivid portrait of the jungle as the world viewed it in 1920. He shows us how "Western" opinions of the jungle developed and evolved, and he shows us how they continue to change today.

On the other hand, the more things change, they more they seem to stay the same. Today, as it was when early explorers first ventured inside it, the Amazon is dangerous, filled with parasites, and easy to get lost in. And we're just talking about the website. Don't even get us started on the jungle.

Questions About Visions of the Amazon

1. What do people think the Amazon is like when Fawcett first begins exploring it? How do his contributions—and Rice's findings—change the world's opinion of the jungle?
2. How is the jungle different today than it was when Fawcett explored it? How has it remained the same?
3. Do you think tribal life has changed, or is it just that Western civilization's knowledge of it has changed?
4. How do you think the Amazon will look a hundred years from now?

Chew on This

No explorer or observer can pass through an area without leaving it untouched. The more outsiders there are who visit the Amazon, the more the Amazon changes for future generations.

If this book had an antagonist, it would be the Amazon. It's dangerous, mysterious, and misleading, like all great supervillains.