Douglas
Preston’s historical/journalistic approach recounting two successful
expeditions deep into the Honduras rainforest discovering and mapping the
fabled White City aka, and to promote the title, The Lost City Of The Monkey God, unfortunately comes across as a
dry, step-by-step account with an added historical element providing the
obligatory back story. Discoveries notwithstanding, what was missing was
something as wet as the jungle itself, and the narrative suffered as a result.
Not to
discount these jungle adventures, as Preston and the teams invading the Central
American landscape in search of archaeological destiny face many an obstacle;
bugs, parasites, infectious diseases, six-foot-long snakes, a completely
hostile environment, threatening narco cartels - not top ingredients for a
must-do vacation. The end result cannot be discounted either. Mapping and
exploring the White City is an incredible archaeological achievement and Preston
writes out every step.
However,
it is that literary bite of a fer-de-lance that eludes The Lost City Of The Monkey God. The journalistic report lacks the narrative
punch, which is what made David Grann’s The
Lost City of Z from 2009 so excitingly successful. Preston’s listing of
debates within the archaeological academia and interviews with the infectious
diseases team at NIH would certainly make for compelling research papers, but not
so much for those jonesing on New World exploration.
Many
thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advance read. A
tighter, more focused narrative would have certainly upped the excitement
factor for this one.
As
Always,
theJOE
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