Sunday, May 28, 2017

The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston


The Lost City of the Monkey GodThe Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

2017

Another compelling novel by Douglas Preston
Author of The Monster of Florence (2008)
Review listed separately

Douglas Preston writes for The New Yorker, National Geographic, Smithsonian and has taught at Princeton University. He describes his dangerous expedition into the jungle of Honduras in 2015. His frank observations and detailed facts provide captivating history of the indigenous people of the "Lost City of the Monkey God".

"I first heard the legend of the White City in 1996, when I was on assignment from National Geographic to write a story about the ancient temples of Cambodia."

"Forever after, it became a forbidden place, and anyone who entered it would die of sickness or be killed by the devil."

"It was the first time our expedition had come together in one room, a rather motley crew of scientists, photographers, film producers, and archaeologists, plus me, a writer. We all had widely varying experience in wilderness skills."

“I’ve had dengue fever twice,” Woody said, and launched into a shockingly graphic description of the disease, which had almost killed him the second time. It is called “breakbone fever,” he said, because it is so painful you feel like your bones are breaking."

"The vociferousness of the criticism went far beyond the usual academic tiff or a dispute over language, and they were amazed that these scholars, who had never been to the site and had no idea where it was, would make claims like these with such certainty."

Of course such grand explorations come with criticism.
"All this made it clear that the protest letter was, in part, a proxy attack on the present Honduran government, an example of how the coup and its aftermath left the Honduran archaeological community angry and divided."

Fascinating read about a lost city and the life and death exploration to find it!



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