East to Read, But Little Substance

"Jungleland" is written by a New York native who has a midlife crisis and decides to go to Honduras to track down a legendary lost city. The author alternates chapters between his diary and the story of an American explorer in the early 1940s.

It seemed like the author decided from the get-go that he was going to obsess about the legend, as if an obsession would make his crisis and his uncomfortable conditions more authentic. The author spends a great deal of time talking about the dangers of drug-runners, an invasion by the exiled president, malaria, and river bandits, but the worst thing the author encounters are terrible blisters on his feet.

Predictably, the lost city becomes a metaphor for something the author had all along: his family and his life in New York.

On the positive side, "Jungleland" is an easy read. It falls off toward the end when the alternating chapters stop paralleling each other (a lot was squeezed out of the 19040s explorer's story, perhaps in an attempt to beef up the length of the book). Nevertheless, the writing style is enjoyable. ( )

Jungleland is a true story that reads like fiction. This story is part adventure story and part WW2 spy story. I liked the short chapters and all the interesting characters Stewart meets along the way. Stewart is in search of the White City deep in the Honduran jungle. He tries to follow the same route Theodore Mode's expedition took in 1940. Will he find it and does the Ciudad Blanca actually exist? ( )

This book reads like the written edition of Expedition Unknown. A contemporary author is trying to follow the trail of an earlier explorer in the jungle. very hard to get into - not my favorite form of literature. Harder to read than see on TV. ( )

Stewart, a journalist who "doesn't like camping" sets out to find a mysterious lost city in the Amazon rainforest. Alternating with his own story, he recounts the tales of others who have searched for the same goal. In my opinion, the success of this type of travel/adventure depends upon both the attitude and the storytelling ability of the author. An overly high opinion of oneself or the importance of one's "mission," or an inability to tell a story well are the two reasons some attempts at this fall flat. Stewart does not take himself or his "quest" so seriously that you want to laugh at him,but yet, his reactions and experiences feel genuine and interesting. He also tells the stories of others quite well. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the travel/adventure genre. It is neither hardboiled nor saccharine, striking just the right balance for an exciting but essentially frivolous adventure story. ( )

This could have been a fascinating book. But the author is a whiner having some sort of crisis. Two stars because its still an exciting story notwithstanding. ( )