Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Review: "Lost in Shangri-La" by Mitchell Zuckoff

When I was a little girl, I read all fourteen of the original Oz Books by L. Frank Baum, and as many of the subsequent knock-off books as I could get my hands on. The idea of a hidden fairy land right here on Earth intrigued and delighted me!

According to Baum, the reason that no one had found Oz was that it was surrounded by the Deadly Desert that nobody could cross. If you think about it, the whole story of the Wizard of Oz is Dorothy trying to escape from Oz, where she has become trapped!


I received a book for review (FTC disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of it.), "Lost in Shangri-La," by Mitchell Zuckoff, and soon realized that - like Oz - it too was about a civilization that nobody knew about - well into the twentieth century! Instead of a deadly desert, this hidden land was surrounded by mountains and a jungle.

The hidden land in Zuckoff's book is in the interior of New Guinea. Here is how he describes it (pg. 22):

"Peering down through the cockpit windows, Elsmore and Grimes saw several hundred small, clearly defined native villages. Surrounding the native compounds were carefully tended gardens, with primitive but effective irrigation systems, including dams and drainage ditches. 'Crops were in full growth everywhere and, unlike the scene in most tropic lands, the fields were literally alive with men, women, and children hard at work,' Elsmore marveled."



It actually sounds a little Oz-like; except on the ground rather than Munchkins there were men in penis gourds. In case you haven't seen one before, a penis gourd is gourd that you wear on your penis. The natives wore them, and there are pictures...it's pretty odd.

"Lost in Shangri-La" is not just a story about a new civilization. It is an adventure story about a plane that crash lands there during WWII and the ensuing effort to rescue the survivors. The survivors are in the mountains surrounded by 150 miles of jungle on all sides and among these mysterious new people.

I do not want to spoil the story by telling you what happens. I will tell you that I liked the book...maybe a 4 out of 5. It is non-fiction, and I felt as though I learned about an important event in history that I should have learned about before now! I am glad that I read this book, and would recommend it.

I found this video on Youtube. The author made it - it's an over-view of the story!




This review is part of a TLC Book Tour!







10 comments:

  1. I've heard good things about this book, and I hate to say it, but you made me curious about penis gourds. I'll refrain from Googling though. ;)

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    1. Don't feel bad - they are completely BIZARRE. The only problem is that if someone looks at your computer history they will wonder what on earth you were doing... ;)

      But, back to the book, (LOL!) I really did enjoy it. It's funny how truth is often a better story than fiction!

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  2. Ok, where my 10k:)) seriously. Was worth the visit even for free.

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  3. Aw...thanks! That's nice of you! Thanks for coming!

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  4. great review Libby. I have had this book forever so now i am more curious than ever to dive into it. thanks for the info on gourds - keep my eye out for that as i read the book. glad you enjoyed the story, non-fiction is always more interesting than non-fiction most of the time. thanks for your thoughts

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    1. Ooops i meant non-fiction is more interesting than fiction.....my bad :(

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    2. I knew what you meant :) Definitely read it! It is very "readable" for non-fiction because it is just a good story. Well, and the author did a good job too!

      If he reads this he will be thinking, "Why are the women so interested in the stupid gourds? I am trying to write a serious non-fiction book about a world war and they keep bringing up the gourds." LOL! Actually, Mitchell, if you read this...I think you need to use the gourds as part of your marketing campaign :)

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  5. I totally just googled penis gourds. Haha.

    I like how you related this book to The Wizard of Oz.

    Also, the way you describe the book sounds like something that should be made into a movie!

    Thanks for being on the tour!

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    1. LOL! on the gourds(!)

      I think this would make a really good movie - because it has all of the elements - action, suspense, cool locale, beautiful girl...

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  6. Libby here...I just saw that this made WashingtonWeek's 2012 Summer Reading List!!

    http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/content/summer-2012-reading-list?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs

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