I first read Paul Theroux's 1982 bestseller Mosquito Coast soon after it was published. Mid-winter of 2024, I was discussing that novel and a later travel book of Theroux's called The Last Train to Zona Verde with a new hiking friend. Zona Verde (2013) was itself kind of a "prep" book for my impending trip to Africa. On the spot, to entice this new friend to join and also because I wanted an excuse to re-read it, I decided to put Mosquito Coast into the queue for my book club. However, because I plan far in advance what my club will be reading, Theroux's early novel was slotted for the meeting in March of this year.
Many conversations with my fellow travelers while on that trip to Africa centered on books. By the time the trip was over, I had about twenty titles to explore, including The Lost City of the Monkey God (2017) by Douglas Preston, an author and book totally unfamiliar to me. Over parts of 2024 and early 2025, I worked my way through some of those titles but not Monkey God.
Fast forward to February 2025 when my club didn't meet due to inclement weather. Late in the month, I met 1x1 with one of the charter members to discuss our "missed" book. By then, I had already completed my re-read of Mosquito Coast and also re-watched the 1986 film adaptation. At that 1x1 meeting - as is our habit - this reading soulmate and I spoke of other stuff we'd recently enjoyed. Among others, she recommended The Lost City of the Monkey God. Now that I considered a coincidence - or the universe speaking to me - and decided right then to make Monkey God my next non-fiction read. I still had no idea what it was about or where it took place.
On March 10, the day before my club was scheduled to discuss Mosquito Coast, I opened The Lost City of the Monkey God for the first time and stopped after reading the first sentence: "Deep in Honduras, in a region called La Mosquitia, lie some of the last unexplored places on earth." I took a quick look at the map on the inside cover of Monkey God. Yeah, those river names looked familiar, as did a place called "Brewer's Lagoon". To ensure I was recollecting correctly, I grabbed notes I'd taken for Mosquito Coast to help me guide the discussion for my club. When I confirmed the two books were set in the exact same location in Honduras, I was so astonished I stopped reading and exclaimed to my wife - "You're not going to believe this!" I submit the word coincidence is not up to the job for this situation. When my club met to discuss Mosquito Coast the next day, I opened the discussion by describing my uncanny experience, reading aloud the first sentence of Monkey God. I'm still getting my head around the conclusion of this thirteen-month-long Honduran bookonnection.
p.s. The Lost City of the Monkey God is the best non-fiction book I've read so far in 2025.
I loved how you introduced Mosquito Coast last week with the fact that you started reading Lost City of the Monkey God and realized it also took place on Mosquito Coast. I had a similar experience this week. I call it serendipity.
ReplyDeleteSeveral weeks ago my husband and I watched a documentary about Amy Tan on American Masters. Then a friend sent me a link to an interview with Amy Tan specifically about her book The Backyard Bird Chronicles. I was so impressed with this interview and especially the beautiful illustrations of birds that she herself did that I bought the book as a birthday present for my husband. Two days ago I started The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard, a Colby College PBC Guru book club selection. Prior to reading the book, the moderators of this online book club shared a video of a writer's retreat in Guatemala built by the author. It is called Casa Paloma and is magical. Then I started reading the book. The main character started drawing at an early age and subsequently went to art school where her main subjects were birds. She ends up in an undisclosed country in Central America where there are 732 varieties of birds and takes up drawing birds again. I am about half way through and it appears that this talent for drawing birds might lead to a book deal of birds from all over the world with her illustrations. Very cool symmetry.
Ines; Thanks for the comment and for the bird book symmetry akin to my bookonnection.
DeleteCertain books find us, I think. This sounds like one of them. For myself, when a title keeps popping up from wildly different places I know it's time to take a look.
ReplyDeleteRegina; I agree. I do the same when a book comes at me from different directions. But this case went well beyond the norm of coincidence or serendipity hence my neologism - bookonnection. Thanks for the comment.
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