To the Last City

by Colin Thubron

Book by Colin Thubron

Genres: Travel, Fiction, British Literature

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2002

About the author

Colin Thubron, CBE FRSL is a Man Booker nominated British travel writer and novelist.

In 2008, The Times ranked him 45th on their list of the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Thubron was appointed a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours. He is a Fellow and, as of 2010, President of the Royal Society of Literature.

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting and situation of this novella when I read the back cover seemed promising, peaking my interest (five travellers thrown together for a difficult trek in Peru).
There were some interesting observations/themes and the descriptions of the environment were well done (he is a travel writer after all); but all the characters seemed two dimensional at best, and so the story never came to life for me.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

2004 notebook: nice stuff on stars, ravines, lakes but characters a bit thin, expected. A Spanish poet, thin, troubled, a fat elderly bloke with a young, mysterious wife. Picks up a bit at the end, an ambush, an Inca city in the undergrowth.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book never really came together for me. The book traces a trek by a group of mostly middle-aged European travellers to the Incan city of Villacambra. The description of the trek and the jungle is well done and the travelogue aspect was compelling. But I never cared about these characters at all. I didn't find them life-like or even worthy of disdain. They were just flat boring. One of the characters struggled with his inability to properly capture the journey on paper--I suppose Thubron was experiencing this same frustration. But his writerly frustration didn't make for a satisfying reading experience. Though the book was only 160 pages or so, it took me forever to read because I found it so incomplete.

[Irina A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Пять вропейцев-путешественников идут по перуанской лесной тропе, в краях, где в прошлом их предки истребили инков. И никто не счастив в этом путешествии. Вокруг горные тропы, опасный лес, дикая природа, покинутый древний город. Эти безлюдные места незаметно, но упорно вытягивают из них силы, здоровье и саму жизнь.
Автор - опытный путешественник, внимательный документалист. В его повествовании удивительный эффект присутствия, атмосфера вины за погубленный в прошлом мирный народ.

[Julie Thomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I have read by Thubron though have read and very much enjoy his writing style. The language didn't disappoint and I was quite intrigued by the setting. A subtle observation of human interaction.

[Michael Conroy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly bored by this book and so gave up.

[Roberto Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Escrito con una prosa bastante ampulosa y rebuscada, que aporta poco a una trama que no tiene mayor historia. Los personajes resultan totalmente indiferentes y todos ellos de un insoportable cliché. Resulta particularmente molesto la visión del personaje español, católico recalcitrante obsesionado por la culpa y el pecado supuestamente cometidos por sus antepasados. Todo un esperpento, y más viniendo de un británico, cuyo pueblo ha sido responsable de indescriptibles masacres y saqueos, sin que sientan remordimiento alguno y más bien gusten de exhibir un orgullo realmente obsceno. En definitiva, un libro bastante prescindible.

[Alan Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it felt as if I were reading a JG Ballard novel, a pointless miserable journey with unsympathetic characters. However, I always know what to expect with Ballard and enjoy his novels accordingly. I suppose I started reading the book as if it were one of Thubron’s great travel books which of course is not reasonable. As a writer I’d place him along with the greats such as Thessinger or Newby but would not include this novel as an example of his best work.

[GJ Monahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decently enjoyable short novel about a small group of strangers whose arduous hiking holiday leads to life-changing events and realisations. I would say that only two of the five main characters really have an arc, and some of the dialogue is stilted, but it was engaging enough as a quick read. I really enjoy Thubron's nonfiction, and although "To the Last City" wasn't a favorite for me, I at least liked it well enough to be open to reading more of his fiction.

[Siobhan Markwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novella that muses on the atrocities committed by Spanish conquistadors on the Inca and which tries to capture the majesty of the Andes and the seething, competing, vivid life forms of the Amazon lowlands. The characters are more types than rounded people and the structure is loose and dreamy. It's entertaining and might be superb reading if you have a special interest in the Peruvian Inca trails. I found the tone a tiny bit pompous and the concept far-fetched.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent short novel which has remarkable depth in its 165 pages. A quintet of European travellers in Peru on the way to a deserted Inca stronghold in the Andean rain-forest are confronted by their private demons & personal weaknesses leading to a fateful meeting with the cruel nature of perceived exotic tourist destinations. Macchu Picchu it ain't!

[Helena Bosnjak Boras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ovaj kratki pustolovno povijesni roman s elementima filozofskog promišljanje me podsjetio na roman Kratki izlet od Antuna Šoljana. Grupa ljudi koji se međusobno ne poznaju uputili su se u istraživanje drevnih Inka, ali na ovom putu kao da traže iskupljenje svojih grešaka i promišljaju o svom životu.
Neki dijelovi romana su ostali nejasni i nedorađeni. Zanimljiv koncept romana, u svakom slučaju.

[Margob99 · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the descriptions of the jungle and the cities were fiendishly beautiful, I found the characters insipid, half-formed and irritating, to a man. In the contemporary fashion, the end is elliptical; there is no ending other than half-hinting. A frustrating read.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish Thubron had just written a non-fiction travel book about his journeys in Peru instead of this lifeless novel.

[Lulabim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por la reseña del libro parece que vas a leer una novela con algo de aventura y misterio. Pero, aunque muy bien escrita, la trama es un poco inexistente...

[Anneli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad of disappointment since nature and history were only a backdrop to Western soul-searching. Well written nevertheless.

[Ntshh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't live up to my expectation of a travel through Peru and the story didn't grasp me at all.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather dreamlike.

[Karlien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense writing.

[Katy Daily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a little hesitant to reveal my true feelings because there are so few reviews of this book and I'd bet Mr. Thubron can keep up with all of them and I really don't want to offend him ... but ... this really was an awful book. The characters were so poorly developed I was left feeling a complete lack of anything other than relief that my long slog of 4 days reading the book was over. I love Peru and would love to explore this area - a little less so after reading this book. And he is a travel writer.

The amazingly incomprehensible crazy thing is that this tiny 150 odd page paperback book, which has a printed price of 6.99 lbs (how do you type British Pounds?), has a price tag that says $26.95. Australia is such a colossal ripoff when it comes to new books - I can't believe anyone would pay this much for any book - especially this one. I got my copy free from a university student union book exchange.

[Amalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book with powerful, captivating description and one of the good books I've read recently, written by a contemporary writer. Travellers would love a slice of this.

The story is about a group of five travellers taking a rather ill-prepared journey to Vilcabamba, "the lost city", the last refuge of the Inca against the Spaniards, now hidden in the wild lost for hundreds of years.

The group consists of a Belgian couple vast in their ages as well as in their interests, a British couple who has lost the love in their marriage and a young Spaniard who is deacon lost in his faith and aims.

During the journey they are all faced to confront their relationships among each other at the same time they must confront their past, present as well as the possibilities and the limitations in life.

[Jim Elkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn't quite a novel. I feel for the author, because his ambition to write a novel is apparent on each page and embodied by the principal character. Literary fame is a common desire, but it becomes poignant when the author is aware of it, and aware of his shortcomings, and aware that he can't quite ever solve them. [return][return]In this case Thubron has the adventure story, the elements of an interesting interaction between characters, and the possibility of developing a moral and ethical theme. But he just can't build characters, can't give them life, can't break out of the habit of imagining each scene as it might appear in a movie. We see all that, and so does he, and we root for him, but what he has written just does not add up to a novel. A screenplay, yes, but not a novel.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The landscape is served better than the characters in this short novel about a trek to the lost Inca city of Vilcabamba. Thubron makes the journey itself very believable, with his descriptions of the mountains, Inca ruins and verdant rainforest. It is not difficult to imagine a group like this disintegrating under the pressures of such a demanding walk in such varying conditions. But I thought the two main dramatic incidents were rather unconvincing. I have looked to see if Thubron has done a non-fiction account of such a journey - it appears not - which is a pity.

[Janice Pono · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book while I was traveling in Peru. It's very much a Heart-of-Darkness white European story. I won't ruin the ending but one of the characters dies at the end. It's probably unfair but while reading this book, I often questioned why certain foolish decisions were made. I read Thuborn's other travel books but wasn't as annoyed. But that was a long time ago before I started traveling extensively myself.

[Susan]

Peruvian Andes - an ill-sorted group traveling together to explore Vilcabamba, each for different reasons. Interesting, not great. No one very likeable among the characters.

Merged review:

Takes place in Peru - ok, not great

[Arja Salafranca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A spare, beautiful book about a group of travellers in the Andeans of Peru. Searching for both the last city of Vilcabamba and themselves, although they don't know it. A haunting read, with its delicate and elegant prose.

[Steven Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent writing style and brilliantly descriptive.

The characters were a little characterless, and it was too short, but that's just my opinion.

Very enjoyable though, and yes, I definitely recommend it to those who seek a vicarious adventure.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thubron takes his amazing travel writing skills and applies them to a work of fiction set in a place that is quite dear to me...Peru.