White Rock [Hardcover]

I wish he had invigorated his account a bit more with less recapitulation of his own often humdrum reactions, but he does this to counter the often romanticised visions of Hiram Bingham, Victor van Hagen, and many others who have explored the terrain before him--and not always as thoroughly as he has. The encounter with the titular White Rock, for example, is nearly subdued, but it sets off the mystery better than purple prose.

Hugh Thomson regales readers with two periods of exploration he took into the deep Andes to rediscover and discover Inca ruins. First as a twentysomething "it beats working" trek with like-minded buddies, then later as a more mature filmmaker who returned after a few decades to visit areas he missed the first go around.

This book has the same theme as some of Bill Bryson's or David Horwitz's travelogues. The history is interspersed with tales of the journey, giving background and understanding as to why certain places are worth visiting. Thomson does not have the wit or humor of either, nor does he try to force it. Some humorous events are recounted because they happened and happened to be humorous, but this author does not ply the wry observation or witty discourse.

The result is a solid travel book, if at times less than entertaining. The reader is treated to a good geographic illustration of the high Andes as well as snapshots of life in and around those mountains today. The history of the Inca people after contact with the conquistadors is interspersed with tales of Thomson's journeys in a way that I suspect will give almost every reader a much better understanding of what happened during the clash of these two empires. Flashbacks are also provided of the famous explorers who led the way toward western appreciation of Inca roads and cities and whose material allowed Thomson to discover some sites only hinted at in the 1800's by his predecessors.

The author does delve into what apparently is an age-old enmity between archaeologists and explorers. In Thomson's telling, archaeologists are a bit miffed that explorers go careening around and get credit for discovering sites when archaeologists are the ones who must spend the hard, laborious years understanding them. Explorers see archaeologists as a bit blinded to the forest by the trees -- you could spend a lifetime uncovering Machu Picchu with a toothbrush and miss the lost cities waiting under jungle cover just a ridge or two away. Although Thomson gets along well enough with the archaeologists he bunks with early on, the explorers of the past who uncovered the lost Inca cities and whose treks serve as both the guidon and inspiration for Thomson's own, were anathema to contemporary archaeologists and remain so.

This is a long book that does drag in parts. Sometimes, when the action the author is describing isn't very interesting, the reader is treated to its unfolding anyway. Editing could have helped weed out some parts that didn't seem to enlighten the story. However, overall this book does what it sets out to do. It tells the story of an intrepid explorer and the finds he makes, describes current life in the high Andes, and tells the story of the demise of the Incas.

If you are interested in the Incas but only moderately so, in other words if you want to know more about this ancient people but do not have enough time or enthusiasm to read a detailed scholarly study about it, you may consider buying this book. In its pages, you will get small doses of Inca history interspersed among more contemporary material.You will also learn about the ancient and contemporary explorers of the land, starting with Pizarro and ending with present-day archeologists,travelers and photographers like Von Hagen, Chambi, etc.

If you are looking for a finely written travel account with strong literary flavor, this book is NOT for you. Contrary to what is stated in the reviews on the back of the book, the author is a not a great writer at all. He is quite incapable to describe either the landscape or the inhabitants with real talent.Also owing to his poor writing skills, he completely fails to conjure up the magical atmosphere of the great ancient sites and recreate for you the lost world of the Incas. The travel narrative itself, besides being quite uneventful, is quite plain and completely lacking in romanticism. At many points, it is even anticlimactic, like when, in his first expedition, Hugh Thomson rediscovers the lost Inca fortress of LLactapata.

They suddenly see it at the end of an exhausting hike, they camp there, clean up the place a little bit and then off they go...! I had expected Thomson to give more details about what was after all the stated goal of his first expedition to Peru but the fact is that the rediscovery of Llactapata takes less than one page. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is little more than a succession of similar superficial sketches.

The digressions about the Incas are not without interest but quite unoriginal. Considering the author's complete lack of training in history, archeology or anthropology, some of his peremptory judgements about this ancient civilization sound pretty silly: was Machu Pichu nothing more than a holiday resort for a hedonistic emperor and his court? Did the Incas choose the location of their buildings in order to enjoy the great views that they could afford? I doubt it...

To put it briefly, this book is really nothing more than a long and rather mediocre National Geographic article. It is a good companion to kill time on the beach or in the dentist's waiting room.