Grann’s investigative journalism is truly amazing. The book is so well written, I couldn’t put it down. No book had ever enthralled but also angered me more.
Scorsese is making a movie based on this book and I am soooo scared they will butcher it. I really, really hope they do this incredible story justice…the Osage Indians deserve NO LESS!
Grann’s Lost City of Z was also fascinating, movie rendition completely missed the mark. Here’s the hoping Hollywood doesn’t ruin one of the BEST books ever.
Edit: Yes I know Scorsese is great and I like his shit, I’m definitely watching the film…my point is that the story deserves to be told as accurately as possible because it’s an important part of history no one talks about…just hoping we do history some justice..that’s all.
by NotNavratilova
46 Comments
Okay, I bought it. I’ll read it next.
Oooh! I loved The Lost City of Z! Good to know.
> I’m bummed, Scorsese is making a movie based on this book and I am soooo scared they will butcher it.
Huh? Scorsese’s career is full of great movies adapted from books.
I wanted to read something different. This book is perfect for the weekend. Thank you!
A very dark period of American history. Absolutely stunning that there remain so many unsolved and mysterious deaths of Osage in that time period.
Right, that two-bit hack, Martin Scorcese.
Found this at a thrift shop but was never motivated to read it. I will now!
I loved this book too!!
If you’re interested in hearing about the continuation of the Osage struggle to regain their land and wealth….. there’s a great ongoing podcast (i think one more episode to be released?) called ‘[In Trust](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-in-trust-podcast/)’ by Rachel Adams-Heard, of Bloomberg news.
I love this book and am looking forward to the movie. I like Scorsese and I’m hopeful he’ll do it justice.
I think it is a great story – I also think it went on a bit too long.
Bummed about a SCORSESE adaptation?
I’m thrilled about the movie because Scorcese is brilliant and it will bring this story to a much larger audience. Plus one of my favorite musicians (Jason Isbell) is going to be in it.
Yup one of the greatest directors of all time totally will butcher this.
How exactly would a movie adaptation ruin a book? They’re not going to remove all the copies from libraries and burn them…
FWIW I live near some of the filming sites and know some locals who were cast in the movie—mostly as extras. Some of the surviving Osage descendants played their family members, and the Osage Nation was consulted about accuracy in representation.
That guy who directed Morbius is available instead of that hack Scorcese.
Scorsese is the last person you need to worry about in terms of adapting. His most successful films (which are also some of greatest of all time) are adaptations:
Goodfellas,
Casino,
Raging Bull,
Last Temptation of Christ,
The Departed was a remake,
Shutter Island,
Wolf of Wall Street,
Silence,
And
The Irishman
I really loved the book series The Passage by Justin Cronin. I was hoping they would give it a great film adaptation or even some sweeping multi-season high-budget HBO series. Instead they adapted it into a low-budget Fox linear series starring Zach Fucking Morris that pretty much ignored the entire premise and ended up being a generic show about vampires that barely made it through one season before being taken out back and put out of its misery.
I loved James Gray’s adaptation of Lost City of Z. I thought it did the book justice.
Why would you be scared of Martin Scosese making the movie adaptation? He’s literally one of the best living Western directors, and the movie stars some of the best Hollywood actors. I for one am incredibly pumped, I think it’s going to be a great movie.
Lol, someone doesn’t know who Martin Scorcese is
It was a good book for sure. Regardless of Scorcese’s success I always worry about how a book will translate into a movie too.
I felt like I was a bit underwhelmed by this book. It could have been a long article rather than a book
Teaching it this semester!
I’m very interested what the primary focus of the film will be on.
Will it be on the Osage or the birth of the FBI?
yes! I read this after reading Blood Meridian and just discussing with someone who recommended it. I really enjoyed the pace of the narrative and made me feel so sick at times. Only good books provoke strong reactions. You should Read Blood Meridian if you haven’t.
Jason Isbell is in it which is enough for me
They filmed it right outside my hometown, and filming went on for a long amount of time. Know a few people in it as well. They finished filming around 5 or 6 months ago or more. They also met with the Osage tribe, so I believe the intent to do it justice is there.
Rumor has it it’s going to be a very, very good movie.
Agree… i heard that there is either a movie or a tv series in the works fro this. From the same author that wrote the Lost City of Z
My family is from Gray Horse, OK, where this story happened. My grandfather worked for the family that pulled this atrocity off, and I was able to share some anecdotes with David. The book is outstanding, and it aligns with all the family stories I’ve heard over the years – I was also on set during the filming of the movie, and from what I’ve seen, Scorcese killed it in capturing the feel of the book. We’ll see what comes from editing and some reshoots, but it’s incredibly authentic, looks unreal, and the local casting was amazing. Friends who were part of the production said the story was very faithful to the book.
The audiobook is great too. Will Patton narrates the second section covering the investigation.
I have it in Swedish and it’s fascinating to see how they translate inherently American things.
Tantoo Cardinal (Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall and my personal favorite, the Education of Little Tree) is going to be in it. Her face sparks joy and I wouldn’t miss anything she’s in.
Read the book a couple years ago in preparation for a grip job on the movie that I didn’t get. My home state is Oklahoma and even I, nor many of my fellow Oklahomans, knew about the Osage murders until that book came out. It couldn’t be in better hands than Scorsese’s, I have total confidence the movie will be great.
they claimed the osage couldnt handle havjng wealth and appointed white guys as their money custodians. white guys would buy a fancy car with the osage money then sell it to the osage for a huge markup. one white guy might be custodian of a dozen osage. its insanity
I worked background on the film for five days. Easily the most impressive work I’ve seen. I could tell each designer/director was the best at their job—a lot of them gave the same reason why they were in the middle of OK during the brutal summer: “You don’t say no to Marty.” The sets, costumes, properties, continuity, camerawork, acting…all top notch. Can’t wait to see the adaptation of this excellent, horrifying book.
How did The Lost City of Z movie miss the mark compared to the book? Genuinely interested.
A classmate of mine was planning a GIS project based on measuring the land expropriation from the Osage over time.
Today, the Drummond Family (pioneer woman) own more of the former Osage Reservation’s surface than the Osage tribe does.
It was an interesting read, but I could only read a few chapters at at time, just to be able to digest the callous brutality and injustice. Sadly, this is just one page in the history of exploitation of Native Americans. I hope the movie is done in a similar gritty style like The Revenant, but doubt it will be as commercially well received because most Americans do not want to be reminded of the darker parts of our past.
My cousin is an extra in the movie! He said DiCaprio was pretty cool.
Oklahoman here that grew up in Ponca City.
This has been a big talk of the town for quite a while.
Totally disagree with you on Lost City of Z. Phenomenal movie.
As long as De Niro is not tying to portrait a 30year old again
He was at our university for our writers conference and got in minor beef with the indigenous authors/creatives who were also attending for some slight white saviour-ism. But I agree, it’s an important book.
Just got the book
Thought it was just average.