Into the Wild
In April 1992 a 24-year-old from the Washington, D.C., suburbs named Chris McCandless walked into the Alaska wilderness below Mt. McKinley with a small-caliber rifle and a 10-pound bag of rice. Four months later, his emaciated corpse was found at his campsite by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of "Into the Wild." Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life. Admitting an interest that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the drives and desires that propelled McCandless. Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.
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Community Reviews
My feelings on this book are still complicated months after having read it. Part of me wants to judge this young man's hubris, but a bigger part of me is a mom and can only see this kid as someone's spirited son.
First of all, I have never considered myself a fan of non-fiction. I was a little worried that this would be a bit of a snoozer and that I would have a hard time getting through it.
This was not true!!
I was a little put off when the author decided to come right out on page one of the Author's Note and gave a nice little summary that Christopher McCandless had died. SPOILER ALERT! Or not. Apparently everyone and their grandmother knew what happened to Chris...everyone except for me. **Please note that I have not watched the movie nor did I ever know what it was about.** Thanks to the Author's Note, however, I quickly caught up with the rest of the world as to what happened to Chris/Alex (the Alex part is also explained right in the little front flap on the inside of the book). I was concerned that knowing the "ending" would leave me bored with the rest of the book. Again - untrue!
I found myself fascinated with Chris McCandless and wanted so badly to understand how his mind worked. I didn't ever think he was crazy - just a little different than myself and how I think about society/nature/etc. There were other stories scattered throughout the book, which I can understand some considering a waste of space (I have read that many found the book could have been condensed), but I thought they added to the book. To me it said, "Hey, there were other people out there who thought the way he did. He wasn't alone in his thinking just because you or I don't think that way." I also liked the excerpts from various authors (London, Thoreau, Twain...) that were at the beginning of each chapter, especially when they were passages that McCandless had highlighted or underlined.
I have a hard time understanding how some people were so harsh and critical in their judgements towards McCandless and could write him off as a kook when all the people who gave him a ride or spent a few days with him (while he was hitchhiking, earning money to travel more/buy more supplies, etc) spoke so highly of him. They all seemed to have in common that they grew quite attached to him in a very short amount of time.
By the time I finished the book:
1) I was quietly sobbing in my bed at 11pm, which is wayyyy past my bedtime.
2) I actually admired and felt very fond of Mr. Christopher McCandless. His farewell note (page 199) made it really hard for me not to.
3) I was still trying to understand him. One thing I couldn't wrap my head around was the (overly) strong and negative feelings he had towards his parents. But then again, I can't hold a grudge to save my life.
I give this a solid 4 stars because I really liked it. I didn't love it to the point of reading it over and over again, but I am really glad that I did read it. Now I can finally (years behind) watch the movie. I almost wish I had watched it first because I feel like I am probably going to be really defensive and protective of how they portray him in the film.
This was not true!!
I was a little put off when the author decided to come right out on page one of the Author's Note and gave a nice little summary that Christopher McCandless had died. SPOILER ALERT! Or not. Apparently everyone and their grandmother knew what happened to Chris...everyone except for me. **Please note that I have not watched the movie nor did I ever know what it was about.** Thanks to the Author's Note, however, I quickly caught up with the rest of the world as to what happened to Chris/Alex (the Alex part is also explained right in the little front flap on the inside of the book). I was concerned that knowing the "ending" would leave me bored with the rest of the book. Again - untrue!
I found myself fascinated with Chris McCandless and wanted so badly to understand how his mind worked. I didn't ever think he was crazy - just a little different than myself and how I think about society/nature/etc. There were other stories scattered throughout the book, which I can understand some considering a waste of space (I have read that many found the book could have been condensed), but I thought they added to the book. To me it said, "Hey, there were other people out there who thought the way he did. He wasn't alone in his thinking just because you or I don't think that way." I also liked the excerpts from various authors (London, Thoreau, Twain...) that were at the beginning of each chapter, especially when they were passages that McCandless had highlighted or underlined.
I have a hard time understanding how some people were so harsh and critical in their judgements towards McCandless and could write him off as a kook when all the people who gave him a ride or spent a few days with him (while he was hitchhiking, earning money to travel more/buy more supplies, etc) spoke so highly of him. They all seemed to have in common that they grew quite attached to him in a very short amount of time.
By the time I finished the book:
1) I was quietly sobbing in my bed at 11pm, which is wayyyy past my bedtime.
2) I actually admired and felt very fond of Mr. Christopher McCandless. His farewell note (page 199) made it really hard for me not to.
3) I was still trying to understand him. One thing I couldn't wrap my head around was the (overly) strong and negative feelings he had towards his parents. But then again, I can't hold a grudge to save my life.
I give this a solid 4 stars because I really liked it. I didn't love it to the point of reading it over and over again, but I am really glad that I did read it. Now I can finally (years behind) watch the movie. I almost wish I had watched it first because I feel like I am probably going to be really defensive and protective of how they portray him in the film.
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