Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
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Book Reviews of Into the Wild
Book Review: What A Tragic Outcome
Summary: 3 Stars
I found this book to be a very interesting and easy read. I don't believe there was really enough information to make this an actual book. Why the author had to use abit of "fodder" of his own personal stories to complete it. But it was still a great story & I enjoyed the article when it was published in Outlook magazine some years back. I saw the movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed with the exception of the ending, & that led to me wanting to know more about this young lad. The book helped me realize what happened at the end of the movie & gave me abit more closure than the movie did. Chris "Supertramp" was an extremely likable & adventurous young man but really was too naive to have struck out in such desolate territory all on his own. He made some fatal mistakes that I still cannot wrap my head around as to why he did so. He burned the last almost $200 of his money & brought only one bag of rice with him. If he had only used that burnt money for additional bags of rice, I believe he would have survived his great Alaskan adventure. I was shocked that he failed to bring rubber boots or even a tent of some sort. If he hadn't stumbled onto his "magic" bus, I don't know that he could have survived the elements at that time of year without shelter of some sort. I don't believe just a sleeping bag would have sufficed. I also was amazed at what little common sense he used at times such as not bringing a map of the area with him. He was only 6 miles from cabins with supplied food & could have crossed that raging river very easily another way if he'd only had a map.
It appears Chris was an extremely likeable character & made some lasting friendships along his way. I don't understand how he could have "chucked" his family like he did & take off to parts unknown for 3 yrs. without sending any communication to his worried family. I also found it odd that he waited til he graduated college b/4 setting off on this adventure spree. It made me ponder that perhaps it boiled down to the fact that Chris was just not ready for a full time j-o-b, responsibility & what encompasses the reality of "being an adult". Or maybe it was just one last time to find himself b/4 joining the rat race of adult life. All in all, it was a very moving book and movie. I hated the outcome & wish those moose hunters had arrived even three weeks earlier. What a different outcome all this would have had & Chris would still be here enjoying his life. It was a terrible tragedy & one that easily should not have happened & could have easily been prevented.
Book Review: Those who criticize are just plainly lost
Summary: 5 Stars
First caught a glimpse of the movie, than read the book, and than watched the entire movie again. Both were great, both where different. You just can't simply try to understand the movie without reading the book first, it has much more depth. My reviews are going to be more towards the bad reviewers and those who criticized Christopher McCandless.
Isn't mankind's greatest ambition is to look beyond the stars and find ourselves amongst the universe? To set out blindly in the hopes that we discover something greater than ourselves.
The human spirit is always seeking adventure and the greatest rewards come from the greatest of challenges and difficulties. The challenge of knowing you can never be fully prepared no matter how much preparation and time you've given yourself. The idea of making the best out of a bad situation and getting the most out of what you have. Christopher said it best in his letter to Wayne when he said that his travels where too easy with all the money he had given him with his paycheck. That things were a lot more exciting when he was penniless.
Through the book you realize that his problem with his family meant nothing overall because the fact is everyone one comes from some degree of a dysfunctional family and the experience you gain from those moments in your life are what builds your characteristics. The story is about human ambition, the raw nature of the human spirit, to explore knowledge beyond our horizon and this is revealed through Christopher's story.
Those who criticize his story and his individuality are those who are lost in today's society. Lost in their secure 9 to 5 jobs, weekend getaways, and nightly extravaganzas. Those who measure their lives with the wealth they've accumulated and could never see the world beyond their front door. Would you be on the same pages of those who thought it was insane to colonize in North America and deal with the Natives after Columbus had accidently discovered the new world. Or thought the Lewis and Clark expedition across America was too farfetched. Or perhaps the Wright Brothers should have never even attempted to build a machine that can fly because in your mind it goes against the realm of normal. Without the attempts of these historic individuals, America would not be where it is today. But that's alright, be content with your simple minded life because when it's all over and you're lying on your deathbed, you wouldn't even begin to comprehend your existence in this universe.
Book Review: Uncompromising Idealism meets Unforgiving Nature
Summary: 5 Stars
The cover tells the story; a young dreamer from a well-to-do family gives away his money and possessions before trudging into the Alaskan wild on a quest for spiritual awakening. Four months later, his body is discovered by moose hunters. The plot of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild can be reduced to those few words, so why has this simple story inspired readers to trek twenty miles into the unforgiving wilderness to visit his final resting place? Why has he become the center of a cult-like mythology and the genesis of 2007's most ambitious biopic? Of those who read his story or see it on screen, some will understand, while others will simply judge him. Whether there exists within the reader a connection to the natural world, a desire to discern the boundaries of mankind's ability to survive in a perilous environment and a hunger for incorruptible truth and sometimes painful honesty will play heavily into the reward/enjoyment of his story.
Chris McCandless never outlived the phase many young adults experience in their years after college or high school when they first realize the ugliness of the world. By tracing the last years of his life, Krakauer depicts McCandless as wide-eyed and childlike, as he holds to a simplistic belief that people just need to be good to each other to make the most out of their short time on earth. But with his Holden Caulfield-like epiphanies about the deceit and phoniness of the world, he is drawn to the one place he knows he can find truth: the wild.
On his odyssey tramping throughout the West, McCandless encounters a Homer-like string of splendid characters. Like his own search for the meaning of "rosebud", Krakauer allows those closest to the young vagabond fill his pages with their anecdotes and reflections. Although their experiences are different, they all describe him as an unforgettable stranger who wandered into their lives and didn't stay long enough.
By practicing his "love one another" approach to life, McCandless inspired those who met him and continues to inspire those who read about him 15 years after his death. The great tragedy of his life is that someone who had such an impact on those he encountered spent most of his time with Tolstoy, Thoreau and London. But by illustrating how those men were with the dying romantic in his last days, Krakaeur shows us that many of his readers will carry Chris McCandless with them until their end.
Book Review: Troubled man takes on the Wild - and loses
Summary: 4 Stars
Jon Krakauer's `Into the Wild' is a very interesting look into the late life of a college graduate who gives away all his possessions and becomes a vagabond: Only to meet his demise in an abandoned school bus in the wilderness outside Fairbanks, Alaska.
The trip between graduation and death is a bizarre study of Christopher McCandless (aka Alexander Supertramp) and his 2 year journey across south-western and mid-west America, ending-up in Alaska.
The book is a strong testament of a young man with an upper-class upbringing who becomes seduced by wilderness and adventure, only to ultimately become its prisoner. Krakauer's book is primarily testimonials of people who knew Chris and their experiences with him. Most were fleeting, few lasting for more than several weeks. McCandless' journey without any destination took him many places and cultures within the US. Yet his intent was to learn - then flee. An escape artist, his final destination to Alaska is testament that even the bright and educated can learn plenty from sheer experience. McCandless almost obsessive introversion and despondency of his father sets the stage for a disastrous ending.
Anyone who has camped outdoors for any length of time will be amazed this man made it that far: Until finally, when the luck that protected McCandless' runs out. His meager writings found in the bus, initially show more cockiness than respect for nature. Later, when his body begins relying on itself for survival, McCandless becomes scared and aware of his imminent end. Only then does the educated idealist come to terms with the power of nature and the serious lack of planning on his behalf.
Sadly, this is another testament to why no one goes into a forest without the necessities: A map, compass, shelter and food.
I highly recommend this book. If there is anything one can learn from this book is what NOT to do outdoors, then this is it. The writing style of Krakauer is fluid and easy to ready. The character study of McCandless is much more abstract. I do appreciate the writer's attempts to rationalize the mentality and actions behind McCandless. Yet the writer, himself a seasoned outdoorsman, can't help but detail the futility of this misadventure. The writer's own outdoor experiences help paint a better picture of the enviroment McCandless experienced in his travels. I commend him on tackling such a complex character.
Book Review: Go West Young Man
Summary: 4 Stars
Into the Wild was our May book club selection, and I put off reading it until a few days before our meeting. Thinking it was a "guy book," I didn't even bother buying my own copy. That was a mistake, for once I began reading my borrowed book, I was entranced. Krakauer's writing style was captivating and managed to hold my attention from page one. Not only do we learn about Chris McCandless (a.k.a. Alexander Supertramp) and his family, but we learn about Krakauer's experiences, meet some fascinating folks who befriended Chris, and discover much about the geography and nature of various parts of the United States.
Yes, the writing itself was great. It's the story of Chris McCandless, however, that haunts me. How could someone with such promise act so foolishly? I can well understand the inner voice to "Go west, young man," but to travel into the Alaskan wilderness without compass or adequate provisions is utter folly. And this was a intelligent young man, a recent college graduate who had been raised with advantages unknown to many.
Chris was, like most of us, a bundle of contradictions. He was idealistic and gave all of his remaining college fund to an organization to feed the hungry; yet he sponged off of many of the people who befriended him. He was angry with his parents for living a lie, but he couldn't see that without his parents he wouldn't have had the resources that allowed him to finish Emory. He's perturbed at their treatment of him, but he treats them even more abominably by not even letting them know he's alive. Yes, he had "issues," but don't most people? Was he too fragile to handle them? If he had survived the wilderness, would he have returned to West Virginia with a softened heart and a more mature attitude?
Was he just a narcissist? Was he another affluent, sheltered, idealistic young man angry with society? Was he a typical young person in search of adventure? Did he feel any guilt at all about capturing the hearts of those he met when he bid them adieu?
I have my own copy of Into the Wild now. It's a great story about an intense, idealistic, determined young man who died in a deserted bus after eating a poisonous plant. While the reader will learn a great deal about nature, geography, and "adventure," he or she will also be forced to look at the psychological questions that Chris and his choices evoke.