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 Into the Wild :: 0385486804
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| "God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: "At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams." Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
I just finished Krakauer's "Into The Wild" and it was another page turner, just like his "Into Thin Air". His narrative style and excellent research make Krakauer one of the best adventure writers in the U.S.
I was somewhat disturbed by one small issue with this book, however. Krakauer refers to Christopher Johnson McCandless (who I like to think of as an adventurer/explorer in the same vein as John Muir and Ansel Adams), as a "boy" at least two dozen times throughout the book. McCandless was a bearded 24-year-old at the time of his death (I believe that if you can grow a beard, you're automatically not a boy). But he was also a graduate of Emory University living on his own. McCandless was not a boy; he was a man, a young man, yes, but he was not a boy. Every time I read Krakauer's reference to McCandless as a "boy", I cringed in bewilderment. I don't think any 24-year-old male would think of himself as a boy. I'll bet Krakauer didn't think of himself as a boy when he was 24 years old. So, what was Krakauer's reasoning? Was it a not-so-subtle means to convey McCandless's naivety? McCandless may have been a bit naive, he may have suffered from hubris and he may have been somewhat foolish when it came to the Alaskan wilderness (he didn't bring a map, he had meager supplies, he didn't let his family know of his whereabouts and when he planned to return, etc.), but by the time he died, McCandless was very experienced at living outdoors, as Krakauer painstakingly conveys when he describes McCandless's two-year post college travels throughout the western U.S. and into northern Mexico. Krakauer even notes on page 85, "McCandless didn't conform particularly well to the bush-casualty sterotype. Although he was rash, untutored in the ways of the backcountry, and incautious to the point of foolhardiness, he wasn't incompetent - he wouldn't have lasted 113 days if he were." This does not describe a "boy" to me. Indeed, in McCandless's brief 24 years, he had more outdoor travel experience than most men do during their entire lifetimes.
Regardless, Krakauer has written another classic book, and I definitely recommend it. In fact, I would have given this book five stars if it weren't for the annoying "boy" reference.
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Author: Guest
Krakauer dissects the compelling story of Chris McCandless, who lost his life during his self-proclaimed "great Alaskan Odyssey." This is not the story of a boy who lost his life in the wilderness, but rather of Chris McCandless, who in the Wilderness found exactly what he'd been looking for his entire life.
The story, however, is not limited to the life of McCandless. Krakauer breaks into memoir at several points, identifying with McCandless on personal and visceral levels. While his ability to empathize and connect with McCandless helps him write a chilling narrative, it can be reasonably argued that it also sidetracks him. One of the chapters, for example, is exclusively focussed on a personal journey that Krakauer took; McCandless' name is not even mentioned. The final chapter focuses more on Krakauer's personal connection with and interest in McCandless than it does on Chris himself. This is not a fault in the book itself, but an unsuspecting reader may find it to be narcissistic or indulgent.
Krakauer's experiences phenomenally qualify him to tell this story, but the reader should be prepared to find as much psychoanalysis and empathetic insight as he finds factual information and assertions.
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Author: Guest
"Into the Wild" is a non-fictional story about the author, John Krakauer's extensive investigation of the boy who died alone in an abandoned bus in the Alaska backcountry.
The boy's name was Chris McCandless, and he had just graduated (with honors) from high school. An avid reader of the works of Tolstoy and Thoreau, the boy began to develop a similar mindset, and decided he needed more gritty, raw experience in his life. Without saying much to his friends and family back home, he began a journey towards nowhere.
The book is written in something of a documentary style, different chapters devoted to the numerous people that played a part in the real story; friends, family, and friendly strangers who had taken Chris under their wing.
The way Krakauer writes the book, the reader is allowed to put the pieces of the story together, and thus, a coherent explanation to the mystery can be found towards the end.
The book is gripping to the end, and leaves the reader satisfied. However, Krakauer is not afraid to express his vocabulary, and it shows in the book. Some sections of the book are so saturated with words that certain parts might not make complete sense.
But overall, this book's sheer brilliance and the author's aptness at retelling the story overcomes any doubt about this book being worth a read. No question, this book is a 5 out of 5.
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Author: Guest
An adventurous boy gives up everything he has, including his education to embark in an epic adventure. He gets rid of all his possessions to travel across the country, hitch hiking from one city to the other. Along the way he meets wonderful people who find him an interesting kid, changing their lives and touching their harts. He finds his way and head for Alaska only to enter the wild and the wilderness, what happened to him next changes his life for ever. "Into the Wild" is a great book to read if you are interested in the outdoors and the wild. It's fully packed with life changing situations. This book is by the far most interesting book I have ever read.....
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Author: Guest
This is the best of Krakauer's books to date and a wonderful exploration of the inner mind. Krakauer's haunting prose really details his own efforts to understand the motivations and actions of a young man lost in the wilds of Alaska, and perhaps lost in his own identity and life. Among other things Krakauer depicts himself in a very honest way as he projects his own fears and insecurities on the story's protaganist -- a foreshadowing of "there but for the grace of God go I" that comes home with special force in his writings on Everest in "Into Thin Air"
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