Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Into the Wild
Book Review: A sad story
Summary: 5 Stars
This book left me feeling very sad, and my heart aches for his family. Many young people do foolish things like Alex did. Some survive (like the author), and some don't. I enjoyed the insight the author provided through his research. I thought he did a good job collecting information from people who had crossed paths with Alex. I still don't understand what compelled him to such an extreme lifestyle.Book Review: A sad tale...
Summary: 4 Stars
Into the Wild tells the sad story of a young man, Chris McCandless, who gives all his money to charity and heads out alone. It is hard for some to understand why a young man with a college education, and his whole future before him, would abandon a normal life to go "into the wild." After reading this story, one can at least attempt to understand Chris and his epic adventure.
I thought Krakauer did an excellent job of retracing Chris' journey across the US, into Mexico and eventually to the northern wilderness of Alaska. I find it amazing how many lives he touched in such an untraditional way. Chris met most people by hitching rides with them. He affected almost everyone he met, and Krakauer uses their voices to tell much of the story of Chris.
Krakauer's first story of Chris was a small article in Outdoor magazine. Krakauer became so intrigued by the story of McCandless, he went on to write "Into the Wild." He received many letters calling Chris "unprepared" and "naïve." I think anyone who has ever known a young man in his twenties would disagree. A man that age thinks he can handle anything that comes his way, and Chris was no exception. I think Krakauer could relate to Chris in many ways, which he shares in some of his own personal stories.
Was he foolish to go into the Alaska wilderness so unprepared? Yes, but he had survived other hard times and he honestly thought he was prepared. A few small mistakes are all it took for Chris to not make it out of the wild. A truly sad tale, but one that will catch your attention from the start.
Book Review: A sympathetic portrait of a complex and singular young man
Summary: 4 Stars
An interesting book, about an interesting young man, born 150 or so years after his time. One can easily picture Chris McCandless as one of the men on Lewis and Clark's expedition in search of an overland water route. When the party grew near to settled country on their return, they had by then learned to survive and refit from what they found in the wild, and a few of the men turned right around before they reached the city to join other expeditions headed back west. Mainstream life has lost all its appeal to them by then.
It seems clear that this was McCandless' situation - after several years of intermittent 'tramping', it seemed like he developed a false sense of his knowledge and his capabilities, and just decided to 'go for it'. Life back home or even on the rural farm where he intermittently worked had lost its 'belonging' for him.
Krakauer does his typical exhaustive job in retracing McCandless' steps, his origin, and some of the seminal events that shaped his worldview, but also in typical style, a bit more of Krakauer himself leaks into the narrative than seems necessary. Krakauer is a sympathetic author here, as he was in 'Into Thin Air', but at least in that account, he was a first-person participant in those events. It's a good read, but even as Krakauer seeks to understand McCandless' motivations, he seems eager to explore his own. Me too.
Book Review: A thought-provoking and heart-breaking adventure
Summary: 4 Stars
Like several recent reviewers, I read this book when it came out 10 years ago and recently re-read it in anticipation of the movie. I wasn't that impressed with it originally, but I probably appreciated it a little more this time around.
How you react to the book will largely depend on your attitude about Chris McCandless, who dies from starvation after spending slightly more than three months in the Alaska wilderness.
Was he fool hardy or was he an adventurer who should be admired for pursuing his dream? McCandless didn't master crucial skills to survive and was ridiculously ill prepared. To make matters worse, he threw away his map and lacked sufficient provisions.
Krukauer says it's easy to stereotype McCandless and that he wasn't as reckless as others thought. He tries to show us the mindset of people like McCandless by writing about other pioneer types and earlier adventurers, including himself.
This is a thin book (barely over 200 pages) and it's apparent that Krukauer had to pad what was originally a 9,000-word article with material that wasn't directly related to McCandless or his adventures. But since there were gaps in his journal and his entries while in Alaska were sparse, there wasn't a lot known about what he did during that time.
Krukauer's masterful writing, however, makes the book work. It is interesting, thought provoking and heart-breaking.
Book Review: A tough one to read
Summary: 5 Stars
"What a waste." That's how I must sum up my reaction to the death of Chris McCandless from starvation, after he found himself unable to walk out of the Alaskan bush once he'd decided it was time to return to civilization. McCandless - or "Alexander Supertramp," as he preferred being called - walked into the bush in April, determined to experience living off the land in total isolation. By that time he'd been out of contact with his family for two years. Yet he died inside the sleeping bag his mother made for him...author Krakauer does a fine job of helping the reader understand why McCandless behaved as he did, but I still found this book incredibly sad reading. I saw in its subject a boy trying to grow up, and killing himself (however unintentionally) in the process.
Difficult and painful to read, but intriguing and worth the time.