Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Into the Wild
Book Review: A Warning
Summary: 4 Stars
Only a book so well written could be such a clear warning to the outward bound in our society. McCandless' journey into Alaska is reminicent of John Muir's: both wished to live and breathe the natural world, and both relied on the natural world for sustanance. When McCandless was found dead, Alaskans criticized him for being woefully ill-prepared to face the outdoors. After reading this book, however, many feel that McCandless' journey was a release, and that he ultimately triumphed over civ. Krakauer's book is a warning: civilization is a self-perpetuating mindset that allows people like McCandless to face the real world with no map and boots from K-Mart and expect to survive, and even in failure, to be praised for it. I urge everyone to read this book, and to face their own journey with more humility than Chris McCandlessBook Review: A Well-Written Tale of Youthful Hubris Gone Wrong
Summary: 4 Stars
Early on in Karkauer's account I disliked Chris McCandless immensely. He displayed a selfish and unjustified lack of respect for his parents, his government and his society. Yet his nomadic lifestyle would have been impossible without the generosity of strangers living in the "conventional world" he so despised. And in the very last days of his life, he was forced to plea for help from the same "conventional world" from which he so readily withdrew. While reading the second half of the book, however, may views began to change. Mr. Krakauer does a fine job of explaining the drive behind such men as McCandless (and himself). Contrary to other readers, I found these sections immensely helpful in trying to understand McCandless, and I came to gain more respect for the main character. In the end, Into the Wild is most interesting because it tells a biographical tale of the author himself and others like him. As the author explains, Krakauer undertook similar solo journies in Alaska at around the same age. He too could have died. To portray McCandless as selfish or sophomoric meant indicting himself. Nevertheless, Krakauer's well-written prose does not shy from such self-flaggelation. He reflects honestly on the dangerous risks such young men (including himself) have taken, does not seek to justify them but to explain them, and leaves the reader with the knowledge the losing yourself in the vastness of nature is unlikely to cure troubles that may exist within.Book Review: A beautiful account
Summary: 5 Stars
When you can imagine and find simularities between your own life, and that of someone else's, then you know that a Rosetta Stone has been cast, not only in the language of our own personal experiences, but in the human factor of our culture.Book Review: A book about a kid with a lot of guts.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book really moved me. I think Chris McCandless displayed a lot of heroic decisions in order to get what he wanted on his epic journey throughout the country. This book literally made me want to just drop everything and head into the mountains. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought of going on a personal journey to wherever it may lead you.Book Review: A book for the nature goer.
Summary: 4 Stars
If anyone is ever excited to travel and explore new places, then this is a book for them. I enjoyed reading this book because it seemed very interesting to me. Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. The author does a magnificent job explaining to the reader what it was like that Cris McCandless went through in his lifetime. It made me feel like I was right there with him on his journey. I gave this book an 8 because of the middle section of this book, where Krakauer talks about the other people who were like McCandless and ended up the same at the end. This book will inform a person who is intending to go out into the wild on how to be better prepared for what their getting into and how to survive. Jason C.