Into the Wild

Krakauer does a great job at remaining pretty objective when discussing the life and death of McCandless. Do I believe that a whole book needed to be written when Krakauer's original article would have sufficed? No, I do not. The book was interesting and I enjoyed the commentary from those who knew McCandless, however, the chapters that had nothing to do with McCandless and his story made me want to skim or stop reading altogether. Wonderfully written, but ultimately not one that I would recommend to others.

I enjoyed the first half of the book and was intrigued by McCandless's story, but had a hard time getting through the second half, which mostly speculates on McCandless's state of mind. Krakauer devotes several chapters to his own wilderness sojourn to try to relate to McCandless, but I was ultimately bored by this and found it unnecessary.

I read the book after everyone else has read it or seen the film adaptation. It is well written and a pleasure to read. It bogged down a little when Krakauer detoured from McCandless's story to go into his own story. It was written well enough that while reading it I developed some empathy for McCandless that I did not have before. After soaking it all in I have returned to my original opinions of the character, which means Krakauer did a good job with his writing, but in the end McCandless was still a squatter, a poacher, a trespasser, and anarchist with little or no respect for private property or the people who work and contribute to society. I did find myself envying McCanless freedom and adventures which I credit to Krakauer's writing.

I thought that this book was well-written and well-researched. However, I had real trouble connecting with the plight of McCandless, which kind of took me out of the story and led to me struggling to finish the book. Reading other reviews, it seems like people are polarized about McCandless and either really connect with him or not – but I don't think that had anything to do with Krakauer or his writing.

In this world of expectation, structure, busy-ness, and bills, it has always interested me to come across people who abhor these tangles of everyday life and live like nomads. I recently came across some YouTubers who travel the United States, living out of their RVs or vans full-time and loving it. When I thought of this kind of lifestyle in the past I thought of the sad Matt Foley character from SNL “living in a van down by the river”. I am not convinced their life isn't without its hardships... nor bills... nor eliminating “THE MAN” from their lives completely, but these people do their best to make their cramped quarters and vagabond lifestyle look very attractive. I know myself very well, and can adapt to living without the finer things like a flushing toilet for a few months in the summer. But, living this way as a lifestyle forever? Nope. I likes my heated home with running water.

For many, though, this way of life is a philosophy, a mantra, a necessity. It's quite curious and intriguing to see the world through their lens. So when I recently reactivated my library membership after a long drought, a virtual trip to the eBook portal landed Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild onto my tablet, and next thing you know, I found myself immersed in one of the more recent stories of an infamous American vagabond, Chris McCandless, a young man who took the concept of nomadic living to extremes.

Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild tells the true story of McCandless, a headstrong, fiercely independent guy who felt more at peace alone in nature than anywhere. Raised by strict parents, he always went against the grain, never thinking a career was important, and that schooling was a waste of time. Following parental expectations was difficult for Chris, but he managed to tow the line, eventually making it through college with honours, with plans for law school. However, he had enough of the litanies of life the day after he graduated, packing up his things and leaving his life behind forever. He gave his life savings to OxFam, burned his Social Security card and embarked on a journey that saw him tramping his way around the U.S., with the eventual goal to live in the Alaskan wilderness in complete solitude. He even assumed a new name: Alexander Supertramp. His family never heard from him again...until his body was found in a remote forest in Alaska by a Moose hunter.



McCandless in Alaska

Jon Krakauer gives some context and understanding to Chris's thought process by recounting his life, childhood and relationship with his family. To round out the book, he interviews other folks Chris met on the road, living a similar nomadic life. In telling these stories, it shows the many layers to Chris McCandless. He wasn't simply a naive guy with big dreams; he was a guy determined to live out his philosophy at any price. And what one could gather from the book, he touched many lives in profound ways.

I found Into the Wild to be incredibly immersive, balanced and very thoughtfully written.  Might I add, there is a reason why the book is on many “top books to read before you die” lists. It's good - very good. Get your hands on it and start reading. I highly recommend it!

4.5/5

Into the wild / Jon Krakauer (1996)

.

And while we are here...



[Movie] Into the Wild (2007)

Starring: Emile Hirsch, William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Catherine Keener, Kristen Stewart

So, I thought, what the hey...let's watch the movie for comparison.

The film follows the book very closely. I'd hazard it was a visual representation of the book, but not a thorough one.

The one thing I noticed: Sean Penn, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film, stole A LOT of direct dialogue from Krakauer's book - seriously. If I hadn't just finished the book, I would not have noticed...but he does. If I were Krakauer, I'd be taking him to court. And yet, Krakauer only got a “based on the novel by...” credit, which I thought was also a little strange for the amount of the book Penn used.

I didn't overly enjoy Into the Wild: the movie. It wasn't terrible, but didn't do McCandless any favours. It missed the heart and soul of McCandless, showing him as a sort of untouchable, someone you could never get close to and who was completely ignorant and wonton. In fact, I remember when the movie was released, there was a lot of criticism from people saying McCandless' ways were glorified in the movie, and that no one should take his lead if they think they can survive in Alaska without being properly equiped. The book does well to give more context to McCandless, and to the people who knew him. Besides the fact, I found the book much more enjoyable (isn't that typical?). Do yourself a favor:  Get your hands on the book!

2.5/5

Into the Wild (the movie)
2007

I really like Krakauer's Into Thin Air so I thought that I would read this book. I enjoyed the writing style however I struggled with the book because I did not like the main character Chris McCandless. Perhaps if I give it another chance, or read the subsequent book that was written about Chris I would like it more.

This book, as are all Krakauer's books, is very well-written and very engrossing. The story of Christopher McCandless is one of an idealistic young twentysomething who leaves his life behind after graduating from college to become Alexander Supertramp, a wandering nomad on his way to Alaska for a great adventure.

Except he was stupid. Now, Krakauer makes a huge deal about how smart, how intellectual McCandless was. How big of a reader he was. How animated, how intelligent, how engaging he was. He touched a lot of lives on his adventures across America; he made friends.

But he didn't get it. The boy repeatedly picked up and left, leaving people and places behind without much of a care in the world as to what his departure meant to those he was leaving; what his absence meant to his ever-worrying family; what his not being there meant to the sister that he supposedly cared so deeply for, but didn't bother contacting even once during his travels. If anything he was naive and selfish, and blind to the effect he had on others, willfully or not.

But what gets me about this book is how determined Krakauer is to compare himself to McCandless. He devotes a few chapters to creating parallels to himself and McCandless, insisting that he was that same headstrong boy in his twenties. But he missed out on one big, huge detail: he survived his twenties, and he did it because he knew what he was doing. He took maps. He took gear. He didn't just look at a vast, open wilderness and start walking. He planned.

McCandless didn't, and it got him killed. It's said repeatedly, in the book, in the news articles, and in the movie – had McCandless simply taken a map with him, he'd have known about nearby cabins. He'd have known about a river crossing. He'd have known he wasn't nearly as far into the wilderness as he'd come to believe he was. He'd likely have survived the entire ordeal. And yet.

The book itself is fantastic. It's engrossing, it's well-written, and it gives you a pretty damn good look into McCandless's short life. It certainly tries to make him into a hero, an American rambling man – but for me it fell short in that regard, trying to make McCandless out to be a whale when really, he was simply a fish.