Bibliofreakblog

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

So, there’s this guy, Chris “Alex Supertramp” McCandless, and he’s kinda emo, ’cause he overdosed on Tolstoy, Thereau, and London.  He’s pissed at his parents (keep in mind that despite my emo reference this IS 1990) so after he graduates, he donates his 24K to charity (money that a relative had left him for his education), cuts off all ties to his family, and lives in the desert.  But that’s not enough for him.  As I said, he read a lot of London, so he goes to live in Alaska, with a cheap tent and home made sleeping bag, and there he dies.  

And queue the Pearl Jam!

Believe it or not, I haven’t given away any spoilers.  This is all pretty much right on the cover.  The front cover.

So what makes this book interesting?  Nothing really.  Jon Krakauer, a journalist and mountaineer, gives some background on other people (including himself) who have tried to make a life for themselves in the wilderness in the 20th centrury.  

He also tries to make the reader believe that McCandless isn’t crazy.  He actually gives the aforementioned examples as proof to this end.  All that did for me was to make me think that Krakauer is (or at least was) crazy, too.  And has his own parental issues.

Long story short, McCandless died, probably by eating some stuff he shouldn’t have, so don’t go trying to live on your own in Alaska with no map and boots that you bought from K-Mart.

I haven’t seen the movie that they made of this.  I assume it’s all about McCandless, but it must have all been made up because, as Krakauer notes several times, McCandless’s journal entries are terse to say the least.  For all of his reading, he doesn’t write much about what he thinks or feels.  It’s more like, I caught a squirrel today.  No really, one line, that’s it.

Not much to go on, and when you consider that three chapters are given to talking about the exploits of other  people, I’m not sure why Krakauer decided to write a book about it.

if you like this book/author, you might like:

Alaska (F) by James Michener 
Heart of Darkness (F) by Joseph Campbell
The Road (F) by Cormac McCarthy
Deep Survival (NF) by Laurence Gonzales 
On the Road (F) by Jack Kerouac
Walden (CNF) by Henry David Thereau
Civil Disobedience (NF) by Henry David Thereau
Dakota (CNF) by Kathleen Norris
One Man’s Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey (CNF) by Sam Keith
The Call of the Wild (F) by Jack London
Dr. Zhivago (F) by Boris Pasternak
Self-Reliance (NF) by Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Kingdom of God is Within You (NF) by Leo Tolstoy
The Death of Ivan Ilyich & Other Stories (F) by Leo Tolstoy
What I Believe (NF) by Leo Tolstoy
Solitude: A Return to the Self (NF) by Anthony Storr
Everett Ruess: A Vagabond of Beauty (NF) by W.L. Rusho
Wilderness and the American Mind (NF) by Frederick Nash
Man in the Landscape: A Historic View of the Esthetics of Nature (NF) by Paul Shepard
The Varieties of Religious Experience (NF) by William James

Other works by Jon Krakauer:

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (CNF)
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (CNF)
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman (CNF)
Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among Men and Mountains (CNF)