Into the Wild

I chose this book because I enjoyed the movie (with the always lovely Emile Hirsch) and thought that Chris McCandless reminded me of my wanderlust world-traveling big brother.

Into the Wild by John Krakauer

Genre: Non-fiction, biography
Publication Date: January 1996
Setting: 1992

A very bright and idealistic young man discards his past life, identity, and material possessions to explore America and her people. The man was Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp. He is from an upper class/upper-middle class family from Virginia, graduated with honors from Emory University and chose a life of rambling to law school or a normal career. After he graduates, he drives his car west until a flash flood causes him to abandon his car and begin life as a nomad, penniless and unconnected. He doesn't tell his family where he is, or even inform that he has chosen to go off the radar. But he wanders around the western US and some of Mexico for a few years. He makes some true friends, those people who take him in and feed him or just share stories or a beer with him. He writes to these people as he continues his wandering (while still not contacting his family).

Eventually Chris makes it to his final destination - Alaska, Yukon territory. It has been his intention to live "in the wild" of Alaska for the summer. He enters the Yukon completely unprepared, with hardly any supplies or weapons. He manages to live in the wild for 100 days, before succumbing to the cruelty of Mother Nature, dying of a combination of poisoning and starvation.

The author is similarly as idealistic as Chris. Those men who fancy themselves in line with Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau - those men who believe that life should be spent in nature. That's a fine idea, in theory, but not very realistic in this millennium. The author comments that Chris's campground in Alaska wasn't really even in the wild, because he was within a few miles of a large town and several hunting cabins. Unfortunately for these men, "the wild" isn't as prevalent in this country as it was 100 years ago. You can't escape

I also did not like Chris's isolation. Humans are social creatures, it has helped us to survive, fight off large predators, maintain the environment for habitation, and reproduce. When Chris decides to wander and living by himself in an abandoned bus, he is rejecting a large part of what makes him human - social interaction. Additionally, he renounces his family, for no particular reason other than to be left alone.

I recognize the appeal to leaving all modern comforts and living off the land and as one with nature. But I don't see the draw in doing so alone or by rebuffing those closest to me. Kudos for the attempt at an adventure Chris, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.

Finished reading: Wednesday, July 1, 2015

DD's rating: C+
Krakauer was a bit too enamored with McCandless and his admiration made him a less than objective biographer. I have trouble looking up to McCandless for abandoning and neglecting his family and befriending odd companions on the road (no trouble with the random friendships, but don't forget those who were there from the start and who worry/care about you).

Next read: The Blondes by Emily Schultz