Beauty, goodness and hope. . . | Into the Wild

I went to the woods .. | Into the Wild | Jon Krakauer

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	• Into the Wild Jon Krakauer Anchor, 2007 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 1219 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Wonderful inspite of it's tragic ending

This is not normally the type of book I read,but I am so glad I did.It's moving, and amazing. The story being recounted is quite interesting. (Later I saw the movie which seems very true to the novel, but is far more boring and slow moving than the novel- although the casting seems perfect.) Kraukauer is a beautiful story teller and lets you see the full character (smart but stupid, selfish but loving) boy who only wants to "walk into the wild" You can tell he loves him, but also wants to tell the truth. He is sensitive to those left behind and wants to depict Supertramp's final adventure as he might want it told himself. The book is interesting, and will make you sad, angry, and annoyed. It will remind you of the differences in humans, and how some people can be lost even unto themselves. The book pieces together fragments of the final months, year of Supertramps life to build a story of who this person was up to the tragic end.

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Beauty, goodness and hope. . .

I'm saddened to see so many people writing with little or no compassion for Chris McCandless, and such a limited effort to understand his quest.

Most of us know what he was running from -- problems at home, a society struggling with issues of materialism and morality. But an understanding of what he was searching for -- inner peace, closeness with nature, a quiet and beautiful place in which to think -- eludes many of us, just as it eluded him.

It could be lovely, could it not? Wild strawberries spilling down the riverbank, red poppies flaming the hills, cobalt mountains loping along the sky, like waves in a gently rolling sea. I am blessed to live in such a place, where I can reflect and write in perfect solitude, and I appreciate the beautiful life I have. I live a little like he did, but without his extraordinary deprivation -- the berries, the bag of rice, no way (as he perceived it at that time) to get out.

Jon Krakauer mined this tragedy for the beauty, the goodness, and the hope that could be found in it -- and this bounty was rich! -- and I applaud his book and his wonderful writing, as I applaud the deeply moving film Sean Penn waited so patiently, for ten years, to create.

I agree with some of the points other reviewers have made -- that the particular venture Chris McCandless chose was ill-advised, that he had not adequately prepared for it, and that his family need not have been abandoned and left in the dark.

But we have all screwed up in our lives and hurt people around us, at least once, have we not? Well, I certainly have.

When other people use poor judgment and make mistakes, it's so easy to judge, to criticize, to close our minds. That's the easy way out, isn't it?

Whether we see Chris McCandless as a crazy kid, or as a courageous and intensely spiritual young man, we do know that he died afraid and alone. For that reason, if for no other, I think we need to reach for all the understanding and compassion we can give.

Arlene Sanders
Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
www.ArleneSanders.com

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I went to the woods ..

That the force that is nature will ultimately change those of us who are enthralled by it. Its not surprising tht the protagnist in "Into the Wild" gives up so much to live primtively in the northern climes of Alaska .. its Thoreau revisited. The author never fails to please those who understand his messages.

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Poorly Equipped Dreamer

It's ok to be a dreamer. It's ok to want to 'find yourself.' It's really ok to hike and backpack. I've done it myself, but I would never, never enter a wilderness area without, at least, a topographical map. Chris McCandless' story is nothing short of tragic.
Jon Krakauer does a fine job of getting you into the mind of this doomed traveler while also taking you into the adventure and beauty of the wilderness.

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In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter....