Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Pages: 207
Published by Anchor Books
Publication Date January 20th 1997
Goodreads
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, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
Reviews Done Quick
I picked up Into The Wild while at my family’s cabin in Northern Wisconsin. From a landscape perspective it seemed like a perfect match. All I can say is thank goodness it is short. As usual, Jon Krakauer’s writing was spot on, it was his subject matter that was the problem, Christopher Johnson McCandless AKA Alexander Supertramp. In my opinion, Chris McCandless came off as a self-centered brat who fell into the category of “I don’t care about money” because he had it. Chris meets numerous people during his travels who want to help him and each time he brushed them off I rolled my eyes. His inability to listen to those more experienced, coupled with his disregard for common-sense (who doesn’t bring a map to Alaska?) had me groaning throughout the novel. I think that Into the Wild is a love it or hate it book that will evoke strong emotions for each reader. My opinion however, was not “super”.
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