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Summary: I Went to School with Chris McCandless
Review: A young man gives away all his money and willingly hikes out alone into the wilds of Alaska with little outdoor experience and with almost no food. Months later, his diary is found beside his body in an abandoned school bus deep in the wilderness. Reading the daily diary entries, written while McCandless knew he was slowly starving to death, is absolutely chilling.Only after I started to read Into the Wild did I realize that it is about Chris McCandless, and that I actually went to college with him at Emory. He was two years behind me, and the chills really ran up my spine when I found his picture in my yearbook. This story is very creepy and compelling, shedding light on the rarely discussed issue of the dark side of high adventure pushed too far. Jon Krakauer is an excellent writer, and I would have rated this one higher. At just over 200 pages, however, it is very short and reads more like an extended magazine article. I think Krakauer could have fleshed out the story out a little more, but the bare bones style he adopts here is still quite effective.
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Summary: Death of an Innocent - How Chris McCandless lost his way
Review: Jon Krakauer's account of a young idealist's death is facinating, riveting and tragic. Having hiked across the US and having spent a year in Alaska I know how unforgiving the land can be. The story left me speechless, since I understood McCandless' intend all too well. I finished the book easily in one day - it stirred a lot of emotion in me. Krakauer is a good writer and an avid adventurer himself - which is something I respect - as I respect the choice made by Chris...
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Summary: Haunting, Could not put it down, Cant stop thinking about it
Review: Those who used the word 'haunting' to describe this book, exactly describe my own impression of it. Granted, Chris was naive, quite inconsiderate, perhaps in need of traditional 'therapy', etc etc, but these failings are all the time-honored prerogatives of youth, after all, and to his credit, he certainly pursued the limits of what it means to be human in ways very few of us do throughout our whole lives. In that respect, he finds an honored place in the history of philosophers and seekers. That he died in the process of his quest, was just an accident, and not really his fault at all. I, for one, also enjoyed Jon Krakauer's own stories and interjections. He has crafted a truly gripping tale. I think Chris' last words deserve immortality: "I have had a good life, and thank the Lord. May God bless you all." God bless you, too, Chris!
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Summary: Must read for young men:
Review: There is some indescribable force that drives young men to seek conquest and unequivocal tasks that write a legacy about themselves. This book, although eventually tragic, was a full-course meal for my appetite for adventure. I empathize with Alexander McCandless and envy him for what he was able to do during his short stint with manhood. I have done some crazy things myself in life, but nothing that holds a candle to the freedom that he must have felt right up until his death.
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Summary: EASY TO PICK UP--HARD TO PUT DOWN
Review: This book is a chilling, harrowing true story of Christopher McCandless, an intelligent, compassionate young man who couldn't stand to live in the stale world of wealth and work. A fan of Leo Tolstoy and Henry Thoreau, he was inspired by the former's forsakenness of wealth to walk among the poverty-stricken populace, so he packed up some possesions, burned all of his money, abandoned his car, which he loved, and headed across the country in search of adventure. He intended to leave his family, which he had never gotten along entirely well with, and live on the land, to create for himself a new life. This book is an account of McCandless's epic oddysey, which spanned all across the North American continent, from Georgia to Mexico to Alaska, and his adventures along the way, along with memories from friends and acquaintances. I simply couldn't stop reading this fateful tale. It reads like a documentary, for most of the story, it seems like you are living vicariously through Krakauer's writing, and he often seems like he isn't there at all. The other reason I liked this book so much was its study of the main character, who is a fascinating character who is riddled with contradictions and romances that ultimately led to his end in the Alaskan Bush. He is a different breed than I, than most of us, the kind that is completely unimpressed by the mundane life we have here and wants life on his own terms. If you like adventure stories, this is a must read. The story isn't overlong, it lasts only over 200 pages and remains fresh throughout. Absolutely compelling reading.
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Summary: Ignorance and Bad Luck....A Dangerous Combination
Review: Throughout life there are times when a combination of stupidity and bad luck just align against you....sometimes it's not fatal but other times it is. Christopher McCandless appears to have been on a personal search for something which he couldn't find in main stream society. John Krakauer does a good job of documenting that search from his life in the East, to Western farms where McCandless worked as a labor, to his time at Slab City near Yuma. (After reading the book I was passing through Yuma and tried to find this city but never did) It's obvious that Chris was unprepared for the environment of the far north and he seems to have been fully aware of that lack of preparation by hauling books like "War and Peace" into the wilds rather than life sustaining supplies. But to not be cognizant of the potential for the environment to change around you over time is simply ignorant. In the case of this well written book which documents the demise of Chris, it was fatal. This book was written before "Into Thin Air" but you can still see John Krakauer's early training as a journalist starting to come through. The book is easy to read and keeps your attention regardless of the fact that you know how it ends.
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Summary: Well written inquisitive book- easy-to-read
Review: This is a book about a young man who gives up all his possessions from a well-to-do family and lives as a drifter and a vagrant. He ultimately wanders into the Alaskan forest only not to come out alive. The author successful integrates some of his experiences and how he could relate to the young man, Chris McCanless, into the prose. Jon Krakauer offers expert and relatively extensive research into the life of the young man. He tenderly and gently approaches difficult questions into why and how the young man dies in the Alaskan wilderness. For example, highlighted sections of books that Chris was reading at the time are included in the book. More importantly carefully selected exerts of Chris' diary up onto his death appear in the book. Jon Krakauer does not side step the difficult questions in this book, of why and how a young man with so much to offer to the world dies. He approaches the questions in a very tender but confronting way. For example, Chris relationship with his parents and family are dexterously but gently confronted- nothing is sidestepped. Jon offers a balanced and insightful honest view of the relationships both from his parents and what led Chris into the bush. This book is much better than Jon Krakauer popular book "Into the Thin Air" as it is written much better and is not hastily written. The author comes from a magazine background, and therefore the book is written in an easy-to-read magazine-like style. This is a book for anyone who wants to read about the phenomenon of young men heading into the bush to find reasons for their existence.
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Summary: man vs. society
Review: Into The Wild is a touching story, comprised of Krakauer's search for the truth amidst the life of Chris McCandless. Krakauer weaves in and out of Chris's lifelong quest for the truth by giving personal experiences along with tales of a history of people who have traveled on a journey similar to McCandless'. While peicing together the events leading up to Chris' demise, the book introduces the reader to the kind of person Chris might have been and the people whose lives he's touched. You never can get inside the boy's head, which makes the book almost too intriguing. I've never heard of anyone who just suddenly vanishes from a well-established life, burns all his money, leaves his family and precious car, in order to lead the life of a vagabond. Throughout the book, Krakauer's take on Chris and his mental state becomes obvious. You as the reader must decide this for yourself, however. I have come to agree with Krakauer, that Chris was not crazy, merely so bent on finding the truth in a world so intent on hiding it, that it killed him. Crazy or not, one must admire this man, for he took a chance and lived his life the way he wanted to, freed himself of society and it's buffers. This book is at times slow, but it's the kind of book that you think about a long time after you've read it, for the story is that of man and his instincts against society.
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Summary: Journey of Risk
Review: In Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer, there are many quotes from famous authors that describe the character of Chris McCandless. At the begginning of a chapter a quote by Leo Tolstoy says, "I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for love. I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life." Chris McCandless wanted excitement and danger in his life so he decided to go on a journey to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Chris was willing to do anything for excitement and this story shows it. His willingness to do what he loves shows that he believed nothing would ever happen to him. The wilderness, not our idea of normal life, was his goal. Chris could have had the normal life but he wanted something more and exciting. He had the opportunity many people wish they could have had but that meant nothing to him. He was going to do what he wanted when he wanted. Nobody was going to stop him and that led to his downfall. Into The Wild shows the want for risk and excitement of a young man. Chris McCandless did not want a normal life, he wanted something different. The way he attempted to get this was amazing. This story kept me at the edge of my seat. It is a story that is hard to imagine. This book is a true story about the passion for adventure of a young man.
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Summary: brilliant or crazy?
Review: Krakauer does a good job of telling the tragic story of Chris McCandless. He uses good detail and his own experience to make the story more real. However, I was a little bored by his constant meandering from story to story. I wish that he would have just stayed with the story of McCandless. McCandless' tragedy is like all other tragedies. If he had done one or two things differently, he would have survived. However, I wonder if he had survived, would we still remember him today? His life was spent in search of an ideal. He sought freedom from the weights of modern society. Whether he found what he sought after we will never know, but we can learn from his life and mistakes through Krakauer's research. A good read if you can get through some of the slower parts.
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