Rating: 
Summary: Into the Mind
Review: Into the mind I recently read the Jon krakauer book Into the Wild. This was a very good book about a boy just out of college and on a mission. He eventually wanted to live in the interior of Alaska, a bitter and harsh environment. Chris didn't get there right away; he stopped in many places, like Arizona, North Dakota, and California. He was somewhat a drifter, and couldn't stay in one place for more than 2 months. He liked to live off the land and looking death straight in the eye. That's exactly what happened, he was found dead in Alaska. This isn't giving anything away, because it's in the very beginning of the book. This book isn't really an account of what happened to Chris McCandless, but more of why he did this, and how he became the person he was. It really analyzes Chris's life as well as other people who like to "live off the land." I really enjoyed this book, which is why I gave it 4 stars. I've never known or heard of anyone who goes into the wilderness and just lives there. So this book really kept me interested, which is really important. I didn't like it just because it was a new subject for me; I also liked it because of what a good author Jon is. He describes everything in detail, and you have a really good picture in your mind of what he's talking about. I also liked it because you can form you own ideas about how Chris died exactly, or how he became the way he was, the author just didn't come right out and say "this is how it has to be." You could let your mind wander. I didn't give this book 5 stars because it did get a little boring at some parts. The author talked about a lot of other people who died in the wilderness like Chris. I didn't think this was very important to the story line.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply fascinating
Review: This is simply a fascinating book. Krakauer masterfully reconstructs the journey "into the wild" by Chris McCandless and his eventual tragic death. He really does an excellent job of evoking the mindset of McCandless, and I like how he researched other similar cases of young men going off into the wilderness to fend for themselves and then disappearing. An additionally interesting aspect is that even though the reader knows how the entire tale will eventually end, Krakauer's text is imbued with a sense of suspense. One can think what one wants about McCandless, i.e. he was a courageous if misguided idealist or fool who went to live in the Alaskan wilderness unprepared and with little epxerience (and little regard for his family's concerns): Krakauer gives his own views but really leaves it up to his readers to decide. His retelling of McCandess's trek is, however, a compelling and even haunting read--and it really gives readers much to think about. This, as well as the simple excellence of the prose, definitely makes this book better than most contemporary fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A Consideration of Style and Presentation
Review: It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to write a review of thisbook without pronouncing judgments. But let me be clear from theoutset that I am not here joining the ongoing debate into thecharacter, motivations or judgment of either Chris McCandless or Jon Krakauer. Such detachment is not easy as this volume is both a biography and autobiography of values, and I have discussed it from that perspective with my own family and friends. The book is well-written, and Krakauer has performed a neat bit of detective work in piecing together McCandless' story. The subject matter-- a young man's odyssey...-- is compelling. I suspect that the extensive number of reviews reflects just how compelling and contentious the subject of this book is. The paperback suffers from the lack of photgraphs and visual documentation available in the hardcover edition. The stark, essential facts are still here, however. Krakauer's own bias is clear and admitted. That is to his credit. There is no rule that says an author must be detached. Indeed, Krakauer's involvement in his story strengthens and focuses his prose. I strongly recommend this book to other parents. If it makes you think and worry, and if it inclines you to ACT by teaching children basic survival skills, so much the better.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Chris McCandless was admirable in a lot of ways--he had the cajones to do what many people dream of but few people do. He did not die because he was ill-prepared (don't forget he managed to live for 3 months+), he died because he lived the way he wanted and took the risks he needed to take. I'm glad our society can still produce people like him, and not just Backstreet Boys fans . The only fault I find with him is the worry he put him family through. "Into The Wild" is well done, unfortunately even at 200 pages it seems padded. The author adds chapters on other wayward dreamers, which were interesting, and his own youth, which was not. The book is worth reading, but there just isn't much to it.
Rating:
Summary: Why does one go into the wild?
Review: This biography of Christopher McCandless by the author of Into Thin Air is bound to reach any outdoorsman. Here was an intelligent and well to do person who abandoned the white collar future planned for him and found absolute freedom in wandering the American Southwest. From his reincarnation as Alexander Supertramp to his ultimate end in the Alaskan backcountry, McCandless' story spawns the nagging question of why? Each person will find their own answer in the pages and accounts of this man who did what many of us would do much to: gain from the wilds the ultimate freedom of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written, and not interesting
Review: This book is nothing but a sloppy, unorganized string of quotes, journal entries, and other meaningless crap. Chris McCandless's life is uninteresting, and his "wild adventure" to Alaska is nothing but a feeble suicide mission. He was ill-prepared, and I believe he suffered from a mental illness. He is not a "hero", or a "soul-seeker", but more of a dopey kid who decided to plunge into the wild with not much more than a ten lb bag of rice. What a moron....
Rating:
Summary: Into the wild mind of Chris McCandless
Review: Into the wild is a story of an intelligent, well-off young man with everything going for him until he decided that money, education and materials are meaningless. The same determination that helped Chris McCandless excel as a high school cross-country star enables him to survive the lifestyle he comes across after college. He rides the rails, canoes to Mexico on impulse and survives it all on nothing more than wits, luck and an ever-present bag of rice. In an increasingly crowded world, it was difficult for McCandless to find the physical isolation he sought, but his inward journey was more important than his external surroundings. Krakauer, a writer for Outside magazine who obviously shares McCandless' wanderlust, explains often-mysterious inclinations in a clear and revealing way. "In coming to Alaska, McCandless yearned to wander uncharted country, to find a blank spot on the map," Krakauer writes. "In 1992, however, there were no more blank spots on the map in Alaska not anywhere. But Chris, with his peculiar logic, came up with an elegant solution to this dilemma: He simply got rid of the map. While McCandless viewed nature and solitude as the keys to fulfillment, he profoundly touched those he encountered on the road prior to his fatal journey to Alaska. He comes across as engaging yet ultimately unapproachable in his brash pursuit of raw, austere experience. Krakauer succeeds in capturing McCandless' unique personality even as he establishes links between his subject and a loose alliance of adventurers who also took to the wild in search of meaning and identity. Over the years, Alaska has been a magnet for intrepid characters that trek into the bush, never to reappear. For example, Gene Rosellini, the son of a wealthy Seattle restaurateur, hoped to return to a natural state by scavenging and hunting game with spears and snares. He endured Alaska's bitter winters clad only in rags and fashioned a windowless hut without benefit of saw or ax. After declaring this experiment a failure, Rosellini made plans to walk around the world, but he never got the chance. He was found lying face down on the floor of his shack in 1991, dead of a self-inflicted knife wound to the heart. Krakauer's own foolhardy, yet determined, attempts to climb "an intrusion of diorite mountain called the Devils Thumb" in Alaska during his youth sheds still further light on McCandless. Based on his own experience, Krakauer convincingly argues that McCandless wasn't suicidal, as many have speculated. Despite his fate, it is difficult to say that McCandless died in vain. Or to deny that his approach to life is an enviable one in many respects. Although McCandless would probably laugh at the notion, he is a profoundly American figure, uncompromising in his approach and thoroughly optimistic about the future. In an age when the idea of "roughing it" is like having a sport-utility vehicle and thousands of dollars in camping equipment, McCandless was in touch with the essential essence of nature. He is also a reminder of what can happen when you take an all-or-nothing approach into the wild. This is truly a story that gives man respect for nature's beauty along with its principal dangers.
Rating:
Summary: DIFFERENT from _Into Thin Air_, but at least as good
Review: I read _Into the Wild_ before _Into Thin Air_, as a random pickup in the San Francisco airport. It consumed me through the entire flight and regretfully was over when we landed. It seems that some reviewers have focused on how little sympathy they have for McCandless, the "poor little rich kid" who died in the wilderness alone. It's interesting that the same people enjoyed Into Thin Air, which could be called a story about a whole group of "poor little REALLY rich kids." This isn't the way either book grabbed me. Into the Wild was a fascinating story about that mysterious quality in some people that drives them to be as alone as possible-- away from people, away from family, away from civilization. We are shown with several examples (not just McCandless) that this quality drives these people to sacrifice their belongings, their comfort, even their personal safety in pursuit of complete solitude. As we see in the beginning of the book (don't worry, I'm not giving anything away!), this compulsion often ends in death, alone and isolated. There is a real tragic element to the way Krakauer asks "Why do they do this? What is missing for them in life? What are they searching for?" Part of what makes the book so interesting is that Krakauer identifies with these people, and candidly admits to having a streak of the loner-adventurer in him. His story and those of many other interesting, mysterious wanderers are interwoven with the main story about McCandless. Krakauer's personal identification with the story brings you that much closer to the mystery, even if you've never felt the compulsion to walk out on civilized life and leave everyone and everything behind you (how many people haven't felt that way at some point?). Comparing this book to Into Thin Air seems inevitable considering that book's success. I would say Into the Wild is just as engaging, but much more personal. It is just as tragic but the source of the tragedy is the mysterious human character, not really the battle against the forces of nature. To me, Into the Wild was powerfully interesting on a personal level, where Into Thin Air was engaging as an adventure/disaster story. I highly recommend this book. Don't shortchange yourself on Krakauer by stopping with Into Thin Air. Into the Wild is some of his best work!
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the fluff
Review: If you can ignore the fluff, this is an interesting examination of a young man with "issues." Krakauer's writing is too flowery, the information on himself is gratuitous (I didn't even read the chapter he wrote about "his" experience) but the book is a quick read. I found the story about the rich brat fascinating. When you come down to it, he either had deep self-hatred or he had something to hide or both. There is nothing wrong with questioning authority (in this case, social mores, American society and materialism) but when done in a self-rightous way, it comes off as arrogant. Yes, there are personalities out there that want to conquer and test limits- bungee jumpers, Everest climbers, avalanche skiiers- but Chris was a downright egotistical misanthrope on the brink of being a recluse. I find that fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Poor little rich kid
Review: Krakauer's obvious self-analysis via the story of the life and death of a fellow 'tormented soul' is a pathetic attempt to glorify stupidity. Like Captain Ahab shaking his defiant fist at an overwhelmingly undefeatable Moby, Chris the so-called supertramp goes down to a meaningless and wasteful death. This book does nothing to salvage his life's squandered value. I wasted my money on this one hoping for another Into Thin Air.
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