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Summary: A book you need to read
Review: I choose the book INTO THE WILD from a list of books that was given to me by my professor. The reason that I choose this book is because I really enjoyed the summery right away it allowed me to get a little taste of the book which made me want to read the book. The book his full of a lot of action, suspense, stupidity, intelligence, and a big heart by the main charcter Chris McCandless. It takes you through the ups and downs of his journey and leaves you wondering why. This is a really good book it's based on a true story and I really recommend it to all students and adults if you are interested in non-fiction. (National Bestseller)
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Summary: A graduate who defines what American freedom really is.
Review: Living in America for over 12 years, I still can't see nor fine any adventure nor freedom America could provide. Chris McCandless, the main character who starved to death in the Alaskan woods, traveled all over America without paying any ticket fees nor gasoline, that amazed me greatly of how he hitchhiked. At first, I was too opposed of the weird beliefs and personal attitudes of Chris, but as I kept reading, things began to make sense and persuading. So persuading, I almost had the thought I would live the way Chris did, running away from his family and the Americans' main stream life, meeting new people, enjoying the beautiful sites in America, and mostly, able to do what he loved and died where he wanted to be the most. "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future." Powerful words from a real life person, this book is so dramatic, captivating, and show us the other side of American freedom. A book for anyone, especially to those who are tired of a restricted, repetitive, and wanted to get away from city life.
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Summary: A tragic adventure is thoughtfully examined.
Review: Krakauer is a wonderful writer - I've just blown through this book as well as Into Thin Air and Eiger Dreams, and for me - his writing is the kind of stuff that makes for late nights and tired workdays. I can't pay him a higher compliment. This one was a bit different than his other efforts in that Krakuer plays more the role of detective/sociologist rather than an an insightful expedition biographer. However, the story was as rivetting and perhaps even more powerful. I'm anxiously awaiting his next one!
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Summary: Leading me into a world of adventure
Review: Until a year ago I had never read an "adventure" story. However, I read this for a book club of which I am a member. The issues and thoughts raised in this book, and the sheer competence of the writing led me into a new area of literature. I defy anyone who has enjoyed this to stop here - next comes 'Into Thin Air', then the Anatoli Boukreev book 'The Climb' and then the whole Everest and mountain climbing genre opens up!I am sure this is true, because the Amazon 'Customers who bought this....also bought these...' reminder bears this out. Krakauer is a master at guiding the reader through an ever-changing emotional response to the subject. At first I thought Mccandless was a stupid young thing, but then I slowly came to recognise his point of view, whilst retaining my right to disagree with his actions. He was hopelessly ill-prepared and naive, but those are not sins in themselves. Youthful indiscretions usually make a person stronger. In this case, because of the extreme conditions they led to his death. For that I cannot condemn the young man, but feel saddened by the avoidable waste of life. I don't think he had a "death wish" at all - I think the real sorrow is that, towards the end, the young man's will to live was probably stronger than ever. Krakauer has done a fine job of conveying the story and the messages to me.
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Summary: Into the Wild
Review: Into the Wild is the true-life story of Chris McCandless who tragically died in the Alaskan wilderness in August of 1992. This is no secret as it is printed on the cover. In the book the author, Jon Krakauer, decides to concentrate on the character development of Chris McCandless. There are many theories as to why Chris McCandless, an intellectual young man, leaves a happy home to travail out west and live a simple life and the book tries to sort them out. While the book does not give concrete answers as to why Chris McCandless ends up dead in the Alaskan wilderness, it does give powerful insights as to where Chris McCandless screwed up. As a young male reader I found this book very interesting and thought provoking, even though the book does have its slow points. The author, who also wrote the article in Outside magazine, is an outdoors type person himself and has done his research for the book. Overall I was impressed with the book.
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Summary: Funny what time'll do to an opinion
Review: Three years ago I was infuriated with Chris McCandless. "Every man has the desire to set off on a journey of his own," I told a friend with whom I worked. "At our age {I was then the same age as McCandless was at the time of his death.} it is normal to want to create a reality where it is you versus them. We are now grown up, after all. We are Men. Men in a world that our parents created. Men in a world that we do not like. Men in a world that does not like us. And the only way we can get them to like us is to become exactly like them. Who wants to work forty plus hours a week for a boss who would just as soon fire you so that he or she could keep their indoor pool heated during the winter? Who would want that really? No one. But that is where disipline comes in. This is what Chris lacked..." I went on and on on this tangent. And for the most part I believed it. I honestly felt that Chris was a coward and an egotist. Why, I asked, would Chris take photos of himself if he planned to rough it for the sake of roughing it? Are photos not for the benefit of others to shuffle through while nodding in amazement? "You really killed a moose and ate it? Wow!" I saw Chris as a poseur. I saw him using the outdoor lifestyle the way that Hollywood moviestars use Yoga or kickboxing or Tibet: a personality's fashion accessory to casually toss across the conversation table in the hopes of impressing those on the other side. I put the book away. Three years passed. Yesterday I reread Into the Wild. I am no longer angry at Chris. Somethings happened to me in those three short years that gave me insight into Chris' vision. {I will not bore you with the details of my life's trials and tribulations.} My anger is replaced with respect. Chris lived his life as he chose and he faced his death with courage. In the four months Chris lived off the land and lived his dream, Chris came closer to the essence of being human than most others would ever come if they lived for a hundred years in the safety and security of a life closed in by a white picket fence. Chris' death is tragic and there is considerable talk of the waste of potential due to a 'lack of respect for the power of mother nature.' Perhaps this is true. Perhaps if Chris emerged from those woods, gaunt, weakened, and wise, he would write a great American novel that would touch the masses and remind us all of our connection to the land. Perhaps but unlikely. Most likely Chris would leave the woods and write a book, as his expressed an intent to do, that would be published by a small press and read only by his close friends and family. Chris would continue his pattern of a few months in society followed by an exodus into the unknown. His amazing tales would be told over beers and a dishfull of nuts but the rest of us would never know of Alex Supertramp. Chris died and that is what gives his story the emotion that make a bestseller. And being a bestseller, we are here talking about it. And because we talk, some of us will learn. And that is the point, isn't it? To learn. Yes, it is safer to live by the rules our fathers and mothers laid down. Yes, it is wiser to wait until your body and mind are strong enough for a challenge until you drop yourself into a it. But for some people, people like Chris, to live by the rules is a slow and painful death. Chris lived the life he loved and died for it. In the process he opend a dialoge and touched the lives of many people he never met. In a small, almost imperceptable way, he changed the world. He gave us insight and caution. He taught us of the vaule of human life and how to live a valuable life. I am not angry at Chris. I am proud of him.
Rating: 
Summary: Better to burn out, than fade away?
Review: Rich kid finishes college; decides there is dignity in leading a simple life off the land; crashes around the USA for a couple of years living off the kindness of strangers; heads to Alaska; dies. Krakauer wants us to find some meaning in this. I am not sure that there is much to be learned, and I don't think that Christopher Johnson McCandless found any more dignity from dying young in Alaska, than he would have achieved from staying alive in Virginia.
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Summary: Much more than an adventure yarn
Review: This is an outstanding work of literature, one of the most wrenching, most provocative books I have ever read. But it is NOT an adventure story per se. If you are expecting something like Krakauer's other bestseller, "Into Thin Air," you will be disappointed. Yes, "Into the Wild" tells the story of a young man who went seeking adventure in the wilds of Alaska and did not survive. But Krakauer isn't really interested in telling a testosterone-soaked cliffhanger. Rather, he sets out to explore the inner life of a very complicated, very idealistic, very intense young man. This is a very sophisticated work. It is a book about ideas more than actions. Krakauer was going after big literary game in this book, and he pulled it off brilliantly. This book is actually about longing and loss. It's about our historical fascination with the ever-receding American frontier, and how that's influenced our national character. That is why the detours Krakauer takes to tell the stories of seekers other than McCandless are an essential part of the book. These detours are certainly not mere filler, as other reviewers have complained (or, rather, they will only be considered filler by readers who want a rip-roaring adventure tale, and nothing more). Actually I thought the chapters in which the author goes off on tangents to write about Everett Ruess, and especially his own adventure on Alaska's Devils Thumb, were some of the most powerful parts of the book. The prose in these sections is beautifully crafted. Reading some of Krakauer's passages, I felt like I was intoxicated. He is that good a writer. I have read this book 4 times now, and I have gained a better appreciation of the author's tremendous skill and subtlety with each reading. If you are a serious reader with an interest in nature or the American West, I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It will stick with you for a long, long time.
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Summary: A lifeless book- take my word for it!
Review: Into The Wild by Jon Krakaeur was lifeless book without any mystery in it whatsoever. To sum it all up, the phrase, "Close but no cigar" comes to mind. I started reading this book thinking I would find an intriguing and puzzling real-life mystery. Wrong! Don't let the summary fool you. In order to write a real-life mystery, you must have a real-life mystery to write about. The McCandless story is no mystery. The book is merely an account of his life. A college graduate who was sick of the demands of normal life decides to take of for Alaska, and doesn't survive for obvious reasons. Sure, that's great if you're trying to write a biography, but it was my impression that this book wasn't meant to be a biography. Krakeauer went off on tangents, telling about other explorers and hitchikers that were somehwhat like McCandless...but didn't really have anything to do with him. That really annoyed me, because I was reading this book to find about the McCandless story. If I wanted to know about a man named Everett Reuss, I would be reading a book about Everret Reuss. The book was tolerable, when you get past the fact that there is no mystery. Krakaeur did a good job of getting all the facts straight, and I now know much more baout Cristopher McCandless then I ever knew before. I enjoyed hearing some of the cute stories about when McCandless was a little kid. Actually, the cute stories were about the only part of the book that I enjoyed. I also noticed that Into The Wild was a rather repetitive book, I'd hear the same things over and over again. The way I see it, The McCandless story was interesting when Krakauer wrote a short article about it in a magazine, but making it a book was too much of a stretch for such a lifeless story. I don't really recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read, especially if you're looking for a real-life mystery. On the other hand, if you're doing a report on Everett Reuss, this book is for you!
Rating:
Summary: OK
Review: Into the Wild didn't really do anything for me. When I picked it up, I was expecting a detailed accounting of Chris's trek through the wilderness, the mistakes and discoveries he made, more like Into Thin Air or any other of the countless true adventure stories. I should have paid heed to the note on the back cover -- "travel essay." The suspense in this book isn't about whether or not Chris will die; we know from the front cover that he will. Instead, this is an investigation of his life leading up to his death. But it just isn't that interesting. It seems as if the author wrote this book more because he was obssessed with Chris than because he had a story to tell. Despite all this, I'm sure that I could have enjoyed it if it had been just the first couple chapters and the last 6. The rest are just a boring, confusing length of the stories of people who in any small way were connected to Chris. It jumps around, providing mundane details which have nothing to do with anything. Another part of the reason I didn't enjoy this book -- not only were the events not terrible exciting (I didn't expect them to be), but I couldn't relate to Chris at all, and that is an important aspect of a book about a person. The point of the book is to detail how the author thinks he can relate to Chris. The story isn't in chronological order, and the jumps back and forth, the constand barrage of little anecdotes, hypotheses et cetera, turns into a boring mishmash of events which I quickly found myself not caring about. This book was well-written and informative, and I've no question that I could have gotten more out of it if I felt I could relate to Chris, but I couldn't and the book turned out to be a waste of time.
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