Rating: 
Summary: Author recreates story very well
Review: Jon Krakauer does a great job retelling the story and brings many new supporting facts that help strengthen his assumptions. This book made think how important it is to tell my family where I'm going; I would not want my parents to worry like the McCandless family.
Rating: 
Summary: Jumps Around Too Much!
Review: This book has too many flashbacks and flash forwards. I was expecting the gritty, hour by hour terror of the author's Into Thin Air. I was sorely disappointed. I suggest you read Into Thin Air, instead.
Rating:
Summary: Envious and Curious of this Wanderlusted Idealist
Review: Interesting read. Reminded me of Kerouac, and other books. After reading this story I cut up my credit cards. Chris lived a "free" life. I wanted to jump in his shoes while reading the book, and realized that I couldn't live and travel like he did. I just can't tough it that much. I do think that Chris was looking to hard to get to something, that may have never existed. There were likely underlying causes to his strive to get so close to nature. He didn't prepare himself well at all for his trip to Alaska. He was an individual, and in today's society, individuals are hard to find. Kudos to McCandless.
Rating:
Summary: Determination Meets the Wild
Review: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, covers the expedition of Chris McCandless, as he journeyed across North America preparing for his Alaskan odyssey. He was from a wealthy family and was well educated. He disappeared, abondoning his car, and then beginning his journey in Alaska, and continuing throughout western United States. He would find jobs to temporarily support himself. The only food the boy carried was a ten-pound bag of rice. Four months after his mysterious disappearance, his decomposed body was found. He had dies of starvation. The wilderness was a second home to Chris. It was his sense of adventure that led him into the northern wilderness of Alaska, where he spent the last months of his life. Although this led him to his death, it is quite interesting. Chris holds a sense of understanding of nature and adventure that allowed him to learn the true meaning of happiness and what it meant to be independent. He was full of determination and that made the story interesting. Without a doubt, I give this novel five-stars! It's very absorbing-you can't put the book down. This novel is truly different from other books and is certainly one of the best books. I would definately recommend this book for all readers-there is something in it for everyone. The author, Jon Krakauer, does an excellent job of reporting the story and this makes the reader feel like they are in the story. If you are looking for a book to read, consider this one.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, utterly unique book
Review: I loved this book. It's one of the most original and satisfying works of non-fiction I've read in a long time. Mr. Krakauer writes beautifully, and he did an amazing amount of on-the-ground research to unravel the mystery of Chris McCandless, a very remarkable, if difficult, young man. Having just read the 1-star review below by the anonymous person from Freeport Maine, I can't let his/her negative observations pass without comment. First of all, Mr./Ms. Freeport accuses Mr. Krakauer of writing "Into the Wild" in order to cash in on the success of his bestseller "Into Thin Air." This is somewhat unlikely, because "Into the Wild" was published more than a year BEFORE Mr. Krakauer wrote "Into Thin Air"! Also, Mr./Ms. Freeport opines that McCandless's "story and his family should be left alone. Shame on Mr. Krakauer for attempting to profit from their intense loss." The only problem with this opinion is that the McCandless family has stated publicly that they are extremely glad Mr. Krakauer wrote "Into the Wild." In early 1996, a month or two before Mr. Krakauer went to Mt. Everest, I saw him give a lecture/slide show about "Into the Wild" at a Borders bookstore outside of Baltimore. At the beginning of the lecture Mr. Krakauer introduced Walt and Billie McCandless, Chris's parents, who were in the audience that night. After the slide show I approached them and told them how much I admired their son. Then I asked them what they thought of Mr. Krakauer's book. They said they were extremely grateful that Mr. Krakauer had written it, because "Into the Wild" had answered many riddles about their son that had been troubling them--riddles that would have otherwise gone unanswered. Mr. McCandless even admitted that in some ways Mr. Krakauer had probably come to know Chris better than they knew him during the last years of his life. Both Mr. and Mrs. McCandless spoke quite highly of Mr. Krakauer's integrity and his skill as a journalist.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing at Best
Review: It appeared rather quickly that Mr. Krakauer knew very little about the young man Chris in this true story, and you get the impression he was trying to continue to ride the wave of his very successful book, Into Thin Air. The story flip flops between historical treks into the wilderness by other men and Chris' journey into the Alaskan wilderness, and eventual death. It is confusing (and rather boring) at times when Mr. Krakauer goes off on these tangents and loses the momentum of what he set out to investigate; Chris' self imposed seclusion. Mr. Krakauer makes a hero out of Chris for acting impulsively and deeply hurting his family. I found Chris to be self centered and self righteous, judgemental and juvenile. This book was a waste of time on all parts, and I couldn't wait for the end. Unfortunately we will never know much about Chris, and can only guess at what drove him to enter the wild. But from the little background Mr. Krakauer uncovers, it appears he had a chemical and/or mental imbalance of some kind. I think his story and his family should be left alone. Shame on Mr. Krakauer for attempting to profit from their intense loss.
Rating:
Summary: Determination Meets the Wild
Review: Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, covers the expedition of Chris McCandless, as he journeyed across North America preparing for his Alaskan odyssey. He was from a wealthy family and was well educated. He disappeared, abandoning his car, and then beginning his journey in Alaska, and continuing throughout western United States. He would find jobs to temporarily support himself. The only food the boy carried was a ten-pound bag of rice. And four months after his disappearance, his decomposed body was found. He had died of starvation. However, the wilderness was a second home to Chris. It was his sense of adventure led him into the northern wilderness of Alaska, where he spent the last months of his life. Although this led him to his death, it is quite interesting. Chris holds a sense of understanding of nature and adventure that allowed him to learn the true meaning of happiness and what it meant to be independent. He was full of determination and that made the story interesting. I give this novel five-stars! It's very absorbing-you can't put the book down. This novel is truly different from other books and is certainly one of the best books. I would definitely recommend this book for all readers- there is something in it for everyone. The author, Jon Krakauer, does an excellent job of reporting the story and this allows him to make the reader feel like they are in the story. If you are looking for a book to read, consider this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Time well spent
Review: Any book that makes me forget myself and my surroundings to try to learn from someone else is time well spent. I found this book to be worthy of a recommendation to those people that I think would enjoy it. I was fascinated by the author's ability and willingness to devote so much effort to researching and unraveling Chris's story. The book is a mix of adventure, curiosity, and sadness - like Chris's life.
Rating:
Summary: great for the High school curriculum
Review: This book is an excellent one for high school students as well as for those older. High school teachers should consider using this book in their curriculum, as it would be a wonderful book for discussion and would spark their students to do independent thought.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: The story of Chris McCandless' journeys and especially his final trek into the wilderness is fascinating material. The author does a good job of piecing these two years together, and an even better job of portraying what might have gone on in McCandless' mind. By the end the book I had a good sense of how and why this tragedy happened. McCandless possessed a deadly and interesting combination of idealism, intelligence, restlessness, bravery, naïveté and ignorance. The book was truly hard to quit reading as many people have stated. Though the book did contain a large amount of material not related to McCandless, I found that material interesting and relevant to understanding what made him tick. I do think that the author could have backed off a little on the thesaurus, but I still enjoyed his honest style. This is a fascinating book.
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