Into the Wild

Rating:
Summary: What about the others?
Review: Chris McCandless (or shall I say Alexander Supertramp) was a very frustrated young man. He was angry at his family, his world, and himself. So he hitch-hikes to Alaska to "find himself" amongst the wilderness and he dies. The author, Jon Krakauer, tries to explain McCandless' thoughts, justify his actions, and determine whether McCandless was ready to return home. Krakauer attempts to defend this boy's story, admitting that his "strange tale struck a personal note that made a dispassionate rendering of the tragedy impossible." But even Krakauer's excuses cannot make up for Chris McCandless. In his solo journey to Alaska he met and befriended many people. They gave him everything they had, this hitch-hiker that they pulled in off the road. They fed him, let him into their homes, provided him with clothes and other items, and accepted him with welcome smiles. But when the time came for McCandless to return the favor, he simply fled farther north. It was Chris McCandless' family who hurt the most. He never found it in himself to forgive his father, and somehow he seemed to just forget about his family. Instead he left them to deal with their pain. Krakauer spends too much time on the specifics of McCandless' trip, goes too overboard with stating the need that some people feel to be in the wilderness, and gives too many details about his death. This made for some rather dull, and sometimes confusing, sections of the book. Maybe I didn't like this book because I cannot relate with Chris McCandless, and I never could do what he did. Then again, I don't think that I would ever want to.

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating, Journalistic Story
Review: After reading this book, set up mostly like an extended magazine article, I became very interested and compelled with the story of Chris McCandlesss. I gave it three stars, for there were many unneeded, boring, and interrupting parts mixed in with the better areas. Starting off with the travels of Chris, halfway through the book the author begins to talk about random other travelers similar to Chris. With no mention of the main character for several chapters, I felt like tha author didn't have anything else to say about Chris, so instead he talked about early 1900's explorers. Kraukauer probably thought that they related to the travels of Chris, but I saw those short stories as major interruptions. The main thing that I did enjoy about Into the Wild was the description and insights into the personality of Chris. Not only did the author clue us in to what he was thinking and feeling, Kraukauer gave us opinions of others that had come into contact with him. While reading it, it was interesting to find out about how the rest of the world felt about Chris's travels, and how he influenced everyone he met. Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the high occurance of passages and quotes from Chris's journal. It allowed the reader to understand his motivation and get a true feel for his journey's.

Rating:
Summary: A facinating story about a young man finding himself.
Review: "No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes, ultimate freedom," living on the edge was Chris-a.k.a. Alex McCandless' way of living. McCandless was a smart kid with a college degree,who planned on entering law school. His parents were successful, although the relationship between him and his parents was strained. One wonders why a kid with such a bright future ahead of him would go into the Alaskan wild ill-prepared with limited supplies? Into the Wild was a great book. It portrayed the story of a young man in search of himself. At one point or another in our lives, we have all talked about living out our most outlandish dreams. So many times we fail to do so. I found this book facinating because McCandless did follow through with his dreams, and fought until the bitter end. Krakauer made McCandless' numerous journeys come alive by thoroughly researching McCandless' numerous mini trips as well as his "Alaskan Odyssey." He found first hand sources that retold their crossings with McCandless. It was very interesting to see how giving so many people were along the way. Although, on the other hand, I found it difficult to understand how McCandless could get so close to so many people and just "flit out of their lives before anything was expected of him." Krakauer made me feel as though I was reliving McCandless' journeys. Reading Into the Wild was like riding a roller coaster. I cried, I laughed, I got goosebumps, and I hurt. Every emotion came out and it made the story seem that much more real to me. Anyone looking to read a well-written book, with a lot of emotion would definately enjoy reading Into the Wild.

Rating:
Summary: A great book that anyone can relate to.
Review: This is a fascinating story about one, Chris McCandless, dying while trying to live out his dream. Anyone who has ever had a dream that they are afraid to live out should read this book. It shows that you could have everything in the world but as long as you don't do what you want to do you'll never be truly happy.

Krakauer does an excellent job of writing this book. His writing style is one that grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let you go until the very end of the book. Another technique that Krakauer uses is sharing journal entries and letters that Chris wrote to the reader. This lets the reader feel exactly what Chris was feeling from the beginning of his long journey up until his death.

The author also goes to great length to share accounts of other journeys similar to Chris's that have proved fatal over the years. Through doing so, the author shows that a little piece of Chris is in all of us and makes the book that much harder to put down. It is one of the most inspirational books I have ever read and everyone could learn something from the ideals that Chris McCandless held.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique Voyage That Becomes An Inspiration
Review: After finishing "Into The Wild," by Jon Krakauer for my lit. class, I asked myself, "where is my life going?" Karakauer takes his readers to a new view of independence. He goes deep into Chris McCandless's hidden life of needs for freedom and solitude. He shows us how McCandless lived his life in the wild off of great authors and philosophers by the short excerpts inserted in the beginning of the chapters. He takes us deep into a lost soul searching for a reason. "Into The Wild" is a book about freedom. One can change their life by only taking a small step out into an endless road. Krakauer makes the point that for many of us there is something in the way. We are afraid to break the norm. We are afraid to run from our families, friends, and even our own lives. Krakauer, like McCandless, uncovers our yearnings for change and tells us to never be afraid to run from ourselves. Throughout the entire book it felt like the story was not moving. It was too slow. But, when I stopped reading I felt inspired. I wanted to run off and make some sort of difference in my life. Krakauer does an excellent job of portraying a young man with incredible will and determination to actually live his life. McCandless can teach us all a lesson: Don't be afraid to take a risk, even if it means you fail.

Rating:
Summary: From irresponsible runaway to complex idealist...
Review: After simply hearing the facts of "Into the Wild"'s plotline, it's easy for one to see Chris McCandless as nothing more than an arrogant runaway. Howver, by exploring Chris' final years and the conversations he had with various people, Jon Krakauer was able to paint a differnt picture of the young idealist. While I did not find myself relating to Chris throughout the book, I was able to abandon my initial image of him--thoughtless and irresponsible. He instead became a complex, and ultimately disturbing, soul who found satisfaction in living by the philosophies of his favorite authors. A quote from Leo Tolstoy, highlighted by Chris, summarizes the wanderlust Chris must have felt: "I felt in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life." Chris yearned to be free of the material world and its so-called "plastic people"; he was able to accomplish this by forgetting everyone and everything he knew to venture into the unknown. I don't feel that Chris lacked respect for nature or its power, but I do think he was extremely overconfident and very unprepared. "Danger has always held a certain allure,"Krakauer writes, "McCandless merely took risk-taking to its logical extreme." I agree with the author's statement and I strongly doubt that Chris was suicidal--his independent spirit just needed a chance to thrive on it's own, which he believed was impossible to do in today's society. His compelling and tragic story should be considered as reading material for anyone striving to understand their purpose in life.

Rating:
Summary: This book displayed to ultimate act of courage.
Review: This book touched me in so many ways, it's hard to discribe them in just a few paragraphs. The way it was originally described to me, I wasn't sure I would really enjoy it. But, if I wanted credit for my class, I had to read it. I tried to keep and open, objective mind as I started the book, but by the time I got to page twenty, I couldn't put it down. While I liked almost the entire book, the biggest emtional impact for me was the amount of Chris in myself. He followed his dreams wherever they led him, from Mexico to his untimely death in Alaska, without caring what others thought of him. That in itself is to be admired, even if you do share the opinion of the majority if my class, that he was a fool. One of the amazing thing about this book was that we all could relate to atleast a small protion of it. We all have crazy, wild dreams. He just pushed himself to follow them on another another level. Speaking of another level, the literary techniques in this book were amazing. Jon Krakauer went beyond the facts and found the little emotional gems that could have easily been overlooked, and made them stand out. One of these gems was the quotes and exerpts at he begining of each chapter. While all had relevance, the ones that Chris had highlightedand underscored were my favorites, because they let the reader into his head, into his emotions. My only real gripe about the book was the insets of other peoples adventures. They never really helped me, infact, they slowed me down. All in all, I think this is a great book for anyone who still dreams big dreams.

Rating:
Summary: This book shows life as a wild adventure.
Review: I read "Into The Wild" in my advanced contemporary literature class as a class assignment. The experiences in my life are similar to Chrises life, so I could relate to his thoughts and the need for adventure. I could never do the extreme things Chris did with his life, but I understand why he did them.

Krakauer took the approach of telling the adventure of Chrises life on the road to Alaska by researching and finding people who met Chris on his journey. Also, the author put quotes from books that Chris highlighted inthe beginning of each chapter. In the beginning of chapter seven this quote was highlighted in Thr Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, by Mark Twain. "There was some books....One was Pilgrim's Progress. about a man that left his family, it didn't say why. I read considerable in it now and then. The statements was interesting, but tough." The quotes throughout the bookare related to the way Chris preceived life. I enjoyed the quotes inthe beginning of the chapters because they made mr think.

This book really made me think about the purpose of my life. It opened my eyes to the many paths I can take. I dreaded reading the book at first and it took me a while to read, but I'm glad I read it. I would recommend this book to high-schol students or older. It's a good book to study in a class setting and it brings up many issues for discussion. It makes you wonder if you could survive in the wild.

Rating:
Summary: Novel of a Young Man's Search for Himself
Review: Into the Wild is a compelling novel of a young man and his quest to find himself in the Alaska wilderness. This book is thoroughly researched and accurately recounts the last two years of Chris McCandless' life as he travels through the southwest and then finally embarks on his "Alaskan Odyssey." As Chris tries to escape the ideals and problems of modern society and his family he finds himself forging new friendships and beginning to discover who he really is. In this book Krakauer offers rare insights into why McCandless is compelled to leave his family, his money and his education to tramp around the Alaskan frontier. He adds depth to Chris' character and although the reader cannot necessarily relate to McCandless he/she can begin to understand why he left. In the end my view of Chris McCandless was that he was crazy, selfish and unrealistic. He did not appear to care about his family and friends and he had an intricate set of morals and ideals that only seemed to apply to certain people. Despite all of these things I think Krakauer did a wonderful job explaining this young man and by the end the reader truly can, if only slightly, understand Chris McCandless.

Rating:
Summary: Holy Disturbing Batman!
Review: I found Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer somewhat disturbing-- but all in all a good read. As one who is not espeicially into the outdoors, I was surprised at how fast this book went. Although at times I found some of Krakauer's insertion of his personal experiences into the book both inappropriate and unnecessary-- I loved how the book let me get into this enigmatic man's mind. Krakauer did a great job of letting the reader understand McCandless' mental side by going as far as quoting highlighted passages in the recreational books he read. If you don't usually read non-fiction or writing about the outdoors-- this would be a great book to take a break from your norm. The story was just so compelling and puzzling that I doubt many would be unineterested. Although Krakauer's insistently journalistic style got to me after a while-- I gave this book 3 stars because it was curiously confusing and hard to put down.