Into the Wild

Rating:
Summary: This book is not for everybody.
Review: This book is about one man's search for nature and true freedom. A life so far removed from mainstream society most people will balk. If you dream of escaping to a world of nature and adventure you will love this book. If you are content with a stable predictable life, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Krakauer Writes Supreme Yawn-fest
Review: When I first found out that we would have to read this book for school, I was excited. The story of Chris McCandless's final days promised to be enlightening and a real page-turner. Not so. After the first few chapter of this idiot's journey into the wilderness I was ready to give up. Unfortunately, I had to persevere. First off, the book is in no way organized. Krakauer told the story of not only McCandless but also other morons who went into the wilderness and died (he even related his own near-death experience). Secondly, place-to-place transitions were horrible. One sentence, McCandless would be in the deserts of the southwest and the next he'd be back in college in Georgia repeating an event that also happened two chapters ago. Along with these, there's really no point in telling the story. Who wants to hear about an unprepared, over-eager goober that goes into the wilderness with only a ten-pound bag of rice, a few books, and a gun? I honestly can't recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: This book has very little to do with wilderness adventure.
Review: I was really disappointed in this book. From the title, the online description, and the author's note in the beginning of the book, I thought that I would be reading about a man's fatal adventures in the Alaskan wilderness. Not so.

About 80% of this book describes the last two years of Chris McCandless's life (which consisted mostly of his travels around the lower 48 states). He spent this time tramping around the countryside, living off the land (but mostly freeloading from strangers he would befriend along the way).

His fatal mistake was to live by the philosophies of "great" writers like Leo Tolstoy, Henry David Thoreau, and Jack London. Unfortunately, he tried to mix fiction and wayward philosophies with reality; it didn't work.

My impression of Chris McCandless: He was spontaneous, irresponsible, careless, unloving toward his family, arrogant, unforgiving toward his father, and selfish. As usual, the media (and this book) made him out to be more than what he really was. (I agree with Nick Jans's letter on pages 71-72).

The only parts of the book that I really enjoyed were the two chapters about the author's personal climbing adventure on the Stikine Ice Cap (Devil's Thumb) in Alaska. These chapters reminded me of "Into Thin Air" (a book that I highly recommend) which was also written by Jon Krakauer.

Rating:
Summary: A deeply satisfying story of individual trials and triumphs
Review: In this book, the author goes to great pains to recount the last few years of McCandless' life. It is particularly spellbinding how this man searches the nation and eventually goes into the wilds of Alaska to find himself or some semblence of real truth. It is masterfully written, partly as one accompanying McCandless, partly as one searching with Krakauer for the mysteries of his life up to his death in central alaska. It is a story that many avid outdoorsmen (or women) will identify with as it goes to the ends of the earth and describes the same inexplicable motives we have for journeying into the wild.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story, well-researched, told page-turner style.
Review: At first blush, I couldn't describe why I was attracted to this story. But author Krakauer's staccato rhythym is hard to resist. The story draws you in from the first few pages. Faint curiosity turns to torrid interest before you even consider setting this book aside.

Although he never subjects the reader to pure speculation, Krakauer carefully researched and reconstructed Chris McCandless's wanderings from Atlanta, across the West, to Mexico, and finally, Alaska, in great detail. Conversations with some of the people Chris knew during his sojurn add a crucial layer of interest and emotion to the story.

Through interviews with friends and family, Krakauer composed a pyschological profile of this young man. Even as a young boy, he marched to a different beat. But the author lets us all know - that as different from Chris as we may be, as much as we may like creature comforts, the reassurance of our family, friends, and a familiar landscape, there is a little bit of the adventurer, of Chris McCandless, in all of us. For myself, the attraction to the story was both difficult to reconcile and its most compelling puzzle. I'm about as different from Chris McCandless as one can be.

And that connection is Krakauer's genius. Anyone could tell a story, but few can make us feel as vulnerable, indeed as lonely and scared, as a young man alone in the wilderness.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story about one man's determination to survive.
Review: John Krakauer is able to piece together the pieces of John McCandless' life in a way few authors could. If you are interested at all in learning more about the poignant story of one man's struggle with society and nature I would definitely reccommend reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: A simple tale that becomes a compelling mystery.
Review: I would dare say that most of us who were active young men have dreamed of leaving formal society and living off the land at one point or another. I know I did. Krakauer did as well. At first, when reading this book, I thought that Krakauer was belaboring a simple story, stretching it out to fit a book. But I soon saw where his Jack London quotes and parallels to other explorers, including his own life, led him. Additionally, I found it fascinating the mystery that was posed by the exact mechanism of the death of "Alex Supertramp." Krakauer has a compelling style that he put to good use in "Into Thin Air", which makes this book compelling as well.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Inspirational Book I have EVER Read
Review: I read "Into The Wild" last year while I was studying in Southern Spain. The experiences I was having are nothing similar to the experiences that the young boy in this book had, nor do I have similar views in life as he. Yet, the words he wrote to an old man about viewing the world as a continuously changing horizon, and to break away from the ordinary repetitive lifestyle, inspired me to think with a different mind. Reading this book made me so enthusiastic about finding my own path in life that I read it twice!! I recommend it to anyone who is at the age when they are in search of who they really are and want to be!!!

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing and Highly Rewarding
Review: The tragic death of Chris McCandless could be examined in two ways: condemnation of an arrogant and naive young man, or idealization of one whose voiced principles were put into real-life practice. To Krakauer's credit, he takes neither approach. He offers a painstakingly objective investigation, attempting to build a meaning for McCandless' life by sifting through the clues rendered by those who he had known, loved, used, and simply crossed paths with.

I can understand some readers' reaction to Krakauer's telling of an episode from his own life as an ego-driven side-trip. I felt similarly, at first, until I realized that the author truly did feel that something of Chris, a.k.a. "Alex" lives deep within himself. And that's the disturbing part ... there may well be a little of McCandless in all of us. Maybe that's why so many folks were so quick to condemn him upon learning of his tragic end.

By the last page, one perhaps understands McCandless a lit! tle more, and also gains some insight into some personally repressed yearnings. Even so, this young man's fate remains enigmatic and haunting -- and I don't think Krakauer ever intended to reach a final conclusion about his psyche.

I was glad to see that Krakauer is donating some of the proceeds from book sales to a Chris McCandless scholarship fund. In the end, this troubled idealist's death might go a long way in encouraging others to think more deeply of their purpose in life, and the ways in which they might walk their own paths. That's why I am using this book as required reading in a college level sociology class which I teach.

Rating:
Summary: A great book!!!
Review: After enjoying Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer I decided to read Into the Wild which I had also heard was good. Into the Wild did turn out to be a fabulous book; even better than Into Thin Air in my opinion. Krakauer gave a great insight into the decesion making-process of this young man. Though it was not always a page-turner in the normal sense of the word it was very addicting and I ended up reading it all on a trans-continental flight. Enjoy reading!!!