Into the Wild

Rating:
Summary: "Into the Wild" is a very captivating story.
Review: Jon Krakauer's account of Christopher J. McCandless (or Alexander Supertramp)is one that I will never forget. Krakauer's intensive research and his relentless vigor of McCandless and his travels kept me reading from beginning to end nonstop. It is hard to believe that this story is nonfiction. How can someone's life be so captivating without spurious statements? McCandless and his ideals stirred within in me a feeling so strong, I feel I was changed after reading this book. McCandless did things that most people wouldn't ever think of doing. This society has been trained to believe that success is defined by money and status and material things. How could one abandon money, lifestyle, and material objects, and just walk the earth with little or no supplies? Was Chris foolish? Or was he testing his mortality, his ability to learn, to adapt to new surroundings, to live by the chaotic forces of nature? I think it was Krakauer's intention to instill within readers curiousity and admiration on why McCandless, Ruess, and himself, take such chances. What motivates these wanderers to roam the earth in search of something better, the something that will fill their void? I think people relate to McCandless so well, because they see themselves being pulled in by the forces of bureaucratic society. Why do people conform to society? Because it is easy, because that is what they are expected to do? I think that was McCandless's point, he doesn't need to live by the rules of others. He just wanted to prove to society that he lives by his own set of rules. This life that McCandless made for himself was quite fulfilling for him. So when McCandless died after 4 months in the Alaska bush, he didn't fail. In fact, by his own rules, he had finally succeeded. I think he did to.

Rating:
Summary: Good Adventure Book
Review: The desire to escape from the problems of the world and really live off the land has affected all of us. Chris McCandless actually made the move and took the first step that most of us have dreamed of. Even throughout the dissapointments and hardships he faced, I was on his side and wanted him to come out on top. The passion used to write this book flowed from the words and was evident in Krakauer's style. He made a story of adventure come alive. -Kelly S.-

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and thought provoking
Review: This book is wonderful. It made me think so deeply about my own dreams and my own aspirations. I have had the same desire to leave home and hit the road to experience life to it's fullest. I couldn't make as drastic of choices and decisions that Chris McCandless chose, but I would like to think that I would still be able to feel as much freedom that Chris enjoyed. Krakauer writes about Chris McCandless with such passion and description that I feel as though Chriss is talking to me through the text. While reading the book I felt a connection that no other book has made with me in a long time. No other book has made me think more about myself than Into The Wild. -Brian-

Rating:
Summary: Like an addicting drug. It's hard to stop after you start.
Review: Into the Wild was an entertaining read. The true story of Chris McCandless's life raises some thought provoking issues that made me sit down and reevaluate my own life. Everyone has had, one time or another, the urge to throw away civilization for the great outdoors. This book was very interesting to me because this guy, McCandless, actually answered the call of nature and adventured into the unknown. Krakauer supplied some examples throughout the book that compared McCandless's story to others that have had made a similar journey, inlcuding his own. This was, in my opinion, ingenius of him. It provided me with some pieces of the puzzle of Chris McCandless's character. It was a book that I recommended to my closest friend.

Rating:
Summary: Somthing to think about
Review: Into the wild is well written and easy to read. In my opion it is not exactly an unbiased version of the story though. Krakauer is to like the character he is writing about to be able to write the story from an unbiased point of view. The story of Chris McCandless is an adventure and a drama. The book gives an insight into who McCandless was, making the story more personal. The book raises many interesting questions and I liked the way it made me think. Krakauer wonders a bit form time to time away from his subject, but other then that I enjoyed the book. Wether or not you can identify with McCandless, this book will give you somthing to think about.

Rating:
Summary: Chris McCandless was a scared, suicidal kid
Review: I found this book to be interesting at points, but as a whole, it was sometimes hard to keep my attention. Chris McCandless's story was not an inspiring one. To me he did not seem like the brave, adventurous man that many people think. He seemed like a scared, suicidal kid. It was very disturbing to see him just drop his family, especially his sister that he supposedly loved so much, and move to Alaska. Chris went to Alaska, obviously unprepared. There was definitely not an adequate amount food, with him only carrying 10 pounds of rice, and he was not properly clothed. To me Chris was not trying to live off the land. He seemed to not even try and stay alive. Chris gave up his life and curled up and died in the bus. Chris hurt many people in his little "adventure", far more than just himself. Krakauer made a weak attempt at trying to compare himself to Chris McCandless. His personal stories seemed to be out of place, and nothing but tales of glory. Overall I found this book to be average.

Rating:
Summary: To be a mad man or not to be.
Review: In the beginning of the book I was discouraged about reading it. By the time the story on Alex became in depth and he became a person instead of just a dead man I was hooked. His passion and determination was so powerful it moved me. The story got me thinking and wondering if I was one of those people who got so caught up in society that I was forgetting about making myself happy. Each person in the book was a very thrilling part of the story that was, Alex. The characters were each like a piece of a very complex tragic puzzle. To go into the wild like Alex did is not something I would personally do because I am a bit too rational for that. In my book being so irrational as Alex was something could go completely wrong as it obviously did in this case. The one part of the book I disliked was the fact that the author added in his own personal experiences. Right before I got to that particular part I was a little teary eyed. Then the author put this break in the story it was very disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Krakauer gives great insight into this disaster
Review: The examples explored by Krakauer parrallel McCandless' situation and add meaningful insight into why this tragedy took place. Krakauer himself gives pertinent examples from his own past that explores the minds of young men longing for something that they don't have. He is able to give a first hand account of what goes through the minds of men who put themselves into dangerous situations. By using his and other examples, Krakauer relates them to the story of Chris McCandless. There really isn't a dull point in the book as Krakauer continually brings intriging new details of McCandless' adventures. These adventures are brought into better light as Krakauer relates them to his and others' experiences.

Rating:
Summary: Insane?
Review: While it is an interesting book, it seems to be nothing more than a collection of facts. It was much like reading a cross between a newspaper article and an editorial with the authors thoughts on why McCandless did what he did. McCandless was nothing more than a nice but disturbed young man that started out on the track to a normal life in society and then got the ideals of Thoreau stuck into his head which in turn clouded his better judgment. Even Thoreau would have never trekked off into the wilderness of Alaska with the provisions that McCandless had. Over all it kept my attention but just barley.

Rating:
Summary: I was expecting better!
Review: Krakauer's style of writing made many parts of this book hard to understand. He skipped off and on the subject of McCandless many times. He includes his own testimony and the accounts of others on the same type of quest as McCandless, which in my opinion, was very unnecessary. I felt that Krakauer could have approached the circumstances surrounding McCandless' dissaperance in a more organized or chronological way. Krakauer states in the begining of the book that he will be giving an unbiased account of the McCandless tragedy, yet this book was anything but an unbiased account. I think that this book could have been a lot better, I was dissapointed by it.