Rating: 
Summary: Harrowing, engrossing, unforgettable.
Review: The tragic turn that "On The Road" could very well have had. Many dream of the bohemian simplicity of a life free of responsibility, family pressure, material posessions...each day a journey of discovery. McCandless' story embodies both that heroic journey and the fallability of man. What becomes the ultimate tragedy is not McCandless' needless demise, but rather his unrewarded realization that man may live an individual and still remain a part of society. It is in Krakauer's search for McCandless' tracks that we see what McCandless never really did...how much one person may effect those in his path. This book is enthralling yet at times graphically unsettling. Still, a great work.
Rating: 
Summary: worth more from historical and author perspective
Review: not quite a "cant put it down" book-does however have merit from a boigraphicaL and historical perspective.i enjoyed the authors own storied experiences as well as other historical adventures/ tales.the author should not have compared himself to the primary-he would not have failed nor should this story have made headlines as it has-misfortune and misadventure are daily occurances in a land as vast and extreme as alaska.
Rating: 
Summary: Trampled ideals (not Chris McCandless) are the real story
Review: I'm of two minds about Chris McCandless, and I think Jon Krakauer is too. Chris McCandless as a person is often tiresome and childish; but the person Chris McCandless should not be confused with the STORY of Chris McCandless, a story that is ultimately haunting and mysterious, one that speaks to us on a visceral level. There's something compelling in the strength of McCandless' convictions, in his willingness to abandon basic comforts and to brave the dangers of living alone in the Alaskan wilderness. There's something worthy of respect in his attempt to "remake" himself, to alter his life, using the external adventure to try to achieve a more significant, internal change. There's also something egocentric about it all. Maybe adolescent is a good word for it. Again and again, for example, Chris displays an adolescent resistance to "control" by his parents and looks for ways to exhibit his independence from them. One of these ways is to abandon his family emotionally -- and then to abandon them literally, disappearing without communicating with them in any way. This premeditated, prolonged hurt that Chris inflicts on his family belies the sensitivity and compassion that he professes toward certain other people. He can be charming to the random guy who picks him up hitchhiking, to the person he meets by chance in a trailer park or campground in his travels. On the night before he leaves for Alaska, he talks with his boss's mother profoundly for five straight hours, never having met the woman before. He's a prince to selected individuals, particularly if they're strangers. Yet to his mother, his father, and his sister, again, he is remote and emotionally abusive. I'm not criticizing this behavior in itself -- only in so far as Chris represents it as something other than adolescent rebellion and self-indulgence, something "higher." Chris seems to have genuine sympathy for the downtrodden and the disadvantaged. On one weekend jaunt during his senior year in college, for instance, Chris buys a bunch of cheeseburgers and drives around town handing them out to winos and destitute people sleeping on sidewalk grates. But is that compassionate, or is it (however unintentionally) condescending? Here's a guy from a well-to-do family, attending a well-respected private college, who spends evenings out on the streets, preaching to prostitutes, hanging with the homeless, philosophizing with drug dealers. Is Chris working out some deeply held personal philosophy that embraces the less fortunate -- or is he just slumming? Chris McCandless plunges into the unforgiving Alaskan wild without much in the way of supplies and without even a compass or a USGS map of the area he plans to wander, hunt, and inhabit. The map would have cost him less than one of the paperback bestsellers he lugged in with him. Maybe this is an example of Chris's rejection of the tools and trappings of civilization; but if so, then taking up residence in an abandoned Fairbanks transit system bus is more than a little ironic. Chris McCandless' wilderness journey seems to have as much to do with unresolved teenage rebellion -- with doing the opposite of what his parents (and society) wish him to do -- as it has to do with any coherent philosophy or vision on his part. His vigorous underlining of romantic passages from Jack London and Thoreau, his adopted name, his graffiti in the bus, his worship of "THE ROAD," his posturing as the "aesthetic voyager" -- these things, though intensely felt by Chris, are almost embarrassing to read about. It's all very boyish. In fact, throughout the book Krakauer refers to Chris, a young man in his twenties, as "the boy." It's a peculiar form of reference. I balked at it the first few times I came across it on the page, but as the book went on, the term seemed more and more appropriate. Chris was a twenty-two-year-old "boy." Despite how irritating Chris as a person might be to some readers, his STORY is tragic, painful, poignant. There's a dimension of all of us that roots for Chris McCandless. We may scoff at his adolescent idealism at the same time that we hope for things to turn out right. (From the book's very cover, we know that things won't turn out right, but a part of us still cheers Chris on.) The tragedy of the story, in the end, is not just what happens to Chris McCandless himself but what happens to Chris as a symbol of innocence and purity. His story is a story of innocence lost, of youthful ideals trampled, in this case trampled brutally into Alaska's Stampede Trail.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most profound yet tragic stories I've ever read.
Review: I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put the book down! Although Alex's political views were personally too extreme for me. I truly admired his courage to live his life the way he wanted to and I found it amazing how big his influence was (in such a short time span) on everyone he met during his travels. Although ultimately his ingorance led to his demise, how can anyone criticize the way he lived? If you are truly passionate about what you do, you can never be wrong (I wonder what influence Alex would've had on me if we had met). On the other hand, I didn't particularly enjoy the author's (Krakauer) inclusion of his own experiences and thought at times, he was writing for the sake of writing. Although I found his climbing experiences amazing, I was more interested in Alex's story at the time. It seemed as if the author was "stretching" it by incorporating his own experiences with Alex's. Overall, this is own of the most enjoyable, profound books I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: DIVINE
Review: Without question, "Into The Wild" is the most amazing book I have ever read. Despite what some of these reviews are saying, I feel Krakauer's interjections with other stories, including his own, made McCandless more "human" and not the nutcase that he's been made out to be. By following his dreams and making them a reality, McCandless was the most "human" of any human being I could think of. So many of us live our lives bound to the chains of modern society and material possessions. We also live our lives dreaming and wishing for things instead of acting on them. Does the phrase, "I'd rather be..." ring a bell? McCandless lived his dreams in a way that none of could even fathom. For those of you who criticize him, until you've walked in his shoes, your words mean nothing. God bless you Chris.
Rating:
Summary: A book that was hard to put down
Review: The number of reviews on this web page shows that people don't read this book with indifference. Love it or hate it, it's worth a look. (Keep a dictionary handy while you read. Krakauer uses some unusual words.)
Rating:
Summary: Amazing writing as well as insight
Review: Being born and raised in Alaska, I was very skeptical about Into the Wild. I was surprised to find that the book was very well written and articulate. I have worked in Denali National Park for several years and I have been to the infamous bus where Chris died. I believe that he did what he felt he needed to do. I don't believe that he ment to die, and that he was a lot smarter than we are giving him credit for. I know how difficult it is to survive in Alaska without the proper equiptment. However, Chris was not a stupid person and he was simply living his life how he wanted to. Jon did justice to his story and in my opinion, it is a book everyone should own. If we are going to criticize people like Chris, we need to first try to do what he did and see if we have the guts.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful!!!
Review: Into the Wild attempts to give us insight into the motivations that prompted a well educated man to seek his true nature. Not content to experience life the way the majority of people do, Chris McCandless made his dreams a reality. He put into action things that many of us only daydream about. In this sense he was a hero and not the dumb tourist from the lower 48 that many Alaskans believed he was.
Rating:
Summary: God Bless You Too, Chris
Review: One of the best books I have ever read. Both for the story of the human quest and for the writing. Chris's story will help many, many people in his same predicament of searching for real life apart from our media and money dominated culture. He did not die in vain.I also enjoyed Krakauer's own story and interjections. My only quibble would be that Krakauer seems not to sufficiently appreciate the genuine spiritual aspects of Chris's journey. Chris may well have been following the injunction to 'sell all that you have, and come, follow Me', if not explicitly, at least unconsciously. please forgive me if I repeat Chris's parting words (if I remember right):
"I have had a good life and thank the Lord. May God Bless you all."
Rating:
Summary: A book that forces people to examine their own lives.
Review: Into the Wild was a stunning novel. Krakauer wrote a beautiful story about a young man who could not fit into the constraints of a civilized world. I found myself crying through many parts. I suppose most people are shocked by Chris's behavior. I understand he deserted his family because of childish resentments. I understand he refused to make any lasting friendships that would tie him down. Chris, however, did something most people only think of doing. He stepped out into a piece of the world that rejects man. I have driven through the desert and dreamily looked out the window wondering about the mysteries that it held. I, of course, took no action. Somewhere my world has taught me that is would be unacceptable. I simply continued driving. Chris did not. I realize he was not prepared as some would have been. I do not think he was weak or naive though. I believe he was testing himself as he had tested himself in the desert. Every human wants to know their limits. Each human being wants to know what they can and cannot do. Most people never realize this because they figure it is too risky. Chris read Louis L'Amour. He wrote his last words in Education of a Wandering Man. The book is about Louis traveling the world. He appreciated wandering the country. He called it education. Louis spent many nights hungry and cold or hot and thirsty like Chris. I think Louis would have appreciated Chris. He would probably lecture him about being more prepared but he would understand the yearning for the wilderness. It is sad that Chris had to die. I believe it was chance. He did the best he could. Krakauer states in the book that most woodsy people could not have lasted as long as he did. I would like to make a comment on some reviews. Some criticized Krakauer for talking about himself in the novel. Krakauer felt something when learning about this story. If people read this novel without examining their own lives then the criticism may be just. If, however, people did then they would be wrong for criticizing Krakauer. He was writing the book. He was forced to write his thoughts and feelings when writing about Chris. Who could possibly write about Chris's life and not want to comment about their own?
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