Into the Wild

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Summary: Fascinating Story Marred by Author's Self-absorbed Approach
Review: "Into the Wild" is worth reading simply to learn the story of young Chris McCandless, who walked (not very far) into the wilderness and didn't live to tell the tale.

As in his latest bestseller "Into Thin Air," author Jon Krakauer tells this tale with such careful attention that seemingly insignificant details become loaded with ominous import.

But even more than in his most recent work, in "Into the Wild" Krakauer's pomposity nearly destroys the book. Why in the world must we traipse our way through two chapters in which he laments his troubled relationship with his father and brags about a boring and ungraceful solo mountain climb? And though he exposes McCandless family secrets of a very intimate sort, when he compares his family to theirs he brushes over the details with vague allusions. It is galling to see him hang out another family's dirty laundry and then avoid exposing his own.

Krakauer's conviction that he has the right to include himself in the story is so errant that it taints his credibility from there on out.

Still, the detailed recounting of the days leading up to McCandless' walk into the Alaskan "wilderness," and of the final days of his life, are very compelling. Also fascinating are the stories about other men in history who have made treks into the Western wilderness with similarly ill-fated results.

If Jon Krakauer could check his self-absorption at the door, his books would be among the most-required reading of the current day.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I listened to the unabridged book on tape (Books-on-Tape, Inc). The book was riveting and it was often difficult to get out of the car and away from the tape player. I often took short unnecessary trips just so I could hear the next few minutes of the book. I had first seen John Krakauer on MSNBC with Tom Brokaw last winter. My interest was triggered then by his interview. I know a physician who successfully "summitted" Everest after two previous failed attempts. He had told me some of what the experience was like, but the book made it seem even more terrifying, dangerous, and foolhardy for novice climbers who happen to be able to afford to take such a trip. After reading the book I know that climbing Mt. Everest isn't something I would want to do on a whim. I can't imagine walking across two aluminum ladders tied together with rope traversing a cravass while wearing crampons.

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Summary: A LITERARY AND SPRITUAL MASTERPIECE
Review: Upon my first reading of Jon Krakauer's "Into The Wild", I was profoundly moved in a way that no other book has even come close to. The depth in which Krakauer describes the events leading up to the tragic death of Chris McCandless is poetically stunning. I found it very difficult to put down and wished it had continued longer, as I felt like I was part of his incredible journeys (I only wish). I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who, like me, is fed up with the constraints of modern civilization and has ever considered escaping into the wild.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Great Book except for 2 Chapters that Krakauer writes about himself. Overall though, it's an outstanding book that blows the article away that Krakauer wrote for Outside Magazine. Krakauer makes you feel like you're there.

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Summary: Krakauer is a climber who brings McCandless's LIFE to us
Review: This summer I ventured away from home for 40 days on an "Outward Bound type" adventure into the the remote interior of the Alaskan bush. It was on this trip that I read Into The Wild and it could not have come into my life at a more oppertune time. Frequently I found myself comprehending McCandless's actions more than anyone elses I've previously tried to understand. Partly, I related to McCandless's life and found the book so enthralling is because it seems we find meaning in similar ways( afterall, that is why I was on that trip). But it takes a good writer to communicate a good story. So one must give much credit to Krakauer for picking up on this one. One may complain that Krakauer actually writes very little of what happened in Alaska and gets sidetracked often with personal storys. However, even the book itself states that McCandless's life is so ellusive because he left so little behind for us to know. Furthermore, it is often said that a great writer writes from personal experience, which is exactly what Krakauer does. Kraukauer writes exceptionally well for being a climber. No matter how "foolish" McCandless's life may have seemed, he did something that most people never do- he "lived". Therefore, he had every right to die. Personal experience has taught me that in most cases dealing with wilderness death is an inherant risk in finding euphoria. However it seems,in my eyes, that if death should ever come as a result I would except it as natural. Thank you Krakauer for putting words down on paper that shows how exciting life can be. All of our life journals should be as exciting as McCandless's.

Rating:
Summary: A profoundly moving book
Review: At the beginning of this book, I was angry with Chris McCandless for his ingratitude and the anguish he had caused his family. By the end, I was saddened and haunted by the loss of such a promising young man caused by bad luck and stupidity. The book remained with me for weeks. Any parent of teenagers or grown children will be moved; my 75-year-old mother and I rate it the best book we read this year.

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Summary: It probably made a great magazine article...
Review: Having read only newspaper accounts of McCandless' Ultimate Adventure, and having NOT read Krakauer's account in Outside Magazine, I was very much looking forward to learning more about why (and how) a smart and enthusiastic young man came to such a sad and early death. I have to say that I was greatly disappointed in what the book had to offer. By page 150 of 207 total pages I felt I had learned enough about McCandless' father, mother, sister, cousin, high shool teammates, road buddies, Important Formative Experiences, and Krakauer's own post-adolescent feelings of alienation, angst and invincibility. 'Tell me what happened in Alaska' I said over and over. Sadly, there is just not that much to tell. Having wandered off unprepared, McCandless got into a bind and couldn't get out of it. The book suffers from extensive padding with anecdotes of marginal interest, profiles of what seems like every person McCandless ever met and a parade of lengthy quotes (mostly from Thoreau) at the start of nearly every chapter. Krakauer does develop a good account of what McCandless was trying to do, and I found his position that McCandless was not a whacko with a death wish entirely credible. But the story could be told, and probably was, in a more tightly organized and concise magazine article. For those interested in the difficulties and consequences of adventuring in northern latitudes, I can reccomend two far more interesting and informative books: 'Tundra', edited by Farley Mowat and especially 'Disappearences: A Map' by Shiela Nickerson. These volumes use journals from expeditions and travels of the prepared and unprepared to tell part of the history and difficult reality of surviving and failing to survive in an unforgiving environment.

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Summary: Personal Odyssey A Hallmark Of Youth
Review: I have been haunted and rejuvenated by the story of Chris McCandless. K's style is lucid and interweaves larger topics, such as the personal odyssey youth seeks. Pure luck has saved many of us who pursued similar misadventures in our adolescence. K is adept at scraping at raw nerve endings. On one hand, McCandless suffered from hubris, but that characteristic might very well be an indicator of someone with "risk genes." If McCandless had survived by a whisker, we would have admired his "cool." It appears his style was to live on an edge that the Walter Mittys of this world will never fathom. There is more to life than growing old. My thanks to Jon Krakauer for generating a body of work that acknowledges a tragic tradition. One that can be traced back to the "5,000 year old man."

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Summary: A glorious read that inspires one to search his own soul
Review: Into the Wild is an extraordinary read. This book is for all who love to explore nature as well as for all couch-bound souls who do not embark on adventures but still nevertheless are intrigued by those who do. A Wyoming girl who loves the outdoors and at times loathes the overwhelming nature of today's materialistic society, I found that Into the Wild was riveting and curious. Into the Wild is a story about a young man who followed his soul in an attempt to find it. It's a true account of a young man whose ideals were fulfilled once he set his soul free and followed a path into the wild. Into the Wild provides its readers with a "safe" way of exploring their own lives and curiosities and reminds us that the answers to our soul's burning questions cannot be answered, but found. What readers get from Into the Wild is not a story about a young man's death, but rather a story about a young man's "life" and his willingness to explore it. Call Chris McCandless a stupid idealist or a brave heart. Either way, the reader becomes to know this young man while enjoying this story's mystery, exploration and truth. Krakauer is brilliant!

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Summary: Fascinating to read, but...
Review: This is one of those books that I found myself riveted to but strangly annoyed by at the same time. I found the author's surmised descriptions of Alex's travels well done and compelling. However, I sensed that the author wrote with an admiration for Alex that I lacked. Then I was finished with the book I thought of what a sad, wasted life it was and of how it must have affected the people round him. This was not a life to be admired, but morned as a waste of a clearly gift youth.