Rating: 
Summary: Compelling and tragic.
Review: This is the second book I've read by John Krakauer, the first being Into Thin Air. Although both books were well written, the first one was much better.
This is a story about Chris McCandless who, in 1992, hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the bush, never to come out alive. The book is brief but tells about Chris' life after he graduated from highschool, the odd jobs he took, the lone travels he made and the so called relationship he had with his parents.
This is a great book and if you like John Krakauer, you'll like this one too.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating Human Drama
Review: Chris McCandless, a young man from a wealthy family, college educated, intelligent, some one who apparently had it all. Looks can be deceiving, he gave away his life savings to charity, abandoned his car and most possessions, and set off, on foot for the last adventure of his lifetime. He hitchiked (or hoboed as he put it) across the United States, and ended up in Alaska. His goal was to live in the wilderness, although he was totally unprepared for Alaska's harsh winter. Many people tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined and stubborn. One person even gave him a pair of waterproof boots, as Mcandless was wearing only tennis shoes. In the middle of nowhere, he found an old box car for shelter. He had a rifle, and shot a moose for food. If he knew how to properly preserve the moose, he might still be alive. If he had a map to find his way back from a rain swollen river, he might be alive. The book is filled with many what ifs?, close calls, and Whys? I'm not sure anyone can answer why, But Jon Krakauer is a fantastic journalist and presents all the facts, letting the reader draw his or her own conclusions. Whas he suicidal, plainly stupid, or over-confident? I think he wanted to test himself. This book is truly a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and Tragic.
Review: This book really hit home for me. I am an avid outdoorsman, and have often thought I should just strike out into the wilderness. Would I have beter luck, or would I plan better than Christpher McCandless? Maybe. The truth is I live too comfortably to strike out into the hobo lifestyle. I both admire and look down on McCandless for his adventure. I wish I had the audacity to give up everything to go on such an adventure. However, he was so stupid in his lack of preparation that he deserved to die. I could not put this book down. I kept thinking of my self in his situation, and thinking what if...???
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: After reading this book for a class assignment, i can say it has changed my life. I relate to Christopher McCandless in so many ways. This book is very well written and tells his story to the best of it's ability. We don't know Cristopher's reasoning behind what he did, but it wouldn't be the great story it is if we knew all the details.
Rating:
Summary: Into the Wild
Review: I received this novel as a Christmas gift. By December 26th, I was finished, amazed at its captavating story. Most of us know at least one person like Chris McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp. For me, it's my brother. What this novel helped me realize is that a lot of kids are like Chris...idealistic. But usually, they grow up and realize the world is not perfect. In Chris's case, this epiphony came too late, resulting in a tragic ending to his sojourn away from conventionalism. Chris's fascinating dialogue, journal entries, and letters are some of the most profound passages I have read. Both McCandless's and Krakauer's writing styles perfectly explicate McCandless's motives for his journey. Krakauer, although not chronologically, tells of Alex's treck "into the wild" using ample research. The work he must have put into writing this novel is by itself far more than commendable...he even retraced Chris's hitchhiked path to Alaska. He has managed to brilliantly integrate into McCandless's story the experiences of his fellow escapees, magnifying the controlling idea of the novel: that material excess is corrupt and salvation lies within nature. This is at least my grasp of the theme. Into the Wild is now on the top of my list for a good read, plus narrowly avoidable self-contemplation. Those that have viewed McCandless's dream as a trivial pursuit into the dangers of the wild simply do not appreciate the youthfullness you must associate with his ideals. I believe those ideals to be worthy, and McCandless to have been a profound and gifted young man. I urge you to read this rewarding novel.
Rating: 
Summary: why did he do it?
Review: Chris McCandless had a college education, a nice family and book smarts. So why did he give it all up to walk into the Alaska wilderness armed only with a bag of rice? Instead of beating eaten immediately by a polor bear or a pack of wolves he was found 4 months later, having starved to death. So what was Chris McCandless? Was he a Darwin Award winner? Was he crazy or was he simply a romantic young fool? The book never really tells us and even the author can't make up his mind. All we really know is that in Alaska a young man's boyish notions ran smack dab into cruel reality.
It's an interesting book about an endurring mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre adventure book
Review: I myself have often thought about escaping society in much the same way that McCandless did, so I read this book hoping to understand what he learned and felt. You don't get his personal feelings and thoughts though, but instead just an adventure story of what he did. In part, this is due to his sparse journals which don't reveal his thoughts and feelings. Krauker tells the story in a confusing non-linear plot which left me trying to piece together the parts into a coherent journey. Mixing in the tales of others that have gone on isolated journeys did not help much. Overall, the book is confusing and does not help to reveal the deep spiritual meanings McCandless was searching for.
Rating:
Summary: your dream
Review: Chris McCandless's life taught us two things: there is only you standing between you and your dreams and ideals, and you are going to die probably when you are not ready. Aren't these two thoughts upsetting to you? I didn't know anything about his life. If I knew of his life few years ago, I ridiculed him and criticized him. What a stupid idea to give up everything you had and take off to Alaska and try to live off the land! How arrogant! I would be hard on him, because I was unhappy with my life. I dreamed of stepping out of it for at least few months but I didn't really even had time to organize my vacation. Then the layoff. I have a (new) job and trapped in a modern society still. But I no longer have urge to put him down. Yes, he was stupid and didn't need to die. But he was brutally true to himself and his ideals. He had courage to find out what it was like to live in his dream. What am I doing with my life? What are you doing with yours? How much time do we have left? These are hard questions to ask. I can believe his life is upsetting to many who haven't really had hard look at their lives for a while. (Or to many people who don't really like the idea that they could be killed so easily or lose everything overnight.)
Rating:
Summary: Into the Wild, a interesting book by Krakauer
Review: Into the wild is a great book by Jon Krakauer. It is about young man, who gives up his family,car,and money to go live in the wild with nothing really. He had a good education, fresh out of colledge and seemed to have a good life. But he was found dead up north around four months later by a moose hunter.
Rating:
Summary: Facinating! (Sorry it's so long, but read on...)
Review: I'm afraid to sound overly enthusiastic about this book for fear that those so "annoyed" by it will take their anger in spending [money] on Jon Krakauer. Krakauer is a great journalistic writer and his work and research far exceeds any ficticious adventure flick.I can understand how one can get confused with the shifts in location and time during McCandless's two year journey, but retracing the man's steps should not be the focus. Krakauer enlightens the reader and unfolds the mystery of McCandless's death as interviews, childhood experiences and stories of similar adventurers give greater insight to the man's psyche. I was continuously facinated as I read highlighted passages from McCandless's books, grafitto, et al which Krakauer includes at the beginning of each chapter. All the research he has done is not just laid out flat, but revealed in a dialogue between him and the reader. Others I've read remark McCandless as stupid, selfish, uninteresting, and a waste of a human life, suggesting stories by Jack London as a superior examination of human condition. "McCandless [and other readers obviously] conveniently overlooked the fact that London himself had spent just a single winter in the North and that he'd died by his own hand on his California estate at the age of forty, a fatuous drunk, obese and pathetic, maintaining a sedentary existence that bore scant resemblance to the ideals he espoused in print" (44). It is sad to know that such a life holds more respect than one man's passion to actually live out his beliefs as did McCandless. As far as calling this man stupid and selfish, some readers happen to skim over the parts about his college education and donating [money] to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger. I don't know where you live, but how many teenagers do you know who read War and Peace and spend the last of their money to buy hamburgers to give to the homeless while their peers are out partying? McCandless may have been overly confident and stubborn to make his way on his own, but weren't his ideals real? Those who knew him speak of his true love of nature and high spirits. How anyone can claim he was wasting his life instead of living for the gain of material possesions is beyond me. McCandless reached his dream of living off the land and he did it for over 100 days, while others work their whole lives and feel empty, never knowing the real beauty of the world. Krakauer tells of experiences with Alaskan hunters who claim that McCandless was wrong in thinking the animal he killed was a moose after examining the bones. "It was definitely a caribou...you'd have to be pretty stupid not to tell them apart" (177). Krakauer later found out that the animal was in fact a moose. Seems as though the natives are overly confident of themselves as well. And had it not been for a bit of information left out in a refernce book of edible plants, McCandless may have survived. The main thing that saddens me when I read reviews with low ratings is the hypocritical way the reader will toss off a man's life as not worth the pages in this book while complaining about McCandless wasting his own life. No one is trying to make this man out as a saint and judging his actions on your own ideas of success does not give your life more reason. I'll end with a few quotes of the book that some may need to read over: "McCandless wasn't some reckless slacker, adrift and confused, racked by existential despair. To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself-more, in the end, than he could deliver" (184). "'Sure he screwed up' Roman answers, 'but I admire what he was trying to do. Living completely off the land like that, month after month, is incredibly difficult. I've never done it. And I'd bet you that very few, if any, of the people who call McCandless incompetent have ever done it either, not for more than a week or two. Living in the interior bush for an extended period, subsisting on nothing but what you hunt and gather-most people have no idea how hard that actually is. And McCandless almost pulled it off'" (185).
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