Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club… (original 2012; edition 2012)

I didn't like WILD. Call me a curmudgeon, accuse me of deliberately resisting the latest fads in publishing, even think me a prude. I expect more self-awareness from authors.

Cheryl Strayed's story is great: Flattened by the death of her mother, she walks the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to move through her grief. She's 26 and completely unprepared for the hike, so her adventures along the way are gripping. So I can see why this book is popular now; it's a page-turner. Strayed reminds me a lot of Mary Karr in her hip voice and extraordinary narrative skills. Her opening pages describe one of her boots falling off a cliff mid-hike--what a brilliant beginning! (And also very much like Karr's opening to THE LIAR'S CLUB.)

So Strayed has a great plot, but books get their life-force from the connection between outer and inner events, and I found her inner story lacking. Yes, the death of a mother is wrenching, but most of people who lose mothers don't obsessively cheat on their spouse, spiral into addiction, and persevere on a sadistic and dangerous hike. What else made this loss so profound? How exactly did the hardships she encountered on the trail transform her grief? The links between the outer events and her inner transformation were never clear to me.

In part this is because Strayed highlights other titillating elements of the story (sex, drugs, alcohol) above her grief. The book's climax is a two-day sexual encounter with a stranger in Ashland, on break from hiking. These scenes get far more attention than Strayed's grief but they only illustrate how little she's been changed by her trials. Sure, they're a great read. But they don't work to support the character's central journey.

I also wished for more narrative distance throughout. Strayed 26-year-old-self has no perspective on her grief. I imagine the author does, now, or at least I hope so, and I want that insight to give me compassion for this young woman. As it reads, I just felt annoyed at her.

Okay, so I want emotional awareness from my authors and I don't want titillating material to obscure a book's heart. Hurrumph. Now go enjoy this book. ( )

There were times when I thought this woman was foolish; other times I felt she was brave as she put herself through over a thousand miles of hiking- alone through the wilderness. I found her mental meandering endearing and frank. The life choices she has made were more than disturnbing- yet there is no need to moralize as she recounts her life. The result- she works through her considerable emotional baggage, coming out with a renewed peace ready to take on the rest of her life. I enjoyed the ending where we learn what happened after the journey. ( )

I've wanted to read Cheryl Strayed's books since she was outed as Dear Sugar and I first learned her name. I didn't truly know the premise of Wild, nor did I know enough about Strayed to know what to expect.

I think her story is amazing, as is her storytelling ability. I only give four out of five stars because the writing is sometimes a bit more blog-like than literary or lyrical.

I am shocked, amazed, and humbled by her courage. I have often wanted to escape, to learn answers, and to dare to be alone and penniless in order to get to the truth of things, but the journey Strayed made scared me just from the tale. I'm in awe.

Though, as mentioned, her style is somewhat more blog-like, she can really tell a tale, and she has told this tale beautifully. I would definitely recommend this book. ( )

I liked this book and I'm glad I read it, I went through many emotions as I progressed through the pages. Although I found myself angry at the author most of the time, I enjoyed the story of her journey along the PCT. She often made the worst possible decisions that caused her life to become a train wreck. Even on the trail, she did things I would expect my kids to do but not a full grown adult. But I also found that I have a lot in common with her (we both lost our moms around the same age). I was sympathetic to some of her issues, but not most of her self-created drama. Overall, an interesting human story that takes place in a magnificent setting. ( )

So...I guess I'd better buy a really big backpack & start hiking. Brutally honest book. Not the sort of thing I'd usually read, but something I needed to read right now. A good read, I think, for anyone with a "hole in their heart", regardless of the nature of the injury(ries). 3.25
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