Into the Wild (1996)

My mother gave me this book in 1997 and I began to read it almost immediately until I finished the first part. The subject matter hit way to close to home and I thought I would try again soon after. That was 25 years ago and I read the book in one day. I was close in age to Chris McCandless and like him, ran Cross County in High School and traveled extensively before age 30. This book and story is an ageless examination of exploration of youth and looking for answers in early adult life. ( )

I have to unstick my eyes from the back of my head on this one. The eye rolling actually hurt.

Straight up good stuff - The writing in this is impeccable. Krakauer is an incredible writer. Unlike many nonfiction authors, he never talks down to his audience. Keep up or get left behind. I love that.

OTOH. Feeling an affinity with your subject matter, especially when it is a person who is reviled, can go very wrong. [b:The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer|488644|The Last Victim A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer|Jason M. Moss|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344266178l/488644._SY75_.jpg|476906] is a perfect example of how wrong it can go. Sometimes it goes splendidly. [b:In Cold Blood|168642|In Cold Blood|Truman Capote|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1424931136l/168642._SY75_.jpg|1940709] is the perfect example of an excellent writer finding a horrible path and following it. The perfect true crime book ensues.

A lot of people admired McCandless and what he tried to do in Alaska. I was not one of those people. I thought he was an incredibly immature and selfish individual. But, I was willing to have my mind changed.

Nope. The biggest problem I had with the book is Krakauer's need to convince me that McCandless was a good kid. He was smart and he did almost everything right. He just needed a good map and he didn't have one.

There are so many things wrong with this. The kid was playing at living outdoors. He was living in a bus with a stove. This is not survivalist and he should not be admired for his half-baked plan to "live peacefully in nature". Nature isn't peaceful. It wants to kill you, eat you and then break your bones down for fertilizer.

This irritates me the most: McCandless mourned not making use of all of the moose he killed. So what are the wolves and bear that feasted upon it later? Those maggots are part of the food chain too. Birds find them delicious! Buuut, I guess they just passed on by and didn't make use of that moose.

This is why I eye-roll so hard at people who say "Use every part of the animal." Like humans are all that matter. Don't worry, it will get used. But no, he then went on to eat only lean meat animals. Good going kid. This is what I mean by immature and selfish. You can't see beyond the end of your own nose and you take it to the same kind of extreme that leads to the opposite kind of behavior.

Also, I will never go near another book that describes mountain climbing in detail ever again. I don't see the need to scale frozen cliffs. Other people do and that's just fine. I don't want to read about it. It's boring. For me it's like watching paint dry. I'd rather reread Milton than read anything about mountain climbing. And I really, really hate Milton. ( )

Wow, what a story. I have such mixed emotions on it. Sure, the ending of this young man's life was tragic but he died doing something he really wanted to do. I feel for his family and friends who loved him. I do feel bad that he was so close to making it out but died anyway. He lived a good couple of years doing what he wanted without any ties. Maybe it is the military brat in me, but that does hold a bit of an appeal even though I have now planted roots.
This was a well written and investigated piece into the travelogue of this young man. ( )

I have found the hoop-la sounding this book to be a bit ridiculous. An OK story about a (maybe) dysfunctional family unit and the son that take steps to break out of the cycle. ( )

Moving and thoughtful account of the short life of Chris McCandless which interestingly dissects the need for adventure that drove him. The author does a great job of piecing together the elements of McCandless's life and usefully draws on his own experience as well. ( )