12/24/2023 0 Comments Into the wild book![]() However, I was unprepared for the depths of emotion felt in reading Into the Wild - it literally kept me up at nights, not just reading but thinking about the book in the dark.Some reviewers criticized the book because they thought McCandless demonstrated a naive and unhealthy lack of respect for the Alaskan wilderness. I was mezmerized by passages in the author's other best-selling masterpiece Into Thin Air, such as the passage involving stranded and doomed guide Rob Hall, near the Everest summit, talking to his pregnant wife via satellite phone to discuss names for their unborn child. Chris' body is found in an abandoned bus used by moose hunters as a makeshift lodge, and Krakauer skillfully attempts to retrace his steps in an effort both to understand what went wrong, and to figure out what made McCandless give away his money, his car, and head off into Denali National Forest in the first place.His book was one of the most haunting, unforgettable reads in recent years for me. There is little suspense (in the traditional sense of the word) in Krakauer's Into the Wild, as anyone who reads the synopsis or picks up the book instantly learns that it is the story of a young man, Chris McCandless, who ventures into the Alaskan Wilderness and who never gets out. 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 r Krakauer later found out that the animal was in fact a moose. "It was definitely a caribou.you'd have to be pretty stupid not to tell them apart" (177). ![]() 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. ![]() How anyone can claim he was wasting his life instead of living for the gain of material possesions is beyond me. 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. As far as calling this man stupid and selfish, some readers happen to skim over the parts about his college education and donating to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger. 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. "McCandless 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). 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. 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. 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. 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. I'm afraid to sound overly enthusiastic about this book for fear that those so "annoyed" by it will take their anger in spending on Jon Krakauer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |