Into the Wild — Book Review
How far can you push your passion? And how far is too far?
“In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters.” — From Author’s Note
“Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer is the extraordinary tale of Chris McCandless, a journey both awe-inspiring and tragic.
You may have already watched the 2007 film adaptation. (Yep, the one where Kristen Stewart acts weird and plays guitar).
It’s a great film with some breathtaking cinematography and good drama.
I first watched the film as a teenager and immediately fell in love. I was fascinated by McCandless, played brilliantly by Emile Hirsch, and how he defied society and escaped the shackles of capitalism to follow his heart.
I wanted to do something similar. To leave it all behind, travel, and find my true self.
About ten years later, I have a more mature yet stronger understanding of wanderlust.
Krakauer’s Book is a more detailed and humanized account of what transpired during Chris’s time on the road.
It’s a less-romanticized take on his journey and his idiosyncratic ideals. That doesn’t mean, the author demeans Chris’s life choices or his decision to abandon society.
In fact, Krakauer himself is a mountaineer and seeker of adventure.
In the book, he compares his experience living a wanderer’s life to Chris’s.
Krakauer has written, “I was haunted by the particulars of the boy’s starvation and by vague, unsettling parallels between events in his life and those in my own.”
Although I found it interesting to read, it made the book a bit lengthy.
Love, Ignorance and Acceptance
There are numerous videos and articles online analyzing McCandless’s tragedy. One is also published on Medium by Krakauer himself:
When you take the less-trodden path, there’ll always be people who’ll revere you, and the ones who straight-up declare you a maniac.
McCandless’s case is no different.
When people found out about his identity, some declared him an egotistical flake whose ignorance got him killed. While others praised his non-conformism and his imagination of the wild.
As for his parents, they were deeply hurt by his demise as any parents would be. His sister, whom Chris loved the most, also shares her experience in the book after he left.
There were strong reasons why McCandless chose to leave and hit the road. There are stronger reasons why he chose to spend time in the Alaskan wilderness.
There are also many speculations about the actual cause of his death. Leaving the question — Did his ignorance & lack of survival skills take his life or was it fate?
I don’t want to spoil all that here. Whether his decision is justified or not is for You, the reader to decide.
All in all, “Into the Wild” is a good non-fiction read. Touching on deeper themes through the story of Chris McCandless. Including the grip wilderness has on the human imagination, the temptation of perilous endeavors on youth, and the convoluted nature of relationships between fathers and sons.
