Into the Wild | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1183 reviews
Sales Rank: 2374
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.6
ISBN: 0385486804
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.98045
EAN: 9780385486804
ASIN: 0385486804
Publication Date: January 20, 1997
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Amazon.com
"God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: "At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams." Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless.
Product Description
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. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir.In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of hiscash.He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and , unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented.Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw the maps away.Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.
Jon Krakauer constructs a clarifying prism through which he reassembles the disquieting facts of McCandless's short life.Admitting an interst that borders on obsession, he searches for the clues to the dries and desires that propelled McCandless.Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons.
When McCandless's innocent mistakes turn out to be irreversible and fatal, he becomes the stuff of tabloid headlines and is dismissed for his naivete, pretensions, and hubris.He is saidto have had a death wish but wanting to die is a very different thing from being compelled to look over the edge. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity , and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding--and not an ounce of sentimentality. Mesmerizing, heartbreaking, Into the Wild is a tour de force. The power and luminosity of Jon Krakauer's stoytelling blaze through every page.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1178 more reviews...
 Great August 7, 2008
Read the book and then see the movie. For all young adults who think they know everything and should actually be in counseling.
Heavy and haunting read, hard to put down though August 7, 2008
Jon Krakaur's Into the Wild chronicles the events of Chris McCandless journey out into Alaska, citing several sources and giving background into who the young man was, and why he decided to leave his family, give his entire saving to a charity, create a new identity for himself, and live "on his own." McCandless, whose journey into individualism and nature was somewhat influenced by classic authors such as Leo Tolstoy and Jack London, has a one-on-one experience with tramping from place to place, meeting strange people, and trying to make it alone out in the wild.
If there is one criticism, it is the trivial accounts from second-hand witnesses in the story from McCandless' background. I could see the areas where the author is trying to build background to who he was, but there are some parts where people are basically saying, "Yeah, I saw him once" and don't make much of a point. A little distracting from the story, and kind of makes the focus jump around a tad. Other than that, I found the information and story to be quite engrossing and factual, but in a somber, tragic way.
Some contend that Krakauer makes McCandless into some hero, which isn't the case. There are some moments where he appreciates McCandless' bold decision to go through this; however, this could be attributed mainly to the author's similar incident of going out into the wild. An objectivity is achieved in his narration and the facts he presents, but obviously he is going to bring in some of his own knowledge, and then fill in the gaps of some details that he can only speculate on. The young man drops hints to people about his "Alaskan odyssey", that he's going away "for some time" and many think he is a little over the top for trying this and even the author agrees at certain points. Inferences about who McCandless are investigated in accounts from witnesses, friends, relatives, and those who met him during his journey and the time prior. He is depicted as being reckless and compulsive, yet there were some noble things that Chris did in his life, like helping out the homeless and poverty-stricken people and not giving in to material needs. Still, his decision to make the trek to Alaska, and his disappearance, left his parents dismayed, upset, and alienated, which is unsettling.
A haunting part of Krakauer's novel is the section (ch 8 and 9) in which the author recounts several similar adventurists who went out and tried to be one with the Alaskan frontier. Krakauer uses these stories to point out that surely McCandless wasn't alone in his quest to sustain a solitary, natural existence, but also to show the obvious differences between these individuals. There is one story of a man who wound up killing himself rather than face certain starvation, pain and misery when he realizes he's used up his resources. In the subsequent chapter, Krakauer parallels McCandless with a venturous man from the 1930s, Everett Ruess, who went out in the wilderness, wrote acquaintances about the exhilarating experiences, and then vanished and was never heard from again.
And still, the author also readily identifies with the young man's quest. He relates his own tale of going out, being brash, and surviving out in the wild, but reflecting on this adventure and realizing that he was fortunate to be alive. He, like McCandless, didn't see eye to eye with his father, and also felt the rush of exploration in his spirit, but he takes time to rationale the distinction between being overly reckless and being independent.
The later chapters are dedicated to retracing the steps McCandless took a year after he was found (which was in August 1992). The author, and three colleagues, go to Fairbanks and survey the scene, trying to piece together not only how and why the young man went out there, but what led to his ultimate demise. Krakauer speculates on motives for the young man not trying to cross the river, or his ultimate decision to not have an accurate map during this exploration.
If you take this book in with some reflection, it will stay with you for awhile. Normally we don't reflect that much on common literature after reading, but being this is based on a true event, it makes you think about the meaning of life, and what the young man must have been thinking while out there in the wilderness.
The newer, edited version of Into the Wild has an epilogue which chronicles McCandless' family going out to the spot of the "magic bus," the place where McCandless set up camp during his time out in the Alaskan wilderness.
Into the Wild is tough to put down, but also solemn in its narration. It would be tough to read more than once just because you have to be in the right frame of mind, but still I'm glad that I did read it because I had heard so much about the story.
Into the Wild - incredibly awesome!! August 2, 2008
Excellent book, one of the best I have read in a long time. Krakauer's vivid descriptions allow one to feel as though (s)he is walking right along in the wilderness with Chris McCandless. The dialogue between Chris and the folks he meets helps one obtain a better insight into his frame of mind, almost like reading his diary. I found it sad yet understandable how a young man could embark on such a life-altering jouney that would unfortunately end in tragedy. Highly recommended read!!!
 Are You Kidding Me? August 1, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Wow, an anthem for idealistic, self-serving morons the world over. It's a shame people glorify this kind of weakness in a human being. The kid was obviously mentally ill. I'd recently bought the book but decided to go ahead and rent the movie. What a disappointment. Sean Penn tries much too hard to sell this poor, stupid kid as some kind of hero. Stop begging Sean.
I've blown through Into the Wild July 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
and for me - Jon Krakauer's writing is the kind of stuff that makes for late nights and tired workdays. I can't pay him a higher compliment. This one was a bit different than his other efforts in that Krakuer plays more the role of detective/sociologist rather than an an insightful expedition biographer. However, the story was as rivetting and perhaps even more powerful. I'm anxiously awaiting his next one! I'd also recommend reading TIN0's masterpiece-- THE FATES, Fates (classic) if you haven't yet. I stumbled upon it at a book store and can't stop talking about it. His writing style is very similar to Jon Krakauer
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