| 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $2.69
You Save: $11.26 (81%)
New (75) Collectible (6) from $3.91
Avg. Customer Rating:  1193 reviews
Sales Rank: 976
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
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Tried to like it, but... August 14, 2008
Like a few other reviewers, I felt this was a padded short story. I was looking forward to being done with it. I suppose 3 stars rather than 2 is appropriate, because I've given long thought to this. It's hard to decide whether I'm reviewing the book, or the choices that Chris McCandless made.
His choices I could relate to, as I was young myself once, and thought "there is more to life" if I just travel and experience. But, as for Krakauer painting a picture of a special guy: bright, kind, brilliant, understandably dealing with demons, and some analogies to underscore his point -- well, I only partly bought it. Perhaps the survivalist is a guy-thing, because I prefer to work out problems without risking my life.
The question remained of his death: was he reckless and niave? Suicidal? Mentally ill? Perhaps this is the most intriguing part of the story. If it's true that he made an innocent mistake in choosing a plant to eat, then it is tragic that he almost survived but some relatively trivial choice was his downfall. But no one knows for sure. And he was happy and content, until the final couple of weeks. I'm glad for him, and glad for the peace of mind this must give his family. But, what he learned, he just barely passed on with highlighted texts and some scant notes in his journal.
So, the book, because of its woeful lack of a complete story, launches into speculation and a romantic Kerouac-like tale of a long line of frustration, due to lack of maps, planning, and money. So, then more speculation follows of analogies to other tramps in the wilderness: wise, crazy, suicidal, determined. What happened to them? Suicide, disappearance... Leaving behind distraught families. No one knows if they found what they were looking for. And what about the 2 chapters on mountain climbing? The author understands the need to push it to the limits because of this inner conflict and machismo; I could almost understand, but not relate. Sounded like a terrible ordeal.
Therefore, the author tries really hard to explain why we should not just write this guy off as a wacko. In the end, I saw his point, but still thought it was a bad idea all around. It was difficult to get to the end of the book, and I was waiting for the big conclusion. So, "Chris read this book and highlighted this part". Big deal. I was not convinced that the experience was worth it. So, am I judging "Alex" or Krakauer? I guess that is why I'm still pondering. I've concluded that Alex is not someone I can relate to. And the author doesn't completely convince me that it was worth it. In the end, it was all about the food... yeah, surviving. Not the beauty of nature- not the lessons learned from nature. Just finding enough to eat. Tragic that it didn't yield a more profound conclusion.
By the way, I am a big fan of Eddie Vedder and his soundtrack to the movie! Incredible! And, I have the DVD at home, but haven't watched it yet. Maybe the movie will "reach" me better. We'll see.
Into the Wild August 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ordered for high school summer reading assignment for two of my boys. They enjoyed it well enough.
I was impressed with how fast it arrived after I ordered it.
Good condition August 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I haven't read through the book yet but the cover and overall condition is good.
 Are you a Dreamer? August 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have been fascinated with the story of Christopher McCandless ever since I first heard of him - a young man who walked off into the Alaskan wilderness to live off the land. When I visited Alaska in 2005, I found myself dreaming of backpacking the Yukon Trail and getting lost in the wilderness. For me, of course, it was just a pipe dream and I kissed it goodbye when I boarded the cruise ship that would take me home. McCandless, on the other hand, made his dream a reality. Unfortunately, his story does not have a happy ending.
Jon Krakauer did a fantastic job of bringing the story of Chris McCandless to life. Krakauer, who also traveled to Alaska at the age of 23, gives the reader rare insight into McCandless' mindset. Using McCandless' letters, quotes from his favorite authors, and passages from books in his possession at the time of his death, Krakauer pieces together a portrait of a determined young man, a "leather tramp", and a decent and caring friend.
Krakauer also manages to make the reader feel that he knows the answer to the big question: "Why would someone leave civilization behind and try to survive in the wilds f Alaska?"
According the McCandless himself:
"It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of
living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God
it's great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you."
Journal Entry dated 2/27/90
I thoroughly enjoyed this biography and would recommend it to anyone who has ever felt the pull of nature or the call of a simpler existence.
The book is very good, and the hate people have for the kid is morally wrong. August 8, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Usually, I hate to review a book on any grounds other than the quality of the book itself, but as I read the one-star reviews, I was very bothered by the number of people who said "well, the writing is great, but the kid was a fool/ an idiot/ etc." First, the writing....it's very good. It's a four-star book. There are moments where Krakauer gets a little hyperbolic and over the top, and in the early stages of the book he doesn't do a great job of keeping the narrative clear- I found it hard to follow Chris' journey through the lower 48. Also, at the end, when the author devotes a lot of time to explaining the potential seed pod poisoning that may have killed Chris, it seems a little out of place and drags the pace slightly. Other than that, the story is riveting and told with a great amount of passion.
As far as Chris McCandless, I was saddened and angered to read in the book about the hate mail Krakauer received and about the anger directed towards Chris McCandless. We live in a time when there are plenty of Americans, myself included, who think we are doing more than our fellows for the environment by turning the thermostat up to 80 during the day and putting out our recycling bins. There are many of us who feel very sincerely the plight of the poor but don't donate to Oxfam or Harvest Hope because we are too "poor", yet we own HD Televisions. This story is the story of a young man who had high ideals for himself- maybe not ideals we all share, but lofty ones nonetheless. He was truly concerned about hunger- so he gave almost every last penny he owned to charity. He believed in living a life of spiritual, not material value, and surviving in nature, and he did that. He never asked to be helped other than a ride or a sofa to crash on, he never asked to be pitied, and he never blamed anyone for anything. This young man lived his life fully in his ideals, alone. It ended tragically and he did some things that were foolish, no doubt. But this was not just some dilettante. This kid kayaked the colorado river on his own with no training. He spent two years rootless in the American west without coming to harm. And he lived in the bush in Alaska for nearly 4 months. There have been many highly skilled and trained hunters, climbers, and woodsmen who have died in the wild from nothing more than bad luck, and no one calls them "holy fools." McCandless, for living his ideals to the fullest with kindness and charity to those he met was more than admirable, he was virtuous, and those who castigate him are unkind and unjust.
|
|
|
