Into The Wild

Title of the Book: Into The Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer 
Number of Pages: 224
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

On September 6th 1992, three hunters stumbled across a body lying in a bus in the Alaskan wilderness. Unknown to them, the man inside was Christopher Johnson McCandless. A bright young man who graduated from Emory University with honors two years earlier. Shortly after he decided to donate twenty-four thousand dollars to charity, invent a new life for himself, and start his journey into the wild.

Growing up in a relatively well off family, one wouldn't expect Chris McCandless to be so displeased with the nature of materialistic things, yet he went against the grain of what society called for and happily danced to the beat of his own drum. Moving across the United States, he met many people and changed some peoples way of life completely. He adopted a similar outlook to those of which he had read stories from such as, Jack London, John Muir, and Jules Verne. He rid himself of money and belongings so he could be free to experience the vast nature our society has neglected and encroached. Without as much as a phone call to his parents or sister, he disappeared into the tremendous Alaskan forest.

What makes this book great is not only the in-depth description of the whole hearted life Chris McCandless lived, but furthermore it talks about the people he met and affected along his journeys, making you realize how deeply this young man felt for genuine human connection.

Jon Krakauer has a roughly casual tone throughout the story keeping it mellow but still full of vibrant detail and colorful word choice. His presence remains soft throughout the book, as he portrays the life of the young adventurer with reality that makes it feel like you personally know the boy. He writes "Roman, Andrew, and I stay up well past midnight trying to make sense of McCandless' life and death yet his essence remains slippery, vague, elusive." (pg. 186). This quote from the book makes you understand, it's almost impossible to fully know someone else's story. Granted, Krakauer did the best he could to convey the boys story given the information he had.

This book is a good read for anyone who has ever craved adventure or dared to ponder the idea of what life's like outside of today's society. Krakauer explains Chris' life in comparison to other explorers such as Everett Rouse, showing little difference in the boys besides the time they passed, you realize there are many people with this same outlook on life. Ridding of material things and blazing new trails into nature prove to be a stepping stone to a greater purpose. It's easy to see why Christopher took his journey into the wild.