Into the Wild

Very good book took back there To the bus

Into The Wild- Jon Krakauer Dov Guggenheim When a teenager picks up a book that is seemingly on his reading level, the suspected genre is usually either fiction, non-fiction, or science fiction. One would also suspect the book to be one storyline, a plot that involves a main character, a conflict, and how the conflict was resolved. "Into The Wild" is absolutely none of this. Into the wild does have a main character, Christopher McCandless, who decides to leave a life with many advantages, lots of money, and a college degree, to go into the wild. But that is the only similarity. From case studies, to the exciting twists and turns of a rebellious young adult's life, and people he meets on his journey, the part biography, part non-fiction, part case study book "Into The Wild" is anything but a normal book. "Into The Wild" is a book relating to the story of Christopher McCandless(who changes his name to Alex Supertramp), a well-to-do man who recently graduated from Emory University. His father, Walt, always pressures him to be perfect, and Christopher hates his father and everything about him, like his constant, imprudent chase of material happiness, and having two simultaneous relationships- one with his ex-wife, and one with Christopher's mother, Billie. After some time, Christopher donates all of his money, leaves a family that loves him, and leaves behind almost all of his possessions to leave to an Alaskan wilderness with just a gun, some bullets, some rice, and some basic survival books. He meets many people along the way, including a woman named Jan, who becomes his mother figure( her son had also abandoned her- she encourages Christopher to go back home, or at least tell his parents what he's up to and accept some items for well-being- take this passage as an example of her personality- "Have you let your people know what you're up to? Does your mom know you're going to Alaska? Does your dad know?... I'd keep at it until he'd change the subject, though- because of what happened between me and my own son. He's out there somewhere, and I'd want someone looking after him like I looked after Alex), a man named Ronald, who takes him in as a son and gives him work, shelter, food, and other living qualities, and other certain charecters. Christopher is always moving, and he dies over one hundred days after he left. Many people judge this whole ordeal negatively, but Krakauer makes sure to mention in his author's note "I will leave it to the reader to form his or her own opinion of Chris McCandless"- that you should have your opinion of this whole episode. This book is a very unique book, so that being said, it's memorable, and the content of this book can be perceived as instructive. The whole kid running away from home storyline and the multiple opinions and interviews definitely portray some instructive points regarding rebellious actions. That same storyline is also very controversial. This book is a real live story of a real kid running away from home and trying to survive in the wilderness with basically nothing, and this garnered a lot of opinions of Chris, mostly negative. So although maybe this whole situation is hard to imagine, it's very possible we'll know (or become) someone like this. But the book itself was written very well and portrayed in a fairly unbiased manner, leaving yourself to make an opinion of your own. Another reason this book is so good is that even though there is very little suspense( anybody can figure out in the beginning of the book that in the end, Christopher dies) the book is so well written that the whole story line is very gripping. Krakauer attempts to go back in the past and see what made Chris perish. There a few negatives to the book, though. First off, it's confusing. The whole story constantly is in flux, changing characters, scene, and point of view. It's hard to keep pace, but if you do, you'll understand the book the way it's meant to be. The problem is, if you don't, you might get some wrong ideas, and those are never good. Also, while generally in the whole book Krakauer wrote very well, including all the details, I felt as if that he didn't fully explain why Chris hated his parents so much that he abandoned his life. In fact, he almost made Chris seem as if he was a kid who wanted nothing to do with his parents for no good reason, and if Chris was as smart as he was, I'm sure there was a reason- this lack of detail can lead you to think Chris made a very dumb decision in leaving, which many people do, but Krakauer doesn't. Had he further detailed Chris's relationship with his parents, and why it was so bad, I'm sure it would be easier to see why Chris left. This book, though a real, non-fiction, story, can teach a lesson- but which lesson is being taught by the book will vary from reader to reader. Chris obviously wanted to leave his family, and it's mentioned that he left in response to his father's imprudence. He leaves behind everything he knows, and meets people along his journey, but eventually dies. Different studies are brought in that are similar to this story. So what lesson is to be taught from this whole book( which is really a lot of different, relating stories, in one binding.)? That should you act rebelliously, bring more items and be better prepared and educated? That you should not act rebelliously at all? Krakauer insists Chris did nothing wrong, but others say it was foolish and arrogant of him to ditch everything and go into the wild. What's your opinion? Was it Chris's fault he died? Or did nature simply roll some bad dice on his turn? Different lessons and opinions can be formed from such a deep, controversial, real life topic. In my personal opinion, this book was a great book and taught me a lot. Many people, including myself, have this nagging feeling once in awhile that they should just pick up and leave, start a new life somewhere else as a new person. This book talks about different cases in which, to a degree, this happened. It taught me that you can go into the wild on your own, but you need to be very well educated on where you're going, camping, survival, etc., and also that not everyone can do it. But again, this book can be understood in several different manners. This is a book that should be read with an open mind, being that it is a confusing, but deep, book. That being said, unless you have completed your pursuit of happiness and that you are completely happy with how your life is and you want your life to stay exactly how it is, every single teenager with a good reading comprehension should read this book. It'll change how you perceive a lot of things in life, including that little rebellious phase teenagers go through that adults like to call the adolescent phase.

I read Joh Krakauer's other mountaineering books Into Thin Air ...5 stars and Eiger Dreams 4 stars. I like him as an author, so I bought Into The Wild. Into The Wild is a true story, 209 pages of interesting comment mainly about Chris McCandless a young college graduate who withdrew totally from his parents and a lot of society, gave $25,000 to Charity, dumped his car and headed to the deep wilderness of Alaska. He was looking to find the enjoyment of living off the land with as little outside help as possible. The book reads fast and is a joy to read. Ill give you some tidbits to wet your appetite without ruining the story. Krakauer traces Chris's route through infrequent letters, postcards and interviews with some of the people Chris "Alex" met. The few friends he made liked young Chris who changed his name to Alex Supertramp. "Alex" was intelligent, a college grad, an avid book reader who had major ideas of freedom in a wilderness without civilization. He liked authors like Jack London, Thoreau and Tolstoy and authors who liked simple nature without the strangulation of civilization. Many thought "Alex' had a death wish to go into deep wilderness Alaska alone and very unprepared with very limited supplies, no heavy guns and little food. He had a big bag of rice and ate native plants, berries and the small game he could get. He does shoot a small moose but much of the meat spoils as he didn't know how to make jerky. Alex was no woodsman and very inexperienced. He becomes trapped and cant get out. Krakauer shows he may have poisoned himself accidently eating the wrong part of the wild potato plant. This alkaloid part would not let his starving body metabolize the limited food he could get. We see poor Chris "Alex" losing massive amounts of weight and strength. He lasts over 100 days and tries to get help,knows he is dieing, and dies in an old broken down, gutted bus in the middle of nowhere. He had no US geological maps and was only 6 miles from a few cabins that may have had some food and 2 miles from a easier wade through a fast running potentially lethal river. Very poor almost no planning. The reader develops empathy for poor Chris "Alex", his parents, sister and the few friends he meets on his journey. I felt sorry for the young man and could understand his wanting to see the beauty of nature in deep Alaska by himself but not his lack of planning and complete abandoning of his family. INMO the kid had serious issues but was not suicidal. Jon Krakauer gives his perspective having climbed the difficult Devils Thumb in Alaska. Also about his earlier years as a framing carpenter and comparing his earlier life with young Chris. Having read about this in another of his books, this part was a little redundant. I won't ruin the sad ending for you. Another great book by Joh Krakauer and proudly added to our family library. 4 1/2 stars

Ya había visto la película y me encantó, así como su BSO, que es fantástica. El libro me ha gustado mucho, cuenta más sobre la personalidad de Chris y sobre sus vivencias, además de otras historias que el escritor nos cuenta y que aporta mucho a nivel personal. Es un libro que emociona y me ha hecho llorar en varios pasajes, no sé si por temas personales o es algo que a los que les ha gustado el libro les ha pasado, pero es así, sobre todo al final, cuando sus padres van a visitar el sitio donde su hijo murió. Me gustaría ir allí algún día. Puedo entender la personalidad de Chris, se parece a una persona importante para mí que murió e igual por eso me emociona tanto. También me han gustado mucho las diversas citas de diversos autores, sobre todo de Pasternak de Dr. Zhivago. Volveré a ver la película de nuevo, que por cierto, refleja muy bien el libro.

この本を読んでいなくても アラスカの荒野のバスの中で餓死した若者の話を誰しも一度は聞いた事があるんじゃないだろうか。 多くの人の反応は『だからどうした？』『自殺でしょ？』と言ったもので なぜ彼がそこに至ったかについて深く探ろうとは思わない。 にも関わらず、彼の死は今だに多くの人々を惹きつけ 毎年バスへの巡礼者は後を絶たない。 その彼、Chris McCandlessの人生の旅の過程を追い 同じように荒野に消えた若者たちや 著者であるKrakauer本人の体験を交えて分析したノンフィクションである。 内容を読んで感じるのは、McCandlessの異常なまでの純粋さ。 人間社会の曖昧さや人間の弱さ、狡さを決して受け入れず 理想としての平等性、公平性が現実世界に実現しない事に激しく憤り やがて過度の純粋性を求めるあまり荒野での一人暮らしを目指す。 友人や恩人の忠告を受け入れ、あるいは省みる事なく 自分の信じた道を突き進み、やがて自らを苦境に追い込んでいく。 彼は旅の過程で様々な人間に出会い、驚くほど多くの人に影響を与える。 彼と交わった人の多くは彼の頭の良さ、純粋さ、勤勉さに感銘を受け、彼への支援を惜しまない。 彼には人々にそうさせる魅力、カリスマ性が備わっていたのだろう。 だが、そのような暖かさや人情に触れたにも関わらず、 結局彼は人間社会を許す事ができず、誰も彼が荒野に行くのを止める事は出来なかった。 彼が心に一体どのような闇を抱えていたのか その点については本書を読んでも完全には明らかにならない。 そして現在、いまだに多くの若者が彼の生き方に共感し 全米各地からはるばるアラスカの荒野にまで足を運び 彼がいた場所や空気、見たであろう風景を共有したいと願う。 それはまるで現代に現れ、彼らのために殉死した新たな救世主を慕う信者のようだ。 彼は死ぬ直前に『Happiness only real when shared』というメッセージを残している。 著者が言うように、これは彼が放浪の末ようやく人間社会や文明を許し そこに戻る決心を示したものかも知れない。 そうだとすれば、運命はなんと非情というか、それとも皮肉というべきか 漸く純粋な魂が救われたその直後に彼の命を奪い去ってしまった事になる。 これは純粋な魂の鎮魂歌と言えるノンフィクションである。

Acquistato in inglese perché preferisco leggere i libri nella loro lingua originale se la conosco. Bellissima lettura, riletto più volte.

Spannend en avontuurlijk, ook dramatisch.

Absolument à lire en VO, ce livre vous fera découvrir à la fois un écrivain dont le style est énergétique et captivante et une biographie surprenant. Indispensable pour creuser l'histoire narrée par le film de Sean Penn ( Into the Wild ). Pour accéder aux ressources mobilisées par Krakauer dans l'écriture de "Into the wild" je vous conseil de voir aussi le livre d'images "Back to the wild" (à commander sur Amazon.com). Par contre j'ai été très déçu par The Beautiful Story of Christopher McCandless and the Unauthorized Look at the Motion Picture Into the Wild que n'a rien avoir ni avec le livre de Krakauer ni avec le film... s'agit simplement d'une compilation d'articles de Wikipedia.... Bref, "Into the wild" de Krakauer vous introduira dans une communauté de lecteurs que se laisse interrogé par une vie hors cadre comme celle de Chris McCandless.