Into the Wild

By Jon Krakauer

 As I started Into the Wild, I remarked to Auva that this book would make we want to drop everything and do something bold, a feeling I first felt after reading Dharma Bums. Auva, having read the book, replied with a tongue-in-cheek "will it?" It turns out her doubt was well-founded; while Into the Wild does highlight all the romance and intensity of living on the road or in the wilderness, it brings to the forefront the chaos and pain inflicted as a consequence. 

Jon Krakauer does a great job of writing this book with the feeling of an article. I did not know this going into it, and expected a more dramatized narrative, and although Krakauer surely adds some style, for the most part he writes a well-researched account of what happened. We hear from family and friends about how Chris McCandless, the man who walked off into the wild, affected their lives - and how his disappearance and death did too. We also get to learn about historical figures similar to McCandless, bringing a scholarly feel to the book. Krakauer also has personal experience as life as a bum, being an experienced solo mountain climber and otherwise adventurer, and his experience provides insight into the feelings McCandless might have been feeling. Although sometimes the attempts at rescuing McCandless' thought process seemed contrived, for the most part I believe Krakauer acts in good faith while reconstructing McCandless' personality. In many ways we see strength and intelligence and kind-heartedness in McCandless, but he is not glorified: his anger and hubris are discussed at length. I came to understand the really McCandless was just a boy, a child - as am I - and that doing what he did was, in the end, a silly mistake. The pity set in for me when we learn that the so-called wilderness where McCandless died was in fact very near many forms of civilization. It was kind of awkward to read about, like if someone was flexing their dunking ability and then it turns out it was a six foot rim. 

Perhaps bumming around the wild does allow for an internal revelation that you can't find in a more typical life, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows. (03/02/21)