Into the Wild

Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer [917.98 Kra]

Chris McCandless, a young twenty-something from a well-off family in D.C., ditches his upper middle class life and hitchhikes into the Alaskan wild; four months later his body is found in an abandon bus used as a shelter in the middle of the Alaskan forest (this isn't a spoiler, it is known from the cover of the book). Krakauer does an amazing job of retracing Chris' final steps and putting together the pieces of his transient life. For as dark as the subject matter is, Krakauer adds his own personal experiences of being a young man with a knack for the outdoors, hiking, and climbing to paint a picture of McCandless as not some naive lunatic who wondered off to his own demise, but as an intelligent young man with a passion for the outdoors who died doing what he loved. Even more intriguing are the hauntingly relevant quotes from people like Thoreau, Twain, John Muir at the beginning of each chapter. Into the Wild is a warning to the over-ambitious, but at the same time a reminder to go out and do what you love – an overall metaphor for life. -- recommended by Jeremiah J. - Bennett Martin Public Library [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Into the Wild (DVD), based on the Krakauer book; Into thin Air – also by Krakauer.]

[Also available in book-on-cd and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ Wikipedia page for Into the Wild ] | [ Wikipedia page for Jon Krakauer ]

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