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Into the Wild
 

Into the Wild

by Jon Krakauer

"God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't?cannot?answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light ... (read more)

Top tags: non-fiction,  adventure,  nonfiction,  biography,  alaska (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Wendy Watts
  • Rated 5 stars

“the best book ever, about life and living”

Wendy Watts’s full review »
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Didn’t Like It

bklein
  • Rated 2 stars

“I got bored and couldn't finish it. Seemed to me he was a foolish ego maniac who could have made better choices.”

bklein’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 3.985244 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.266667 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Barb D

    barb d said:

    “I did not like the book because I could not empathize with Chris. I think he had some issues that made him want to escape reality. For as smart as he was, he made some dumb choices in the paths he took which led him to Alaska. Even though he was young, he still needed to have the common sense that a boy scout would have. I think if he had received help in dealing with his father's past and the deception, he may have been able to deal with society in a more positive manner. He certainly made an impression on all the people whose paths he crossed. I enjoyed Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" much more.”

    posted Thursday, July 10 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Lisa W

    lisa w said:

    “I watched this movie a few weeks ago and thought I had read the book. Eventually I realized I had just read what I think was a Reader's Digest condensation of a longer article. So, I picked up the book. It was FASCINATING.”

    posted Thursday, July 3 2008
  • Anita V

    anita v said:

    “I loved the movie and then picked up the book. I really liked the book, but sometimes Krakauer gets in the way of the story. I did appreciate the fact that he was able to delve deeper into the story. I can relate to having the desire to escape from it all and I really admire Chris McCandless for doing what he felt compelled to do. I think his story was such a tragedy and Krakauer was able to bring forth a real person- enigmatic, flawed, and ultimately admirable.”

    posted Tuesday, June 3 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Jennifer P

    jennifer p said:

    “I read the book long ago and recently watched the movie. I can relate to the idea of wanting to escape the ratrace, but McCandless takes it to the nth degree -- and pays the price. In the movie I was really able to see the transition from feeling the master of the wilderness to realizing he really had very little control, and was "trapped in the wild." Another reminder that we do not control nature!”

    posted Thursday, May 29 2008 ( | view 2 replies )
  • Clif W

    clif w said:

    “When you think about it, what McCandless did, and how he lived his life is not unforgettable, nor commendable. Greatness comes with striving to change what you don't agree with, the determination to make a difference to the parts of the whole, even in the smallest way. That is were the real risk is, not in running away from what you hate - that's easy, especially at the point in life McCandless was at. All societies have problems, but you don’t hate the whole, you fix its parts to better it. If it wasn’t for the book, Chris’ story is really very simple. Krakauer romanticized it in such a brilliant way that I wanted to be in my early twenties again. We’ve all wanted, at some point or another, to pick up and just go, go anywhere at anytime, leaving everything behind. I commend Chris for taking risks that I never took the time to take, or perhaps I waited too late. Yet I would have taken those risks for much different reasons than his. Perhaps that is what makes his story marketable.”

    posted Sunday, May 25 2008
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