Book Review: Into the Wild

Into the wild is a strange book in many ways, and one is in that the first things it tells you is that the main character will die at the end of his journey. That it will be a sad and inglorious death, and will cause him disrespect and contempt.

It is also strange in the sense that it is hard to classify. Is it fact or fiction, novel or biography? As a novel it is poorly written, as a biography it's light on facts, heavy on speculation. It leaves itself somewhere in the middle, and strangely, this doesn't seem to hurt it.

I think it’s good of the author to start with the death of the protagonist, to help dissuade those who might become wrapped up in the romanticism of the character, and pursue the path he did. It is good to confront the reader quickly and harshly with the folly of the man. Not that his path was a contemptible one, but the book helps show where blind romanticism leads.

The man the book follows, Chris McCandless, is portrayed as a very intelligent, well read, and charismatic child of an upper class family, the father of which was a high government official. He played the good little student and went to college at Emory University to and graduated with honors, then disappeared off the map. From his college graduation and through the next two years to his death, he never once communicated with his family, pursuing a life of freedom.

When he left his family behind he also left his car, gave all of his savings (somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000) to charity, and began a life on the road and off, but never with more than, in his words, "he could carry on his back at a dead run."

A romanticist and an existentialist, he was a lover of Tolstoy and Thoreau, and he always longed for the Alaska of Jack London, the uncivilized wild, and eventually set out there, where he lived in the wilderness for several months before succumbing to starvation. He died scared, alone, malnourished, and possibly delusional. His body was not found until several weeks later in a state of rancid decay.

What you might call the tragedy, or the folly, depending on your view, of Chris's death was that he was in fact only a handful of miles from civilization, only barely off the map. That there were numerous means of escape at hand, cached food and supplies, a government testing station, and a road nearby, but Chris knew of none of them because he went straight into the wild with no preparation but the clothes on his back, a bag of rice, and a rifle. No maps, compasses, knowledge of the area, or means of rescue. No one even knew where he would be. And so he died alone, and it might be said, for no reason but the fulfillment of a longing to remove himself from humanity and experience life un-fettered by the hindrances of society.

If this all sounds interesting to you, I suggest you read the book, Into the Wild. Even if it doesn't I suggest you still do. The character of Chris McCandless is a highly interesting and engrossing one, and you’ll likely have a strong opinion of him by the end, either contemptuous, admiring, or accepting. I personally am not sure how I feel about the man, but the book about his life definitely does kindle a wanderlust in me, as it likely will in you.

Anyway, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakaur, is a book I suggest, if for no other reason as a warning to those who might try to go "off the map” unprepared.