Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York. Knopf Doubleday. 1997
Reason, Type and Setting:
I choose Into the Wild because I have heard many things about it and it sounded like a good read. I would describe the book as an adventure-drama book. It takes place across the east coast and the Alaskan Wilderness. The time is around the 90s.
Content:
This book is about Chris McCandless, a young man whos about to go off to a prestigious college and live the life his parents always wanted. When Chris finds out his father had a second family when he was young, he goes rogue. He leaves behind all his identification, donates his college fund, and takes off with only his trustworthy car. His first night he posts up behind a wall of dirt, that happens to be a flash flood zone. Without making it very far he is already out of a car. He heads Northwest living on the streets or with gypsies, making some close friends that admire his ambition and willingness. He avoided goodbyes and even after living with these people for awhile, he would just take off in the early morning, leaving them struck and sad. He lives for about two years with no real home until he decides Alaska is the place for him. He prepares for a few months, learning the ins and outs of hunting and living in the wild. Before he leaves he meets a girl, an attractive one who is fond of him. Even after throwing herself at him, he avoids becoming intimate. He seems scared of intimacy, or maybe guilty. Once he makes to Fairbanks via hitchhiking, he hops a ride to Mt. Mckinley where he starts his trek to Alaska. For the next sixteen weeks he lives off the wild. He finds a rundown bus that has been converted into a shelter for hunters. This provides him a sufficient home for the time being, until he eats some poisonous berries that prevent him from digesting food, putting him in a very weak state. Not being able to digest his food leaves him with no option but death. He leaves a photo of him in front of the bus and writes his last words for his family.
Chapter:
Chapter six is about Chris’s time in the Anza-Borrego Desert. This chapter is about his experience living in a little camp of trailers, where he meets a girl who is quite fond of him. He meets an old man who falls quickly in love with him. Much like the other friends he meets along the way. This old man takes him in and Chris explains his story to Ronald and before you know it, he is asking to adopt Chris. He said he has no family and he would love for Chris to continue Ronalds legend. Shocked, Chris doesn’t know what to say, leaving him to spit out “I’ll let you know when I get back from Alaska”. Ronald is let down by this denial.
Evaluation:
I enjoyed reading this book, although it was kind of hard to follow. I learned that traveling on your own is a lot harder than it seems. It taught me that living a normal life and going to college and doing something that thousands of other people are doing isn’t always the life to live. I makes you realize what were doing now may all be pointless. Which I don’t doubt. I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially the closed-minded, pretentious “smart kids” who think doing good in school is the greatest achievement. This book connects to pretty much every high schoolers life, because it starts of with a normal student who is about to attend a good college and then all of a sudden takes off in search of a new life.
Author, Context and Trivia:
Jon Krakauer his written many other books including, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven and Three Cups of Deceit, none of which I have read. I don’t know anything about this author, and probably won’t read any of his other books.
Reason, Type and Setting:
I choose Into the Wild because I have heard many things about it and it sounded like a good read. I would describe the book as an adventure-drama book. It takes place across the east coast and the Alaskan Wilderness. The time is around the 90s.
Content:
This book is about Chris McCandless, a young man whos about to go off to a prestigious college and live the life his parents always wanted. When Chris finds out his father had a second family when he was young, he goes rogue. He leaves behind all his identification, donates his college fund, and takes off with only his trustworthy car. His first night he posts up behind a wall of dirt, that happens to be a flash flood zone. Without making it very far he is already out of a car. He heads Northwest living on the streets or with gypsies, making some close friends that admire his ambition and willingness. He avoided goodbyes and even after living with these people for awhile, he would just take off in the early morning, leaving them struck and sad. He lives for about two years with no real home until he decides Alaska is the place for him. He prepares for a few months, learning the ins and outs of hunting and living in the wild. Before he leaves he meets a girl, an attractive one who is fond of him. Even after throwing herself at him, he avoids becoming intimate. He seems scared of intimacy, or maybe guilty. Once he makes to Fairbanks via hitchhiking, he hops a ride to Mt. Mckinley where he starts his trek to Alaska. For the next sixteen weeks he lives off the wild. He finds a rundown bus that has been converted into a shelter for hunters. This provides him a sufficient home for the time being, until he eats some poisonous berries that prevent him from digesting food, putting him in a very weak state. Not being able to digest his food leaves him with no option but death. He leaves a photo of him in front of the bus and writes his last words for his family.
Chapter:
Chapter six is about Chris’s time in the Anza-Borrego Desert. This chapter is about his experience living in a little camp of trailers, where he meets a girl who is quite fond of him. He meets an old man who falls quickly in love with him. Much like the other friends he meets along the way. This old man takes him in and Chris explains his story to Ronald and before you know it, he is asking to adopt Chris. He said he has no family and he would love for Chris to continue Ronalds legend. Shocked, Chris doesn’t know what to say, leaving him to spit out “I’ll let you know when I get back from Alaska”. Ronald is let down by this denial.
Evaluation:
I enjoyed reading this book, although it was kind of hard to follow. I learned that traveling on your own is a lot harder than it seems. It taught me that living a normal life and going to college and doing something that thousands of other people are doing isn’t always the life to live. I makes you realize what were doing now may all be pointless. Which I don’t doubt. I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially the closed-minded, pretentious “smart kids” who think doing good in school is the greatest achievement. This book connects to pretty much every high schoolers life, because it starts of with a normal student who is about to attend a good college and then all of a sudden takes off in search of a new life.
Author, Context and Trivia:
Jon Krakauer his written many other books including, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven and Three Cups of Deceit, none of which I have read. I don’t know anything about this author, and probably won’t read any of his other books.