Into to Wild, by Jon Krakauer

Published in 1996. 224 p.

Rating: 4 stars

Summary: Krakauer tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a guy just out of college that rejected the accepted world and tramped through the Western U.S. for two years, until his death in Alaska in 1992.

Review:This book has definitely increased in popularity with the Oscar-nominated film of the same name (complete with redesigned, film-based cover.) I actually saw the movie first, and was duly impressed (Emile Hirsh is awesome as McCandless, Sean Penn wrote and directed fabulously, and Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack, and by now everyone should realize that he’s pretty much as amazing as people get.) So naturally, I was excited to read this book. And then a friend broke my heart just before I began the book: “Jon Krakauer is a terrible writer,” he said to me.

When it gets right down to it, my friend was right. Krakauer knows what he’s talking about, is a hell of a mountaineer, but is not a very good writer. He’s decent to be sure, but he’s at his best when he gets very technical about the outdoorsman-ship that McCandless employed. However, when he decides to wax poetic, well he’s just not quite Whitman, and it comes across as trite and very mediocre.

The story is course the real gem here. McCandless was fascinating in his rejection of the life that his parents had planned for him from the time he was a little boy. He was an intense, inspiring individual in the short time that he did live. As sad as his death is, he probably wouldn’t have come to media attention, and his life lessons would not have been put out into the world for those who choose to learn them.

I am always fascinated by the vagabond lifestyle, and McCandless’ vagabond existence is one of the more interesting ones that I have heard about. He met and affected people along the way, but also had solitary adventures that touched him deeply he recorded in his journal. This is the best part of the story, the relationships he had with people who took a chance on an unknown kid. The friendships that were forged speak for the kind of person that McCandless was, and that is what makes the story great, and earned it 4 stars. At the end of the day, it’s a good book if you are interested in outdoor survival, outdoorsy-ness in general, Alaska, or being a vagabond (although there are better books on each of those subjects than this one). The average person should just watch the movie…you get a sense of McCandless’ values, and the relationships are explored more, and it’s written better. It packs a punch as a movie, drawing you in more so than the book, but its so worth it. And screw the academy for refusing to nominate Vedder for an Oscar for the score because the songs were too “song-based.”