Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
My review: 4 of 5 stars
Into the Wild is a gripping and heartbreaking story told with a journalist’s attention to fact but with an attempt to understand and explain what seems unfathomable. I didn’t want to put it down even though I already knew the outcome. As an avid outdoors-man and adventurer, Krakauer was the perfect man to tell the story of Christopher McCandless’ ill-fated adventure in the Alaskan wilderness. Recommended for fans of biographies and adventures. Try to get the 2015 edition with the new afterward because it contains updated information. Read the book, then watch the movie.
Quotes:
“Alaska has long been a magnet for dreamers and misfits, people who think the unsullied enormity of the Last Frontier will patch up the holes in their lives” (p. 4).
“He turned around and began walking to the west, back toward the bus, back into the fickle heart of the bush” (p. 171).
“McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily. He demanded much of himself – more, in the end, than he could deliver” (p. 184).
Favorite word:
contumacious: stubbornly or willfully disobedient; rebellious
Discussion Guide: