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Into the Wild

By Jon Krakauer

(394)

| Audio CD | 9780739358047

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Book Description

In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his walleContinue

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2 people find this helpful

...I'd like to repeat the advice I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thougth of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet ... (continue)

...I'd like to repeat the advice I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thougth of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditionated to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one piece of mind, but in really nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of file comes from encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have and endlessy changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, Ron, you must lose you inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning ad its incredible beauty. And so, Ron, in short, get out of Salton city and hit the road. I guarantee you will be very glad if you did. But I fear that you will ignore my advice. You think I am stubborn, but you are even more stubborn than me. You had a wonderful chance on your drive back one of the greatest sights on earth, the Grand Canyon, something every american should see at least once in his life. But for some reason incomprehensible to me you wanted nothing but to bolt for home as quickly as possible, right back to the same situation which you see day after day after day. I fear you will follow this same inclination in the future and thus fail to discover all the wonderful things that God has placed around us to discover. Dont' settle down and sit in one place. Move around, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. You are still going to live a long time, Ron, and it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience.
You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only or principally from human relationships. God has placed it all around us. It is in everything and anything we might experience. We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living.
My point is that you dont need me or anyone else around to bring this new kind of light in your life. It is simply waiting out there for you to grasp it, and all you have to do is reach for it. The only person you are fighting is yourself and your stubbornness to engage in new circumstances.
Ron, I really hope that as soon as you can you will get out of Salton City, put a little camper on the back of your pickup, and start seeing some of the great work that God has done here in the American West. You will see thing and meet people and there is much to learn from them. And you must do it economical style, no motels, do your own cooking, as a general rule spend as a little as possible and you will enjoy it much more immensely. I hope that the next time I see you, you will be a new man with a vast array of new adventures and experiences behind you. Don't hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it. Just get out and do it. You will be very, very glad that you did it.
Alex McCandless

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DP81 said on Jan 8, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Into the Wild is the story of the unusual journey of Christopher McCandless. Upon graduating from university in Atlanta, GA, USA, McCandless gave away his life savings, scrapped his car and took off on a two year odyssey around western USA. He hitchhiked and hopped trains, working odd jobs be ... (continue)

Into the Wild is the story of the unusual journey of Christopher McCandless. Upon graduating from university in Atlanta, GA, USA, McCandless gave away his life savings, scrapped his car and took off on a two year odyssey around western USA. He hitchhiked and hopped trains, working odd jobs before travelling to Alaska. In the spring of 1992 he walked into the wild intending to live off the land for the summer. He never made it out.
An excerpt of the book first appeared as an <a href="http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/1993/1993_into_the_wild_1.html">article in Outside magazine</a> in 1993. That article apparently inspired the most feedback the magazine ever received on a single piece. Presently (17 years later) the article still appears on the magazine's list of 10 most popular articles. The book was published in 1997 and inspired a movie by the same name in 2007. The movie is generally faithful to the book.
One cannot resist speculating on what makes McCandless' story so compelling. Krakauer goes to great length to show that McCandless was not just a run-of-the-mill nutcase falling off the deep end into the Alaskan wilderness. Many of the people who McCandless encountered on his journey describe him as intelligent and funloving. More than one expresses shock and sadness at his death. But it is clear McCandless also had another side to his personality. He was very intense, extreme in temperament, and believed passionately in living for his ideals. "Be the change you want to see in the world," Ghandi said -- and so McCandless did.
The book also delves deeply into McCandless' family and relationship with his father. There is some suggestion it played a role in shaping his personality and rejection of social norms. Although the personal story is interesting, McCandless' quest highlights themes like the idealism of youth and struggle for independence and unique experience. McCandless' odyssey distilled these into just two years. Krakauer suggests that the experience in Alaska may have changed him, that he was planning to become a member of the world upon returning. "Happiness only real when shared," he scrawled in the margin of a book. Of course we can never know. Instead his story exists as a caution against recklessness, a testament to the passion of youth and life's infinite possibility.

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€5ʍϵ϶nk said on Jan 16, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

non facile da digerire né da capire in inglese. Chris ha compiuto scelte discutibili, ma senza dubbio affascinanti. Mi è piaciuto molto percepire il legame che l'autore sente con questa persona, questa storia...
"at least they tried to follow their dream. That's what was great about them. They t ... (continue)

non facile da digerire né da capire in inglese. Chris ha compiuto scelte discutibili, ma senza dubbio affascinanti. Mi è piaciuto molto percepire il legame che l'autore sente con questa persona, questa storia...
"at least they tried to follow their dream. That's what was great about them. They tried. Not many do."
"it is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it".

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Pi said on Apr 9, 2010 about the Paperback edition | 3 feedbacks

I see Jack London everywhere in this book.

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抓米 said on Mar 11, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Chris McCandless, also known as Alex Supertramp, graduated from college, and refused a new car from his parents because he didn't care about "things". This was the start of an incredible journey for him that is documented in the book, "Into the Wild".
Some of his influences include Henry Thoreau an ... (continue)

Chris McCandless, also known as Alex Supertramp, graduated from college, and refused a new car from his parents because he didn't care about "things". This was the start of an incredible journey for him that is documented in the book, "Into the Wild".
Some of his influences include Henry Thoreau and other classic writers. His parents thought he was going to continue his education at Harvard Law school, but instead he donated his entire life savings to Oxfam, to help feed starving people.
Some of my key takeaway thoughts from this book are:
-Happiness isn't only found in human interaction. God put love and happiness everywhere.
-Chris says he had more fun when he was broke
-If you want something in this world, reach out and grab it
-Things don't make you happy. Happiness is only real when shared.
Overall, I thought the book was very inspiring. It's a great look at a person who followed his dreams and didn't care what society expected from him. Unfortunately it led to his death, but I like to think that Chris aka Supertramp would think that this was the way things were meant to be, and that people might be able to take something away from his experience. I certainly learned a few things about myself through some reflection.

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Anthea said on Jun 5, 2011 | 3 feedbacks

One of the finest books ever written

I enjoyed this book.

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Ttubach said on Mar 27, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback