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Into the Wild (Paperback)

by Jon Krakauer (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (773 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 18.95
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Product Details

Product Description

From Amazon.com

"God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: "At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams." Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless.


From Publishers Weekly

After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska, where he went to live in the wilderness. Four months later, he turned up dead. His diary, letters and two notes found at a remote campsite tell of his desperate effort to survive, apparently stranded by an injury and slowly starving. They also reflect the posturing of a confused young man, raised in affluent Annandale, Va., who self-consciously adopted a Tolstoyan renunciation of wealth and return to nature. Krakauer, a contributing editor to Outside and Men's Journal, retraces McCandless's ill-fated antagonism toward his father, Walt, an eminent aerospace engineer. Krakauer also draws parallels to his own reckless youthful exploit in 1977 when he climbed Devils Thumb, a mountain on the Alaska-British Columbia border, partly as a symbolic act of rebellion against his autocratic father. In a moving narrative, Krakauer probes the mystery of McCandless's death, which he attributes to logistical blunders and to accidental poisoning from eating toxic seed pods. Maps. 35,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews

773 Reviews
5 star:
 (326)
4 star:
 (257)
3 star:
 (105)
2 star:
 (50)
1 star:
 (35)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (773 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The dark side of idealism, Jun 10 2004
By amazonker (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
Last Christmas I gave this book to my father. I thought he might enjoy the adventures of Alex (though you know from the start his life will end badly), and thought if things went well I might use this to try to explain to him why it is that I spend all my extra money on travel and why I do illogical things in pursuit of my dreams. His reaction, though, was nothing but frustration with Alex's "idiocy."

The difference between my response to the book - that Chris/Alex lived an extreme form of the longing I and many others feel - and my father's response is the same gulf that this story seeks to bridge. Jon Krakauer, who has also sacrificed a great deal and risked his life in pursuit of his dreams, clearly feels some sympathy for Alex's wild decisions. But the result of Alex's tramping is his own death and the heartbreak that ensues, which seems to outweigh any selfish satisfaction Alex may have received from his experiences.

When people create great art or invent something remarkable, society celebrates their achievements in spite of any collateral damage. But Alex is an example of someone whose idealism was far greater than his accomplishments. The art he left behind in his notebooks is unremarkable, and the few friends he made in his travels have not been catalysts for improvement in the world. His one success (or failure) was that he was able to unbind himself from his expected, normal life and give himself wholly to his ideals. So many of us secretly wish that we had the courage to do something similar, and this book forces us to confront that desire. Is the pursuit of a dream a worthwhile end, in and of itself?

There are no clear answers, in this book or in life, but the question is worth asking, no matter whether you see Alex as someone to be admired or throttled.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Into the wild ... fatal romanticism, Aug 21 2008
By Machushka (Canada) - See all my reviews
I would first rate this book 4 * from an objective point of view because I've found that Krakauer's personal mountain-climbing story breaks the flow. It was like interrupting your reading of one book and starting to read a completely different one on a similar subject matter. However the
book is so well written, you can't put it down.

I personally give it 5 stars because I find that it was important to bring out this tragic story to light. This book is not just about a troubled young man who died on his journey mainly by his own fault. It is also about a young person's soul-searching quest, reaching for higher ideals, finding your place in what is becoming an overly unjust world.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Krakauer is a wonderful writer, Nov 9 2007
Krakauer is a wonderful writer - His style is similar to Tino Georgiou. I've just blown through this book as well as The Fates (Tino's novel), and for me - their writing is the kind of stuff that makes for late nights and tired workdays. I can't pay him a higher compliment. This one was a bit different than his other efforts in that Krakuer plays more the role of detective/sociologist rather than an an insightful expedition biographer. However, the story was as rivetting and perhaps even more powerful. I'm anxiously awaiting his next one! Also, if you're one of the few who missed Tino's masterpiece, go and get yourself a copy.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars It's ok
I had read "Into Thin Air" and it is one of my favorite books so was looking forward to reading this book as well. Really disappointed however. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bookworm

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good read that compliments the movie.
I saw this movie and, although it was disturbing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I decided to read the book when I came across it recently in a second hand store, to compare the book... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Kay

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing
I loved how this book was an eplenation of how things can go wrong and the wild is wild!!
Published 13 months ago by K. Ricard

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reading!
I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written book, but still can't make up my mind about what to think about Christopher McCandless himself. Read more
Published 16 months ago by A. Saeed

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved every minute!
I read this book before I saw the movie...and of course got a much better appreciation for the story because of that. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Brooke Blyth

1.0 out of 5 stars boring waste of time
This is possibly the most boring book I've ever read. I'll tell you the story so you can spend your money elsewhere. Chris is bored with society. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Yoyo Mama

1.0 out of 5 stars into the wild
I thought the book was crappy. The story is interesting, however I find the author to be somewhat choppy and all over the place. I sure hope the movie is better! Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. Ludlam

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't Waste Your Money - Not Worthy of a Movie-It will Flop big Time
This book is not interesting. So, a guy goes on an adventure, doesn't know what he's doing to prepare for life in the cold wilderness. Now he's a hero, now a movie? Read more
Published on Nov 8 2007 by Joni F. Bourque

5.0 out of 5 stars A wild ride!
Some Alaskans reacted contemptuously to Krakauer's magazine article about a young man who starved to death one summer in the shadow of Denali. Read more
Published on Nov 8 2007 by Abbyfry

1.0 out of 5 stars 'Into the Wild' Disappoints
Jon Krakauer says he was obsessed 'in a good way' with Christopher McCandless. The result of this obesssion is this book and now the film directed by Sean Penn. Read more
Published on Oct 5 2007 by Simon Ruddell

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