Customer Reviews

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Cheryl Strayed decided to hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), she was floundering in her life and needed to throw herself wholeheartedly into a quest. In the solitude of nature, Strayed wanted to ponder her life, to grieve the death of both her mother and her marriage and perhaps even to gain some closure. This beautifully written and contemplative memoir deals with loss and grief but also depicts a primal fight with the world.

"Wild" tells awe-inspiring anecdotes about a monstrously heavy backpack (aptly nicknamed Monster), lost boots and surviving for 100 miles on 62 cents. It describes horrible unpreparedness and inexperience. It suspensefully highlights a constant search for enough food, water and energy to take one more step. Above all, Strayed writes with frank, raw emotion and bubbling grief. She neither minces words nor tries to place herself in the best possible light. But instead of judging Strayed, the reader sympathizes with her because of her appealing, refreshing honesty.

Ultimately, "Wild" explores the themes of both human weaknesses and untapped reserves of strength. Strayed had an amazing journey on so many levels and her intense, vivid descriptions and powerful narrative certainly strike a chord with readers.

Cheryl Strayed's remarkable book, Wild, details her amazing courage and fortitude in her struggles to overcome her memories of a difficult childhood, the early death of her mother and a dangerous dalliance with hard drugs.
Driven by a need to prove herself to herself, she sets out on her own to walk the Pacific Crest Trail burdened my a monsterously heavy pack and a naive appreciation of the difficulties that lay ahead of her.
Anyone who has done any hiking and has paid the price of ill-fitting boots and blisters, will suffer along with this remarkable woman.

My only complaint about this book is that I found it impossible to put down.

ASIN:0307592731 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)]]

Story Description:

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|March 20, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-307-59273-6

Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe - and built her back up again.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long distance hiker, and the trail was little more than "an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise." But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humour, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

My Review:

This was a phenomenal memoir! A page-turner that I read in a day and a half packed full of drama, suspense, emotion, and great fortitude. Cheryl Strayed showed unbelievable strength in pushing herself to the limit on this solo walk of eleven-hundred miles across the Pacific Crest Trail. Her ability to stare down the pain of her feet during her walk was unbelievable. That alone would have forced me to give up.

Wild is a memoir you won't soon forget nor will the character that Cheryl showed during this incredible solo journey. I'll most definitely be recommending this to everyone.

This book has transformed my prejudices, absolved my inaccuracies and opened my mind to writing about the outdoors. As soon as I knew "Dear Sugar" would be writing a memoir, I ordered a copy and haven't regretted it since. Cannot wait to read it over and over again.

Great adventure. I ordered this for a friend who is an avid hiker and who is facing a major transition in her life - I love the author's sense of adventure and courage.

Just finished Wild and really enjoyed the book. Whilst I initially wondered whether reading such a large book on one person's journey would have it's 'boring' stages I was enchanted. I saw myself in the author, in her struggles, in her desire to achieve something that was hers. This book isn't just about a journey, the writing is descriptive, she has a talent at drawing her reader into her story and the images are fleshed out so that one's imagination is engaged. I really loved this book - felt very connected to it.

Wild is entertaining and inspiring. Lots of life lessons packed in this book. Cheryl writes with a sharp with and a soft touch.

Excellent read. All women should read this book.....loss of a loved one and how this courageous woman dug herself out of her grief and tribulations. Makes me want to go hiking!

I enjoyed WILD more so because it was a good summer read since I try to find physical activity to strengthen my body. It reminded me of a book with a German Shepherd hitch hiking the Rockies read in my teens. What a economical way to get us reading the books worth global connection. Bravo on this book I am grateful to have read such a good book.

My daughter and I loved this book. It's exciting and fulfills the wanderlust in us. Cheryl Strayed gives good descriptions of her adventures and we went along with her all the way!