Into the Wild Paperback – Deckle Edge, 1 February 1997

This is the story of Christopher Mccandless: a prodigal kid born and brought up in an affluent family in US. Immediately after his graduation in 1990 he left his worldly belongings and his home without informing anyone including his family in 1990 to experience the world on his own, at a tender age of 22.By third week of August 1994 he was dead in Alaska. The book traces his journey though not in chronological order.After reading a small article about the death of an unknown 'hitchhiker' in Alaska, the intrigued Jon Krakauer, himself a mountaineer, decided to explore further about the deceased. The book is a result of author's attempt to discover Christopher Mccandless. Beside his journeys, the book also covers his past that gives an insight into why he was the way we find him; his relation with parents, sister, friends, his outlook about the society and his non-conforming attitude towards tradition and status quo. In between chapters there are brief profiling of personalities ( adventurers ), who had similar experiences with life and might have influenced Chris like Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, John Franklin etc. Each chapter starts with quotes which are relevant to the prose that follows.I received the book on 11th July afternoon and was through it by the evening of the day. I found this book very compelling. Chris and his experiences as chronicled by Jon intrigues, challenges, provokes, stimulates, scares and enthrals. Since Chris ceased his communication with his family and his friends and he himself did very limited documentation, the informations about his life after he left his home is very limited. Jon discovers, meet and interviews people Mccadless spent time with during his journey. Their experience with Chris and interpretation constitute the major part of the book.The author's efforts, hence, deserves accolades and appreciation for bringing life of Mccandless to all of us else latter would have died an anonymous death. Reading through the book you also discover the spiritual dimension of leading a homeless and nomadic life without any personal possession of material and instruments of modern world.Chris was not carrying any cash, ID and had deliberately severed all connections from his past. He wondered across US under different aliases to conceal his true identity and to ensure that he remains untraceable by his parents and authority , doing trivial and menial jobs, interacting with helpful and congenial people, surviving a near death experience before he left for his ULTIMATE DREAM of spending days in Alaskan wild solely on his own. He carried his 0.22 calibre gun and some pounds of rice to survive inside in May 1992 and after almost 4 months inside he was dead. He chanced upon a deserted and dilapidated bus and chose to make it his last home and shelter.In the last few chapters, as a reader I longed for more.The information on his experience during last days of his life are very limited. The end is painfully sad and as a reader I am deprived of spiritual and philosophical enlightenment that Mccandless might have experienced. Because despite all pain and suffering the excitement and serenity is very conspicuous ( as evident from his photographs that he shot just before his death). Had he surrendered to eventuality? He was keeping a journal but the entries were very limited and brief. Was he unwilling to share? If so, why. Though it is quite clear that before his death he made an unsuccessful attempt to get back to the civilisation.One question still intrigues me why did not he made more attempts to get out of there or probably he did? Why he looks so contained and satisfied in his last photographs? He had discovered what true happiness is like, accepts that he was scared and wanted to reconnect to the world that he so willingly denounced yet the look on his expression does not betray any compunction and is in contradiction to the physical and mental pain he was enduring after his failed attempt to get out the wild.After almost four months in Alaska he was dead and his decomposed body, in his sleeping bag, was discovered by the moose hunters. Since the release of the book and a movie based on it, Mccandless has assumed a cult status.Like many his life is having a strange affect on me. It almost shocked me. As a reader, it would be difficult to ignore him and his experience. As a reader in the end you can love him, hate him for causing indescribable pain to his family and ridicule him for being so ill prepared and suicidal but you simply cannot stay indifferent. I wished he could have been more elaborate in his documentation of his experiences. But unfortunately his declining health could not let him do that or perhaps he did not want it to be that way.Born under the sign of Aquarius he was an explorer. He had the guts to pursue and discover the answers to his questions.An Aquarian mind is assumed to be light years ahead of average people. Like many geniuses, he probably had the ability to examine the world with a different and more pertinent perspective; a perspective that may appear insane to majority. The book may help you discover the eccentric and enchanting possibilities of human psyche.PS: The book does not carry any picture. The photos I am talking about in my review is available on internet.

This is a reflective and regretful book about a young man (Christopher McCandles) swept away by his uncompromising choices. Two of the more truthful statements in recent culture are that we need a little help from our friends, and that sometimes we must depend on the kindness of strangers. The book shows us the world as he saw it. It is an enthralling story and an inspiration.

Masterpiece

Readers may at first have some trouble sympathizing with Christopher Johnson McCandless, the young man who died mysteriously in the Alaskan wilderness. People may criticize that Chris was a brainless ignorant with no concept of reality, but there was something utterly special in him which leaves a deep impact on the minds of the people who love to be in the laps of nature. Chris's story is not meant for the people who likes to stay in their comfort zones, it is meant for those who have a thirst for adventure & new experiences.What if he had survived the trip and lived to tell his story ? There are many instances in the book which show that Chris eventually wanted to return back to the Human Civilization in the end and continue living his life normally, but due to the unlucky incident he had to die alone out of starvation which brought upon boundless grief to his family. Unlike Mr. McCandless, the author himself survived his mad adventure on the Devil's Thumb, although in his view he probably didn't deserve to. From his experience he concludes: ''At that stage of my youth, death remained as abstract a concept as non-Euclidian geometry or marriage. I didn't yet experience its terrible finality or the havoc it could wreak on those who'd entrusted the deceased with their hearts.''Mr. Krakauer displays in his reconstruction of Mr. McCandless's life and death by artfully withholding the pieces of his puzzle until the last one falls into place in the final pages. He also mentions about the lives of some adventurers from the past who were driven to climb mountains too high, plumb wastelands too deep or brave elements too unforgiving so that the readers can clearly relate to McCandless. But I wish Chris was alive to tell his version of this tale.My all time favorite movie and one of the best books for containing so many inspirational quotes and passages !!Speedy delivery by Amazon !!