Book Report: Into The Wild

Into the Wild
By Jon Krakauer

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 wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.



In the book I read just prior to this, Brendan Wolf, the protag had a 'thing' for Into The Wild and often spoke fondly of Chris McCandless, often times fantasizing about a life in which they lived together in the Alaskan Wilderness. I learned the basics of the Into the Wild plot through Brendan Wolf, and decided that I should try to rent the movie.
Not long after, I was in the video store, looking for a movie to rent when I was (as I always am) suckered into their 'buy two get two free' deal on the previously-veiwed DVDs. Into the Wild was actually my second choice; the previews had always sort-of interested me but I just wasn't interested in enough to actually watch it. So I came home with my four new(old) movies and Into the Wild was the first one I watched.
I immediately fell in love.
I was fascinted by the story and character of Chris McCandless. The film is incredibly well done. It is long and ping-pongs between Chris's final days in the bus, and his ventures that led him to be in this current situation. The movie starts as Chris graduates college. He turns down his parents offer to bestow him with a new car, then later in his room cuts up his credit cards and social security card and then takes to the road in his faithful old Datsun. Chris in infatuated with the grandiosity and freedom of nature, and without a map or provisions, drives until he can drive no further and then continues his internally-driven quest by foot. He meets a variety of people and experiences a variety of landscapes, occasionally taking the odd job only to earn enough money for items necessary to continue his travels. This is wanderlust at its finest. Anyone who has ever dreamed of blindly picking a spot on the map and escaping it ALL will be indulged with this movie.

I was blindsided by the tragic ending--Brendan Wolf never mentioned Chris's heartbreaking demise. Tragedy is really the only word to describe it.

So in love was I with this story that I wanted to read the book. I had imagined it to be a novel--I knew Chris's story was true, but I still thought I was going to read a written mirror of the story I'd just watched.

What I got instead was what I would classify as a companion to the movie. Jon Krakauer is an excellent researcher and magazine writer, and out of years of work and interviews and travels to retrace Chris's journey, he put together this insightful biography of Chris's life. There are answers here that the movie couldn't quite acheive, and insight into the McCandless's lives, and even research about other young men who undertook similar journies as Chris's.

Although not what I expected, I appreciated this deeper look into a life I had become so instantly fascinated with. Honestly though, this may be the one time I would recommend watching the movie before reading the book. The movie entertains, while the book probes deeper and therefore looses its 'story' effect.

Into the Wild is a story I will never forget. Chris McCandless and his alter ego, Alexander Supertramp, seem to have won over many hearts despite some controversey over his death. Was he just a stupid kid who had no business being in the Alaskan wilderness? Did he get what he deserved? Or was Chris a slave to his inner self, simply trying to put his demons to rest?

Incredible work by Krakauer for this story. Told with respect and personal insight, sympathy and fairness, Krakauer has turned Chris McCandless into a legend--and rightfully so, in my opinion.
Five out of five stars