Krakauer makes an apt comparison between himself as an idealistic and foolhardy young man, and McCandless, and then dismisses himself because "he didn't have intellect". Krakauer tries half-heartedly to disguise his fascination but his admissions that McCandless was a clueless young hothead sound insincere he has to say it to sound credible to his readers, who are less smitten. The conflicting aspects of his personality don't sound quirky they sound devious and self-serving. Can you see the halo? Unfortunately, the impression that comes across is of a snotty adolescent who has never seriously thought of anyone but himself and is used to getting by on charm and flippancy rather than making good use of his considerable gifts (and I do not doubt that he was gifted). We're told he was brilliant, independent, funny, kind, musical, athletic, visionary, talented. Krakauer pulls out all the stops to make McCandless look like a phenomenon, and seems to agree with McCandless that the world should have handed itself to him on a silver salver because he was just so darned special. A much bigger part of me is completely disgusted both with McCandless himself and with Krakauer's mindless adoration of him. My grandfather-not an Alaskan but an experienced outdoorsman-would have tied this kid to a tree and let the bears play tetherball with him.Ī small part of me appreciates the effort Krakauer put into researching this book.
Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps.
INTO THE WILDERNESS SERIES WIKIPEDIA FREE
He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented.
INTO THE WILDERNESS SERIES WIKIPEDIA LICENSE
In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. 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. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt.
Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here
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