Will I love Into the Wild?

This book hit me as both tragic and strangely hopeful.

Chris McCandless walked into the Alaskan wilderness with little more than a backpack and a stubborn streak, and people have argued ever since: was he brave, reckless, or just plain stupid? But his compulsion isn’t as rare as we might think. In my book, Cole feels the same tug—escape the sterile shoebox apartment and the $8 lattes. This can’t be all there is.

What drew me in wasn’t the verdict but his hunger for something real—stripping away every layer of artifice most of us cling to. Krakauer tells it with… show more.

I, Neil, like Into the Wild because it’s about questioning the norm and finding out what really matters to you.

Chris’s journey is both exciting and reflective, and it makes me think about what it means to live fully and raises questions about living independently and choosing your own path.

It’s a rather straightforward story that encourages us to think about our lives at a simple level and evaluate what’s truly important.

In my personal opinion, this book was a great book and taught me a lot. Many people, including myself, have this nagging feeling once in a while that they should just pick up and leave and start a new life somewhere else as a new person.

This book talks about different cases in which, to a degree, this happened. It taught me that you can go into the wild on your own, but you need to be very well educated on where you're going, camping, survival, etc., and also that not everyone can do it. But again, this book can… show more.

This book captivates me because Chris McCandless's quest for meaning and self-discovery mirrored my own struggles with never wanting to fit into a box determined by others. His desire to break free from societal constraints and find true fulfillment resonates with my own experiences. Jon Krakauer’s portrayal of McCandless’s adventure into the wilderness also strikes a chord with me, highlighting the extremes people go to in their pursuit of purpose and the consequences of those choices.

Reading it reminds me of the importance of embracing our own paths, even when they diverge from the norm and the profound insights that… show more.

Here’s my confession: I hated Chris McCandless by the time I finished this book. I hated his cockiness and lack of respect for the power of the wilderness.

But you know what I give him credit for? His ability to leave his life of privilege and the courage to go out into the world and forge his own destiny. He did what he thought was best for him despite the pushback he received from his friends and family.

I think I hated him so much because I wanted him to succeed, and he doomed himself through his own hubris. 

Perhaps no one—including Kerouac—embodies this characteristic restlessness more purely than Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild. McCandless’s story has captured the imagination of legions of readers, myself included (not everyone is on board; there are those who consider McCandless a fool). I’m sure I’m not the only one who read the book in one sitting, unable to set it down. What’s so mesmerizing about McCandless’s story, for those who can’t resist it, is his utter belief (saintly in its way) that the physical journey is in fact a quest, a kind of soul-searching that leads… show more.

This is a controversial choice by Alaska standards. Many of my fellow Alaskans can’t help but find fault with the main character, Christopher McCandless, for his seemingly reckless and cavalier attitude while venturing into the wilds of our state, or what they see as Krakauer’s idealizing of the young McCandless’ misadventures. But having come to Alaska as a young man myself, in search of something, some inner meaning, and truth, I can definitely relate to both McCandless’ plight as well as Krakauer’s, which the author describes in great detail. It’s a search for answers many young people face, that some… show more.

Some people are already familiar with the true story of Christopher McCandless, a boy from Alexandria, Virginia who had a seemingly bright future and yet was unfulfilled living in modernity, he chose instead to escape and sought adventure in an unconventional way. 

By abandoning everything from his former life and creating a new persona—the culturally famous Alexander Supertramp.

Unfortunately for Alexander, his story ends tragically after two years when his emaciated corpse was discovered in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness by hunters.

But his story lives on as an international bestseller that has been translated into 30 languages… show more.

Why do we make decisions that put our lives at risk? Why do we have such a deep connection with nature? To what lengths would we go to find peace, especially when recovering from a traumatic relationship? I love exploring questions such as these in what I read and in the stories I write, and this extraordinary mixed-genre non-fiction account of self-discovery abounds with philosophical and suspenseful debate, constantly driving us towards its ending in a lethal Alaskan wilderness. As well as the book’s sublime depictions of the unconquerable nature of snowy mountains, glaciers, and rivers, what I loved most… show more.

This book follows the true story of Chris McCandless, a young hitchhiker who abandoned all societal ties to go on a journey across the country, eventually leading to his death in the Alaskan wilderness. Through interviews and McCandless’ journal, Krakauer pieces together the last few years of his life, sharing the revelations and hardships Chris experienced along the way. It is a beautifully well-written story, one that many of us itching for adventure might be tempted to romanticize. The lesson at the core of this story is that we should never take for granted the people that love us. It… show more.