Into the Wild Review

Title of the Book: Into the Wild

 Author: Jon Krakauer

Number of Pages: 203

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Review:

Chris McCandless had a good life, he was extremely smart, super athletic, and his parents supported him financially for college. So imagine his family’s confusion when he suddenly disappears “into thin air” (get it?), giving up all his money and possessions to live in the wild.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a literary non-fiction book that follows the story of mountain man, Chris McCandless. He wandered into the Alaskan wilderness in 1992 and never wandered out. His body was later discovered inside an abandoned school bus by some hunters who had stumbled upon the scene. Throughout the book Krakauer takes experiences that McCandless had while growing up and going through school and compares them to other men who have similar stories, discussing the parallels that all of the stories have. Using these comparisons he tries to dissect what McCandless’s motives were for living in the wild. Krakauer also dips into what makes the wilderness so enticing to make people feel like they need to explore it.

The story of Chris McCandless could have easily fit into one small article, like the one Krakauer wrote for Outside depicting Chris’s adventures through the western side of the United States before he met his inevitable death. But Krakauer was fascinated by his story. This book is very unique because it doesn’t just tell the story of Chris McCandless, but it also includes short stories of Gene Rosellini, a man trying to live off the land like our ancestors, Carl McCunn, a photographer who was left stranded in the wilderness when he forgot to arrange for his trip back from the wild, and Everett Reuss, a mountain man fascinated with the wilderness. When compared to McCandless these men are actually quite similar. Krakauer even shares a story from one of his own adventures, and describes how it relates back to McCandless. This book is a hodgepodge of many different stories woven together perfectly in order to create a whole book that takes the reader through the thoughts of a mountain man. The tone of the book is very mysterious, it’s almost as if Krakauer is trying to solve the mystery of McCandless’s disappearance. 

I personally enjoyed this book a lot even though it wasn’t my favorite genre. It is definitely not a love story or a science fiction story, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries or even adventure stories.