Title of the Book: Into The Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
  # of Pages:200
  Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Review:

According to many Alaskan people there is a lot of out of state young men who want to live in the wild and come every year. Most come straight out of college to live the life of an outdoors man with wildlife and away from society. Sadly, the majority of these young men end up getting hurt or dying because of the harsh winters. “Into The Wild” entails one of the many stories of someone who went to Alaska. Chris McCandles story stands out over the others for some reason and the author Jon Krakauer wrote this book to show why.









“Into The Wild” isn't a book straight out of the journal of McCandles, it's different than most books where a character “Survives” in nature. Because the author Jon Krakauer was an outdoors man himself he knew what he was talking about when he wrote the book. Many other survival books start with the person going out into nature and then ends when the person is either rescued or leaves, but Krakauer did something different than that. He started from McCandles life beforehand, he wrote about who McCandles was and what his family was like. Krakauer didn't just write the story, he interviewed and met the same people that McCandles met when he was on his way to Alaska. And instead of just writing about his time in Alaska he wrote about how McCandles got there. What makes McCandles story different is how he approached his adventure, instead of flying or driving to Alaska he left everything of his behind hand tramped his way across the country. He wasn't in it just to do it for fun, he was finding something, he was finding something in himself that he though may have been missing. So he started off by leaving his money, car, house, and relationships behind. What I found amazing in his story was how he met people on his way, the relationships he gained from his adventure were true and the people he met were interesting. Krakauer writes in a way that makes you build your own thought of the experience but he also give you the facts about it. What intrigued me about the story the most was the many questions that were left untouched, it left me with a feeling of wanting to know more about McCandles even though Krakauer had explained everything already.





McCandles had a rough family life, his mom and dad fought and even threatened to divorce. Throughout college McCandles just went with life he just wanted to get done with college to make his parents happy even though he had no drive to actually pursue a career in his major. Once college was over and he moved away he decided to “Disappear” for a little while. He gave all of his money to charity left his house and society behind. He didn't use his real name for anything either he preffered to go by “Alex Supertramp” He had nothing but his backpack full of little things and some food. For the first few months he traveled randomly around the U.S. Without money and hitchhiked from place to place. He traveled to Mexico, Wisconsin, California, Alaska, and on his way he went through many other states. He met many people and stayed with them for short amounts of time leaving impacts on their lives. He liked people but he didn't want to grow on them too much so he would abruptly leave the people he met. After his adventures around the U.S. He wanted to go to Alaska and he did just so. But he didn't live in a town, he went straight out into the forest and wild. He lived in the wiled and even found an abandoned bus for shelter and he claimed it his home. As the weather began to change he tried to leave but the river he had crossed before had flooded, he tried surviving off of vegetation and small animals but after eating the wrong type of plant he became ill. A few weeks later some 4wheeler hunters found the shelter with McCandles body inside.









There are plenty of emotional parts in the book that had me with watery eyes, I don't want to spoil them but many of them were the ways McCandles left relationships on his adventure. Krakauer met the people that McCandles did and from just reading the book I can see the impact he left with them, McCandles even changed the way someone looked at the world. I am inspired by McCandles because his adventure is something that a lot of people would never do. We live in such an enclosed society that herd mentality is what we all follow, but people like McCandles are much more different than anyone else. Many people just go on with their lives because everyone else does, but McCandles didn't want to live a normal life, he wanted to see the beauty of the world from an entirely different perspective. I can honestly say I cried a little at the end of the book because of what McCandles wrote and how I knew he felt, and how true the words he wrote are. I believe that anyone can enjoy this book, they even made a movie from it.






There is so much to the book that makes me wish I knew McCandles. And you can't understand the whole story unless you read it, even though it is nonfictional it almost seems fictional just because it took no effort for McCandles to leave everything behind. I don't know anyone who would be able to do what he did and that is what makes “Into The Wild” interesting, nothing about it is average life and it's a huge adventure for both the reader and the author.