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Jo Deurbrouck's Reviews > Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)
by Cheryl Strayed (Goodreads Author)
I've been thinking a lot lately about conversations, about how what a book becomes has to do, among other things, with who is talking about it and with what they agree to.
When I saw the back cover of Cheryl's memoir about starting -- as a tedious young idiot with some heavy baggage (literally and figuratively) -- to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and finishing a fair bit wiser, I knew this book would succeed as a conversation because of the number and names of the people whose blerps filled the back cover. Then yesterday I read that Oprah is back with her book picks -- which is awesome -- and that this book was her first pick.
It'll be interesting to see if the book succeeds as itself, outside the conversation that is so far going strong. My money would be on...maybe. Here's why: after about pg 190, I read every word, with pleasure. Several scenes - the descriptions of Crater Lake; the ice cream shop ending; some of the descriptions of what books and poetry do in her head - I read twice.
But before page 190 or so, I half-read, half-scanned, waiting for something to happen, waiting to learn something that would make me care, waiting for something to think about. If the person who loaned me the book hadn't told me she almost quit on it but was glad in the end she didn't, I would have.
It almost felt to me like Cheryl wrote the first half of Wild as a younger, less thoughtful writer. Either that or, attempting to portray that self-absorbed younger self and the tedium of distance hiking, she succeeded too well.
Upshot...the book was worth the read and I'm happy for Cheryl and what I hope is going to be her success.
But I'm most interested to see her turn her skills onto different subject matter. IMO, memoir is the most difficult form. Very few writers should even attempt it and most who do would be smart to finish the draft, learn from it what they can, burn it and move on. That she pulled this off at all makes me think she'll rock her next book. The woman can definitely write.
When I saw the back cover of Cheryl's memoir about starting -- as a tedious young idiot with some heavy baggage (literally and figuratively) -- to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and finishing a fair bit wiser, I knew this book would succeed as a conversation because of the number and names of the people whose blerps filled the back cover. Then yesterday I read that Oprah is back with her book picks -- which is awesome -- and that this book was her first pick.
It'll be interesting to see if the book succeeds as itself, outside the conversation that is so far going strong. My money would be on...maybe. Here's why: after about pg 190, I read every word, with pleasure. Several scenes - the descriptions of Crater Lake; the ice cream shop ending; some of the descriptions of what books and poetry do in her head - I read twice.
But before page 190 or so, I half-read, half-scanned, waiting for something to happen, waiting to learn something that would make me care, waiting for something to think about. If the person who loaned me the book hadn't told me she almost quit on it but was glad in the end she didn't, I would have.
It almost felt to me like Cheryl wrote the first half of Wild as a younger, less thoughtful writer. Either that or, attempting to portray that self-absorbed younger self and the tedium of distance hiking, she succeeded too well.
Upshot...the book was worth the read and I'm happy for Cheryl and what I hope is going to be her success.
But I'm most interested to see her turn her skills onto different subject matter. IMO, memoir is the most difficult form. Very few writers should even attempt it and most who do would be smart to finish the draft, learn from it what they can, burn it and move on. That she pulled this off at all makes me think she'll rock her next book. The woman can definitely write.
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Jane
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rated it 3 stars
Jun 08, 2012 08:55am
I'm about 2/3 of the way through this book. Having read her novel Torch, I recognize much of the story of her relationship with her mother and her family as told in Wild. The novel is clearly autobiographical. But like you, I scan a lot. There is a lot to be said for rich detail, but this book seems almost burdened with it. I also find it somewhat repetitive and want it to move on. So I'm a little past 190 and look forward to making the deeper connection with the book that you finally did. I paid for the hardback, so I'm damn well finishing it :) I'd finish it anyway. I agree that she writes really well, and I also admire the writerly life she has lived: write a lot, work at your writing more than your "brand," write with generosity. Not all such writers get the rewards she has received; I'm glad she has!
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