Deshawn read and liked TY's review of Into the Wild:

"Contrary to the opinions of most others regarding Chris McCandless, I see him as someone whose virtues outweigh his vices. Yes, it is true that he is intolerant and idealistic. But what most people overlook is the fact that he has passion. And passio...more Contrary to the opinions of most others regarding Chris McCandless, I see him as someone whose virtues outweigh his vices. Yes, it is true that he is intolerant and idealistic. But what most people overlook is the fact that he has passion. And passion is something I regard highly but is unfortunately lacking in today's society.

McCandless's hatred for society's materialistic views, in my opinion, is justified. I believe many would be able to draw parallel themes from Catcher In The Rye to that of Chris McCandless. In this book, the main example used to demonstrate his view is through his disagreements with his parents. Although I do not agree with the way he handled the situation, as well as not contacting his parents while on the road, his views are justified. After all, I believe that his parents, like most other people in modern society, are hypocrites. (If you do not agree that most people in today's society are hypocrites, you are merely deflecting the truth.) Moreover, his main reason for not contacting them was to prevent them from bringing him home. This is evident because despite his close relationship with his sister, he did not contact her either.

On top of that, the book has shown that not only has McCandless left a lasting impression of himself to those he met while on the road, he left a positive impression. Now, unless Krakauer has intentionally left out those negative feedback about McCandless he'd received, this must surely suggest that McCandless is a likable, and hence good nature, person. Despite being truthful(there was a quote by Thoreau that McCandless highlighted), he still seemed to be able to hold engaging conversations and convey the impression of a good nature person to those he spoke to. This must surely be a virtue in a society riddled with phoniness. After all, how many people who picks up hitchhikers will voluntarily hand over their credit card details or persuade them to take their hiking boots, after only several hours in a car together?

As for his stay in Alaska, his love of life alone should be enough to dispel critics. In a society where suicide is not uncommon, his love of life should indeed be held as a virtue and be used as an example in society. Even in his dying days, he had no intention of killing himself, so as to reduce the suffering, but lived life to the fullest till the very last of his days.

McCandless is indeed an overly idealistic person, and the suffering he caused his loved ones are indeed not admirable. However, his virtues far outweigh his vices. I, for one, believe that our society will greatly benefit from having more people like him. After all, Oscar Wilde once said,
"A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing."(less) "

Deshawn read and liked Aaron Crossen's review of Into the Wild:

"Really enjoyed it. McCandless had in him an exceptionally large dose of the passions that at one point or another consume most young men, if only for a brief period. His strong distaste, bordering on hatred, of modern American life, with all its easy...more Really enjoyed it. McCandless had in him an exceptionally large dose of the passions that at one point or another consume most young men, if only for a brief period. His strong distaste, bordering on hatred, of modern American life, with all its easy pleasures is idealistic rebellion at its purest.

While he chose nature has his release from the artificial trappings that he rejected, I think many men, myself included, share or at least empathize with his idealism. In my frequent solitude, I've often considered the arbitrary, temporary comforts that material things bring and the silly, meaningless routines that working adults follow until dying in a much less poetic manner than McCandless (or any other adventurer).

Most men - most people - don't try to understand or transcend the more humdrum aspects of daily life and live out a philosophy or ideal like McCandless. His case is exceptionally rare, especially in a time where the course of one's life - especially a youth's life - is supposed to be predictable. Birth. High school (preferably a private one). College (preferably a 'nice' one). Job for 35 years. Retire. Take a cruise. Die. But McCandless' journey was extreme by any measure.

I think people can find some kind of basic, almost primal pleasure in whatever they choose to do. For Buddhist monks, this could be as simple as sweeping the monastery floor. For disaffected college-aged adults, this could be as (comparatively) complex as an hour in the batting cages or even a game of catch. And here, I am speaking specifically of the satisfying the yearning that McCandless felt so strongly - the complete detachment from the forms that govern life that results not from the dissection of the routine and quotidian, but from a more simple, subtle satisfaction that continually eluded him. He felt his yearning was satisfied in the Alaskan wilderness. And there is certainly something special about the Alaskan wilderness, but the feeling he was after is universal, I am sure of it. A euphoric escape from the banalities of existence and the inevitable frustrations those banalities bring - bills, the mortgage, and so forth. Something altogether rapturous. McCandless wanted the rapture to last forever, but by the end of his story (and the end of his life) I think he had recognized that moment could never be realized forever. Perhaps he had stumbled onto the sublime: that feeling is temporary, not permanent, and cannot be realized emotionally or existentially, but must be incorporated into one's very being, into one's intellect. I think that's why he left the bus.

Intelligent people (like McCandless and Krakauer) eventually make peace - or at least a ceasefire - with society, with the system. Some embrace it, chasing ideals or material pleasure or self-satisfaction or to kill off their personal demons. McCandless' rebellion was a fierce one, but ultimately, he made his peace. What he would've done to sustain that peace is anybody's guess. But his peace, and the peace of many others like him, is an uneasy one. Predictably, I'm predisposed to play the role of the armchair historian. And so I can't help but ask myself if the methods by which we organize the society we live in are not at the root of the matter, and more importantly, how many more McCandlesses are there? How many more souls will the system alienate and eventually destroy? Could a pragmatist, a realist working within the system and relishing every minute of it convince me his beliefs were honest? I don't know anymore. I'm really not questioning whether or not our society can sustain itself. To me, it's obvious that the system works. But assuming that McCandless' frustrations are either irrelevant or obscure is to misunderstand what it's like to be an American, and even a human. (less) "

Deshawn read and liked Darchelle's review of Message to the Blackman in America:

"Almost everything I knew as a child, I learned from the teachings of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Many things that he taught then are coming to pass now. Forget the predudiced idealism ans the myths that have been unfairly attatched to his teaching...more Almost everything I knew as a child, I learned from the teachings of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Many things that he taught then are coming to pass now. Forget the predudiced idealism ans the myths that have been unfairly attatched to his teachings simply because he wanted the Black man to be more than he was and to receive respact, freedom, justice and equality. It made me a better person. A must read for every African American and for all races to get a better understanding of the tiny man that they once looked at as one of the biggest threats to America.(less) "