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What Members Thought
I know two things for sure:
1 - McCandless was a bright spirit who could have an indelible effect on people he met for even a fleeting moment. That this many people remembered their encounters with him and cared so deeply about him is a testament to how tender hearted he was. Krakauer is amongst those whose life McCandless impressed upon, even though they never met.
2 - McCandless was a moron who didn't need to die where and how he did. This story should go down as a cautionary tale. Want to be at ...more
1 - McCandless was a bright spirit who could have an indelible effect on people he met for even a fleeting moment. That this many people remembered their encounters with him and cared so deeply about him is a testament to how tender hearted he was. Krakauer is amongst those whose life McCandless impressed upon, even though they never met.
2 - McCandless was a moron who didn't need to die where and how he did. This story should go down as a cautionary tale. Want to be at ...more
Jun 26, 2018
Jessica Haider
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction,
book-to-film
I was relatively late to the party (amongst my friends) to read this book. I saw the movie version ages ago and I had read Krakauer's other work "Into Thin Air" forever ago.
I finally picked this book up this summer to meet the GoodReads Summer Reading Challenge criteria to read a book that was set in the great outdoors.
This book was a harrowing read for me...seeing the folly of a young man thinking he could survive alone in the outdoors in the wilds of Alaska.
"It is easy, when you are young, ...more
I finally picked this book up this summer to meet the GoodReads Summer Reading Challenge criteria to read a book that was set in the great outdoors.
This book was a harrowing read for me...seeing the folly of a young man thinking he could survive alone in the outdoors in the wilds of Alaska.
"It is easy, when you are young, ...more
Perhaps I'm more emotional than usual lately, but I cried while reading this book, and I haven't done that in a long time. Perhaps it was because this was a too-true story, and that really struck close to home. The story was tragic, in the end. I started off so frustrated by Chris McCandless, but Krakauer really manages to paint a story of someone who was simply in love with the wild - not disrespectful, not full of hubris, not blind to the perils of living a hermit's life, remote from the compa
...more
The story of this book was, to me, its pacing. Every time, just as I would start to get bored with whatever digression the narrative took -- stories of various people (men) who have wandered off into the wilderness for various reasons -- Krakauer would bring it back to the main subject, Chris McCandless. And then every time McCandless' story would just begin to feel to strained and speculative, Krakauer would shift into some personal, confessional elements. It was an expertly layered, balanced b
...more
To be fair, I did not read the whole book... But if it takes me 3 weeks to read 70 pages and I am totally disengaged, I have to let it go...
Krakauer is a good writer...I'd hope some of his other books have less snotty, obnoxious subjects.
...more
Jul 21, 2009
ellen
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction,
topic-auto-biography-memoir
Jun 02, 2011
Mary Beth
marked it as to-read
Aug 26, 2012
Rachel Harlich
marked it as to-read
Jul 07, 2017
Samantha
marked it as to-read
Mar 21, 2018
Leanne
marked it as to-read
