Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Mar 30, 2013 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir-and-autobiographical-essays, book-club-read, walk

I can summarize this book in three words: "Cheryl was hungry."

It's more than that, of course. It was good. A blurb on the back put it pretty well (I paraphrase): "a big break your heart and put it back together memoir."

But in the end, I'm left with two main impressions:
1. Cheryl was hungry.
2. Cheryl's life up to that point was really really fucked up. In many cases, her lack of coping skills startled me. I was also surprised that she was willing to be so open about this. The openness & honesty I can summarize this book in three words: "Cheryl was hungry."

It's more than that, of course. It was good. A blurb on the back put it pretty well (I paraphrase): "a big break your heart and put it back together memoir."

But in the end, I'm left with two main impressions:
1. Cheryl was hungry.
2. Cheryl's life up to that point was really really fucked up. In many cases, her lack of coping skills startled me. I was also surprised that she was willing to be so open about this. The openness & honesty is required for a good memoir, of course, but I'm not sure if I could manage it. I think I wouldn't want everyone who knows me to know all these things about me, and I always wonder how memoirists handle this.

And yes, the chapters about her mother dying were heart breaking, and hard to read.

It was interesting to realize that Strayed was not the name she was born with, but, rather, she chose it for the symbolism of being a stray in this world. If I were to choose any name for myself, I don't know what I would choose.

After reading some of the other reviews, I'm left with the following thoughts:
* This book is not for avid hikers, because Strayed did not start out as a "real" hiker. She didn't know what she was doing. She was honest about that. I found her self-deprecating attitude to be charming and engaging, but I think serious hikers are repelled by it, they seem to have almost a "how dare she?" attitude.
* This book isn't for people who like to follow conventional rules (rules such as "don't have sex with strangers") - I'm fairly conventional myself, but I enjoy reading about people who are not.
* This book isn't for people wanting to read about nature. I often felt anxious that Strayed was so exhausted and so overwhelmed that she seemed to be missing the amazing and awesome beauty that she was hiking through. After I closed the book, I decided she probably didn't miss it at all, and in fact she may well have a lovely photo album from her trip, but that wasn't the point of writing this book, so she didn't talk about it very much.

It's a very thoughtful book written by a very thoughtful person, but she carefully edits her thoughts. Even though I found many passages to be alarmingly confessional (yes, the mother in me, the conventional person in me, frequently cried: "what will her sons think when they read this??? What will her ex-husband think???" ... But that's me.), I still was left with a feeling of being outside. We are only allowed in now and then. And that lack of complete engagement is what left me feeling that this book is just good, but not amazing. ...more

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Mar 16, 2014 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it it was ok

Shelves: memoir-bio-autobio, travel, did-not-finish

I tried. I really did. I just can't go any further. I tried this a year or so ago, on my own, and couldn't get past the first few chapters. this time it was for the local library bookclub, and so I soldiered through a bit further, more than one-third of the way. Then I just choked. I couldn't do it.
the basic thing is that I just didn't LIKE Cheryl Strayed. I didn't relate to her in any way, and I thought that she, as represented in this book, was (is?) a pretty reprehensibly irresponsible, self I tried. I really did. I just can't go any further. I tried this a year or so ago, on my own, and couldn't get past the first few chapters. this time it was for the local library bookclub, and so I soldiered through a bit further, more than one-third of the way. Then I just choked. I couldn't do it.
the basic thing is that I just didn't LIKE Cheryl Strayed. I didn't relate to her in any way, and I thought that she, as represented in this book, was (is?) a pretty reprehensibly irresponsible, selfish, weak hot mess of a person. I get that her life had been tough, and we all respond differently to grief, but it's hard to feel sorry for someone whose response to grief is wanton infidelity and illegal drug use. The passages about the PCT itself were interesting, but I disliked the narrator so much I simply couldn't go on.
For one thing, she was super irresponsible. I have never done backpacking, but even I know that you try on gear before you leave. You pack a weight you can reasonably carry. you break in your equipment prior to your big trip. you don't start off on an incredibly taxing trip on your own, and expect that other people are going to pick up the slack for you when you put yourself in danger or in need. Maybe she gets past that point as the story goes on. I couldn't get there.
The passage where it really went downhill for me was where she discusses her unwanted pregnancy. Her comment that 'of course' she would have an abortion--it was so obvious it wasn't even worth discussing--really threw me. I'm not trying to get into politics here, but even as someone who assumes women have the right to control their own body, I found it repugnant that the author seemingly spent more time and detail writing about her first bowel movement on the trail than she did about having an abortion. Maybe it's all the same to her. But it doesn't seem like a light decision to me, regardless of the freedom to do so. I might think it was just something private that she didn't want to discuss, but considering the extreme detail and extended hand wringing she went into over other topics, like her repeated, flagrant infidelity and cavalier use of dangerous illegal drugs, she doesn't seem like a private person.
What it all boils down to is that it's very difficult to read a memoir if you detest the narrator, and I did. I wish I could have gotten through and read more about the Pacific Crest Trail. I wish I could have seen what so many other readers thought made this an excellent book. but I couldn't and I didn't, and it's time I give up trying to force my way through this and just focus on some books I actually want to read. ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Morgan rated it liked it

good, not great for me. I had a hard time connecting with the main character; I was just not that interested in alllllllll of her issues. I was also turned off by the very raw and extensive details of her mothers passing (not spoiling anything. she leads with this, which is another reason I couldn't love this book. Too much for me).

finally, this was a book about a woman who chose to walk twenty miles a day, through the wilderness, under the shelter of only a tent for three months. This concept i ...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Ann rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir

Popular memoirs all have a few things in common - traumatic childhoods, drug use, and bad relationships. This memoir stays true to the genre, but the writer uses her backpacking adventure to do some healing and soul- searching. If you can get past Cheryl Strayed's bad decision-making and how ill-prepared she was to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, it's a good story. I'm inspired to go hiking. ...more

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