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Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed

Start date: June 1, 2018

Finish date: June 30, 2018

Discussion: Group Reads

Why we're reading this: June 2018 Beach Reads Poll Winner
[close] June 2018 Beach Reads Poll Winner

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What Members Thought

Sep 11, 2016 Ev rated it liked it

Q: What kind of person:

A) Kills her marriage by cheating on her husband with multiple men, gets addicted to drugs, gets pregnant by a drug addict, kills her unborn baby and shows no remorse because "It made me beg the universe to give me another chance. To let me become who I needed to be before I became a mother: a woman whose life was profoundly different than my mother's had been."? (A mother, who ironically, had the option of aborting her children, yet didn't, which is why the author is arou ...more

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Oct 31, 2014 ~☆~Autumn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I just finished this book for the second time as I read Girl in the Woods and wanted to compare the two books about the PCT. I enjoyed it even more the second time I read it! I purchased this copy of it so I could make notes in the margins.

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Jun 09, 2015 Phil J rated it it was ok

This book is a great litmus test, and figuring out your feelings on it can tell you a lot about yourself as a reader.

In terms of overall craft and writing quality, there's not much to complain about here. Some of the flashbacks wander a bit too much, and some of the internal monologues conclude with two or three sentences of pure platitude. However, less proficient writers turn out more likeable books every day. Louis L'Amour comes to mind.

It's easy to say that you dislike this book because Che This book is a great litmus test, and figuring out your feelings on it can tell you a lot about yourself as a reader.

In terms of overall craft and writing quality, there's not much to complain about here. Some of the flashbacks wander a bit too much, and some of the internal monologues conclude with two or three sentences of pure platitude. However, less proficient writers turn out more likeable books every day. Louis L'Amour comes to mind.

It's easy to say that you dislike this book because Cheryl Strayed is a selfish, juvenile person. That may work for some readers, but as an avowed fan of Journey to the End of the Night, Tropic of Cancer, and Post Office, I really don't have room to judge.

Maybe I was put off by the dense fog of self-pity that shrouds the narrative, almost to the very last page. Again, however, when I look back on my life as a reader, there was a time that Portnoy's Complaint, The Metamorphosis, and The Bell Jar were profoundly important to me. Are those writers really that much better than Cheryl Strayed, or have I just gotten older? Would I have loved this book when I was 19? Am I rejecting it just because I've developed a sense of responsibility that I didn't have when I read the other books mentioned in this review? In fact, this book most closely reminds me of Rabbit, Run, a book I read and hated in my late 20s. Maybe at some point around age 25, I just outgrew this kind of literature.

On the other hand, maybe a writer like Sylvia Plath can make the reader connect with her struggles, whereas Cheryl Strayed just makes you want to shout, "Get over it! Lots of people grieve a loved one without trying heroin!" Perhaps Cheryl Strayed simply lacks the perspective to make her story feel believable. Even though it is a true story, there were many moments in which I said, "Wait. You did what? Why?"

Lastly, the Boy Scout in me can't get over her approach to backpacking. It's insulting to watch someone do something badly on purpose when you have so much of your life invested in doing it right. I can't overstate how frustrating it was to read her struggling with basic skills. You don't have to be an Eagle Scout to know how to put on your backpack. A Star scout or an outdoorsy First Class could have done better. Even though I knew she would survive to write the book, deep inside I was hoping for God to send a bear to punish her, just like in 2 Kings 2:24. ...more

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Aug 31, 2022 Caroline rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook

Made me want to go and be in nature, but I'll be honest I'm not gonna do that. ...more

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Oct 10, 2014 Karen F rated it liked it

Just didn't like Cheryl as a person. Other than that a pretty good read. ...more

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Jul 06, 2017 Kate Hardman rated it really liked it

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book. I've never particularly liked the idea of hiking - all that walking and for what? But after reading (listening) to this book, it gave me wanderlust and made me keen to do something as brave and demanding as the author has depicted her expedition to be. I was moved to tears and enthralled at times by this book and am pleased I read it. ...more

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