Into the Wild in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 16, 2012 marianne rated it it was amazing

I think this is Krakauer’s best book.

I first read Into the Wild as an 18 or 19 year old who was bursting with an untamable need for her own adventures and discoveries in the Wild. Like McCandless and Krakauer, I could not resist the call and after college I left a traditional career path and set out to explore that world, in my own way. I remember understanding at the time I first read Into the Wild that McCandless’ abandon of society was, though attractive on more than one level to my young ps I think this is Krakauer’s best book.

I first read Into the Wild as an 18 or 19 year old who was bursting with an untamable need for her own adventures and discoveries in the Wild. Like McCandless and Krakauer, I could not resist the call and after college I left a traditional career path and set out to explore that world, in my own way. I remember understanding at the time I first read Into the Wild that McCandless’ abandon of society was, though attractive on more than one level to my young psyche, in actuality an unrealistic ideal. But I connected deeply with much of his philosophy and admired him for diving so completely into his wanderlust and achieving that same sense of freedom I yearned for. His death was haunting; was it possible to achieve that type of freedom without dying?

And so Chris McCandless’ story was many things to me; a reflection of my own philosophies and needs at that age, and a huge, bright red, blessed, flashing warning light. It was a realization that I could never check out the way he did, a romanticized fantasy of what my path might have looked like had I given into it entirely, and a reminder that life and death dance a delicate balance in that world. For McCandless, Krakauer and me (and millions of others), we were escaping a predestined path and stressful family situations that we were not equipped to confront in other ways. We were exploring a wild planet that offered us a sense of total freedom when we allowed ourselves to be fully immersed in it. It was a story that stayed with me for many years.

I just re-read this book at age 38; oddly, in reading it this time, I connected so strongly with Krakauer’s perspective that I just knew that he must have been hovering around his late 30s when he wrote it. Indeed, he was 37 years old. There is something in his tone, which shows a lot of compassion and understanding for young Chris McCandless, that is identical to the way in which I think about my own past early-20s self. At this current junction in life, I still remember a fair amount of that time period, but I look back on it in a way that feels less than first person but will of course never be third person. There is more distance, more objectivity, less focus on the details, and so much more empathy and sympathy for that imperfect 20 year old carving out their little imperfect nook in the world.

And so that is why I think this is Krakauer’s best book. He’s able to connect with his main character in a deeply intimate way and from enough distance in years that it adds a lot of value and insight to the book. In Into the Wild, he strikes a near-perfect balance between journalism, personal reflection, and biography. ...more

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