Into the Wild in Pick-a-Shelf

Apr 29, 2023 Kiki rated it it was amazing

I missed the boat on this one, but I’m glad I caught up. Spending time with Alex (or others’ description of him) was like spending time with a more radical and decisive version of my younger self. Compulsive, good read.

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Jan 19, 2022 Tien rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, by-the-month-22

Audiobook 🔉

Honestly, I just don't and will never understand Chris McCandless. I guess no one will understand anyone fully ever either however I do understand the longing to do so. For the family, this is a beautiful memoir to their loved one and for others, this may be satisfy a certain thirst for information. I do understand this last bit as I do like to read true crime but as I'm not even aware of Chris McCandless, I didn't have this particular thirst. It doesn't stop my heart breaking for thi ...more

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Jun 26, 2014 Rebekah rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-non-fiction, genre-classics, genre-autobiography-memoir, genre-biography, genre-biography-memoir, genre-adventure, genre-travel, setting-us-california, setting-us-virginia, well-read

Krakauer is a talented author, but I almost did not finish this book. I just did not care for, or like, the main character. These stories are always about rich white privileged men (boys, really). He did nothing heroic or brave or anything that contributed to society. He may have had mental illness (some pieces about him and his writing sounds like maybe he had mania with delusions of grandeur). If he did not have a mental illness, he was selfish and narcissistic, immature, and didn't seem parti ...more

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Apr 06, 2014 Nancy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, america, adventure, still-owned

I'm not sure what I expected with this book, but it wasn't what I got. I hadn't realised that it was the story of a young man who had disappeared to wander around the US, ultimately meeting a tragic ending in the wilds of Alaska. The story was by turns sad, frustrating and strange and although the book was readable, there were times I felt that it had been stretched to actually fill a book. I know the initial story had been told in a 9000 word article and actually, by the time I had got to the e ...more

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Oct 20, 2008 Lennie rated it really liked it

This is the true story of Chris McCandless, a college graduate from a rich family, who hitchhikes to Alaska and lives in the wilderness without telling his family. It seems that he likes adventure and it helps fill a void in his life but unfortunately he is unprepared and lacks the skills/knowledge to survive in the harsh environment. I thought this was a good book and it was interesting to read about the personal struggles he dealt with that eventually made him want to go on this journey to beg ...more

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Dec 26, 2008 Sunflower rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction-read-2009

I was a bit disappointed with this one, having been more taken with two of Krakauer's previous books. And I was more fascinated by the two chapters about the author's experience than that of Alex, in the end.
Good points about risk-taking behaviour in young men, the sometimes randomness of survival, and the idiocy of getting oneself into the wilderness without adequate preparation. ...more

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