Into the Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Books, A Division of Random House (1996, 2015)
215 Pages
Recommended Grade Level:
9th and up
Into the Wild is
the tragic story of Chris McCandless, who after graduating from Emory with
honors and a youth filled with successful academic, athletic, and work
achievements, gives away the money in his bank account and disappears from
society, his whereabouts unknown to his friends and family. After years of travelling around the West
while living on the road, taking trips into the wilderness, working odd jobs to
get to his next destination from time to time, and meeting people in his travels;
he decides to take an Alaskan trip into the wilderness to “embark on an ‘ultimate
adventure’” (p. 51). He goes into the
Alaskan wilderness completely unprepared with little food because he wanted to
live off the land. He ignored continual
advice that it was too early in the year for that. He did not bring the map that would have
saved his life, purposely deciding not to bring a map so he could live
completely free from society: “In coming
to Alaska, McCandless yearned to wander uncharted country, to find a blank spot
on the map. In 1992, however, there were
no more blank spots on the map…But Chris, with his idiosyncratic logic…simply
got rid of the map. In his own mind, if
nowhere else, the terra would remain incognita” (p. 174).
Krakauer identifies with McCandless due to Krakauer’s own
behavior in his youth, which he also details in this book. For this reason, Krakauer attempts to explain
and rationalize McCandless’s behavior, in places painting him as a sort of
hero. However, while Krakauer includes
the criticism from others of McCandless and his reckless behavior, the book
seems to defend McCandless and his irresponsible behavior. Krakauer insists that McCandless was not
mentally ill but was undertaking his journey from a moral imperative and that
he was a highly ethical individual. I
think based on the description of McCandless’s irresponsible and sometimes
illegal behavior, he was suffering from mental health issues and perhaps, mental
illness. Because of his personal
connection to the story of McCandless, Krakauer is unable to present an
unbiased account of McCandless, his behavior, and the events that ultimately ended
in his death.
I have read this book twice.
Once when it was published in 1996, at the age of 23, and recently, 20
years later, when I reread it for this class.
While both times I read it, I found the story compelling and the book
hard to put down, I had a completely different reaction reading it from the
perspective of a middle-aged woman than that of a recent college graduate.
Reading it as a young adult, I identified with McCandless and while finding his
actions reckless and somewhat irrational, and the story very tragic; I saw him
as an idealist taking his beliefs to the extreme. Reading it from my current
perspective, I find McCandless to be histrionic, reckless, and selfish; in need
of guidance, support of family and friends, and most likely mental health
care.
Working in Adult Services in the library, I know this book
is often recommended to and read by young adults and high school students. I think young adults will enjoy this book and
find it interesting and compelling.
However, I hope they recognize McCandless for the troubled and reckless
young man he was. McCandless did live by
his own ideals and pursue his own dreams and ambitions and there is something
to be said for that kind of zeal and dedication. However, he did this at the expense of his
family and those who cared for him, and it ultimately cost him his life.
I would recommend this as an optional choice for a book club as I feel like there are a lot of issues that would lead to interesting discussions. In addition, this would be appropriate to include on a list of nonfiction choices for independent reading.
Related Websites:
This is a website dedicated to Chris McCandless:
http://www.christophermccandless.info/bio.html
Jon Krakauer's website:
http://www.jonkrakauer.com/bios/jon-krakauer
Article from Outside magazine with McCandless slideshow:
https://www.outsideonline.com/1857751/chris-mccandless-back-wild#slide-1
Article detailing acts of admirers of McCandless who have been injured or perished on a pilgrimage to the site of his death in Alaska:
https://www.outsideonline.com/1920626/chris-mccandless-o
bsession-problem