Into the Wild

This book has really unique style of story telling....though gets a bit slower...some what descriptive when comes to natural scenes...the movie version is much better

Excerpts:

In Apr.1992, a young man from a well to do family hitchhiked to Alaska & walked alone in wilderness north of Mt. McKineley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $ 25000 from his savings to charity, abandoned his car and most his possessions, burnt all his cash in his wallet….he seemed like a kid who was looking for something, just didn’t know what it was, and finally invented a brand new life for himself….”Into the Wild”….

When the boy headed off into the Alaska bush, he entertained no illusions that he was tracking into a land of milk or honey; peril, adversity and Tolstoyan renunciation were precisely what he was seeking. And that was what he got in abundance.

He immersed himself in anthropology, history, philosophy and linguistics, accumulating hundreds of credit hours without collecting a degree. He saw no reason to. The pursuit of knowledge, he maintained, was a worthy objective in his own right & needed no external validation....

.......he said careers were demeaning "Twentieth Century Inventions", more of a liability than asset, & that he would do fine without it, thanx.....

U wl feel the same and same inclination for the monotonous life u hv lived till now, dont do it.....dont settle down and sit at one place. Move arnd, be nomadic, make each day a new horizon. Dont allow urself to make excuses...Just get out & do it...Just get out and do it...u wl be glad that u did it....

Then in a gesture tht would have done both Thoreau and Tolstoy proud, he arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand-- a pathetic li'l stock of ones, fives & twenties-- & put a match to it. One Hundred Twenty Three Dollars in legal tenure were reduced to smoke and ashes...

Chris was very much of the school that u should own nithing except what u can carry on ur back at a dead run....

You fathers and you mothers
Be good to one another
Please try to raise your children right

Don't let the darkness take 'em
Don't make 'em feel forsaken
Just lead them safely to the light

I wouldn't call him misguided or anything, it would do a great disservice to Christopher McCandless's life.
I am an outdoorsman myself and can understand the attraction of living alone in the forest, the sheer joy of living naked in the woods the way we have done for the last million years. It's just that it takes years of training and experience before you can attempt that and even after that it's 80% luck.

This kid was a good kid who needed a good tutor that's all, the world is a sadder place because we lost him.

I enjoyed the book. I identified with Christopher. At his age, I was also hooked on the spirit of adventure Jack London gave so many of us. I disagree that Christopher had a death wish, but like so many men- he was seeking the silence, serenity, and beauty that only being alone in the wilderness can bring. The book also reminded me of the story of Dick Proenneke, who spent 30 years alone in the Alaskan wilderness and built a cabin that still stands today- using only hand tools. The main difference was that Dick started out on his journey when he was 50 and had already acquired many trade skills and wisdom that gave him the knowledge on how to survive (and thrive) in the wild.

best book i've ever read...

most ppl call it stupidity, idiocrasy and work of an mentally retarded... but i call it life... following your dream..

you may have a lot of many, lot of property and stuff... but at the end of the day, what all matters is your dream...

hats off, Christopher Johnson McCandless...