Book 40 Into the Wild

 

Into the Wild by John
Krakauer fulfilled the category “Work
Set Mostly Outside” for the PopSugar 2021 Reading Challenge. The nonfiction title
follows the story of a man determined to live off the land.

It wasn’t my first choice.
Again, I had a hard time finding one I loved. I started Beauty Queens by
Libba Bray (I loved her Diviners series), but the novel didn’t catch my interest. Then I
read Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson. But I considered how
many “older” books I had on the blog (that TBR list thing) and opted not to
blog that one. It felt dated for romance.

Then I requested Into Thin
Air by the same author as the chosen title. I’m still waiting for Libby to send it. LOL Instead, we have
the tragic story of a young man who never made it home. (Not a spoiler as they
tell us right away.)

Chris McCandless decides after
college to change his name to Alex, travel and see the country, and live with
less commercial, political, and conventional restrictions. He was a brilliant
student but needed to live his life his way and not settle for a desk job.

The book goes back and forth
between Alex’s journey
and his final days in Alaska. He lived off the land for two years, making
friends from Baja California, South Dakota, Nevada, and all the way to Alaska,
where his life ended. He wanted to go “into the wild.” (Hence the book’s
title.) Alex never seemed to live in a conventional house or apartment for
long. In most of the narrative, he’s described as living outside in a tent or
with other like-minded individuals. He held jobs from time to time, always
working toward his big journey to Alaska.

In the end, he found his way to
Denali National Park and Preserve and the Stampede trail. He discovered lodging
in an abandoned city bus, converted to house miners. He lived there from April
to August 1992, when some minor mistakes caused him to starve to death.

I’ve been back and forth with other readers about this one.
Many of the “parents” I spoke to talked about his selfishness, his
shortsightedness in prepping, and his stubbornness in not getting help.

I can’t say I feel the same. I loved his spirit of
adventure. (Not that I even like to go camping, eww bugs.) But he embraced his
choices and lived his life. It made me sad he passed, but I don’t believe he
regretted his choices. (Probably lamented his mistakes, but I’d never fault him
for that.) What young person (or just adventurous person) doesn’t trip along
the way? Unfortunately, Alex’s stumble about food cost him.

It was not my usual read, but I
was fascinated by the story. (I love a good narrative nonfiction.) I cried a
bit, but sometimes we need to read the tale with the sad ending.

I give Into
the Wild by John Krakauer Four Bags of Rice.