Into the Wild | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
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Rating:  1220 reviews
Sales Rank: 13567
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 067942850X
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.98045
EAN: 9780679428503
ASIN: 067942850X
Publication Date: January 13, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: 54
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Amazon.com Review
What would possess a gifted young man recently graduated from college to literally walk away from his life? Noted outdoor writer and mountaineer Jon Krakauer tackles that question in his reporting on Chris McCandless, whose emaciated body was found in an abandoned bus in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992. Described by friends and relatives as smart, literate, compassionate, and funny, did McCandless simply read too much Thoreau and Jack London and lose sight of the dangers of heading into the wilderness alone? Krakauer, whose own adventures have taken him to the perilous heights of Everest, provides some answers by exploring the pull the outdoors, seductive yet often dangerous, has had on his own life.
Product Description
In a compelling book that evokes the writings of Thoreau, Muir, and Jack London, Krakauer recounts the haunting and tragic mystery of 22-year-old Chris McCandless who disappeared in April 1992 into the Alaskan wilderness in search of a raw, transcendent experience. His emaciated corpse was discovered four months later. Maps. NPR sponsorship.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1215 more reviews...
 Boring November 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel the same as one of the other reviewers; why summarize the story on the cover and tell me what happens?
I couldn't get to the end of this book, to be honest, I couldn't even read past page 55ish. I tried, I kept reading as much as I could and as far as I could, but this book isn't worth my time.
I will not finish the book regardless of how strongly I feel about finishing everything I start. And, I would never recommend this book to anyone.
 Wonderful inspite of it's tragic ending November 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is not normally the type of book I read,but I am so glad I did.It's moving, and amazing. The story being recounted is quite interesting. (Later I saw the movie which seems very true to the novel, but is far more boring and slow moving than the novel- although the casting seems perfect.) Kraukauer is a beautiful story teller and lets you see the full character (smart but stupid, selfish but loving) boy who only wants to "walk into the wild" You can tell he loves him, but also wants to tell the truth. He is sensitive to those left behind and wants to depict Supertramp's final adventure as he might want it told himself. The book is interesting, and will make you sad, angry, and annoyed. It will remind you of the differences in humans, and how some people can be lost even unto themselves. The book pieces together fragments of the final months, year of Supertramps life to build a story of who this person was up to the tragic end.
Poorly Equipped Dreamer November 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's ok to be a dreamer. It's ok to want to 'find yourself.' It's really ok to hike and backpack. I've done it myself, but I would never, never enter a wilderness area without, at least, a topographical map. Chris McCandless' story is nothing short of tragic.
Jon Krakauer does a fine job of getting you into the mind of this doomed traveler while also taking you into the adventure and beauty of the wilderness.
Beauty, goodness and hope. . . November 11, 2008
I'm saddened to see so many people writing with little or no compassion for Chris McCandless, and such a limited effort to understand his quest.
Most of us know what he was running from -- problems at home, a society struggling with issues of materialism and morality. But an understanding of what he was searching for -- inner peace, closeness with nature, a quiet and beautiful place in which to think -- eludes many of us, just as it eluded him.
It could be lovely, could it not? Wild strawberries spilling down the riverbank, red poppies flaming the hills, cobalt mountains loping along the sky, like waves in a gently rolling sea. I am blessed to live in such a place, where I can reflect and write in perfect solitude, and I appreciate the beautiful life I have. I live a little like he did, but without his extraordinary deprivation -- the berries, the bag of rice, no way (as he perceived it at that time) to get out.
Jon Krakauer mined this tragedy for the beauty, the goodness, and the hope that could be found in it -- and this bounty was rich! -- and I applaud his book and his wonderful writing, as I applaud the deeply moving film Sean Penn waited so patiently, for ten years, to create.
I agree with some of the points other reviewers have made -- that the particular venture Chris McCandless chose was ill-advised, that he had not adequately prepared for it, and that his family need not have been abandoned and left in the dark.
But we have all screwed up in our lives and hurt people around us, at least once, have we not? Well, I certainly have.
When other people use poor judgment and make mistakes, it's so easy to judge, to criticize, to close our minds. That's the easy way out, isn't it?
Whether we see Chris McCandless as a crazy kid, or as a courageous and intensely spiritual young man, we do know that he died afraid and alone. For that reason, if for no other, I think we need to reach for all the understanding and compassion we can give.
Arlene Sanders
Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia
www.ArleneSanders.com
Dull October 31, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Why would I read a book that basically tells me the plot and resolution of the book on the cover? Way to keep readers engaged with the summary of the novel on the cover. I knew what happened without even opening the book, and when I was forced to read it, I found it quite dull and pointless.
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