Into the Wild Book Review

Title of the Book: Into the Wild
Author: Jon Krakauer
Number of Pages: 224
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

Even if one’s life seems to be perfect, it will never be enough to fully satisfy them. People are constantly working to achieve something bigger and greater than what they currently have, and this was one of many motivational factors in the story of Chris McCandless. Throughout every page of Into the Wild, Chris McCandless, a young man from a wealthy family, decides that his current life is far variant from what he wishes he stood for. In an attempt to distance himself from the privileged life he grew up with, McCandless journeys to the wilderness of Alaska to survive on his own. He donated nearly all of his money and embarked on this journey without an abundance of food, maps, or knowledge. His experiences highlight many important life lessons to be learned and followed. 

One major lesson that stuck with me throughout McCandless’ story was the importance of being able to detach oneself from monetary values and embrace every aspect of life, no matter how simple. Through his various interactions with all different types of people, McCandless was able to find value in the simplicity of life overall and his experiences highlight how different people live different lives based on varying privileges. Chris also had a very apparent desire for freedom that we can all relate to. When life gets monotonous, no matter how privileged an individual is, they will always try to find a way to make change occur. Chris’ method of making change occur in his life was to throw away his privileged life and journey to the wilderness to make a life of his own. The book as a whole follows a very unique perspective on freedom as well as what is truly important in life. These lessons are very important for anyone to read and learn from. 

Into the Wild is a unique memoir because it was written through a cumulation of outsider’s perspectives. I found it particularly intriguing to read this novel because Krakauer utilized the experiences of various individuals who interacted with Chris McCandless at some point on his journey to Alaska. Interviews with his parents, sister, and friends from back home helped to give some insight as to why he left in the first place. Small interactions he had with random individuals along his journey helped create the story of how he ended up in Alaska in the first place. Whether it was a driver who gave McCandless a ride or just someone he had a conversation with, everyone had something to remember from him and a small story to tell. The cumulation of stories helped put small pieces together to complete the puzzle of McCandless’ life. In addition to the stories of various individuals, the letters found sent to/from Chris McCandless gave further insight to his journey and photos found added to this even more. This unique method of accumulating information to write a memoir for another individual was very interesting to me. Furthermore, the author’s credibility gained from having endured an experience very similar to McCandless adds another layer of complexity to the story. By using his own bias and experiences, Krakauer adds an interesting perspective to the novel. Through his own knowledge, Krakauer is able to write the story from a viewpoint similar to McCandless and include word choice and tone that effectively translates this to the reader. 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone to read as I think it displays an abundance of important life lessons while also questioning current values of society in an interesting manner. This story also holds a lot of value because everyone can relate to it in some way unique to their own life. Into the Wild also shows the importance of balancing freedom and caution and teaches the reader what the consequences of certain actions can be. All in all, I think that this book is definitely worth the read and will have any readers reflecting on their own values in life. The unique style of writing and way of piecing together the story of Chris McCandless also provides an unusual reading experience that cannot be found in many other books.