What I'm Reading Now... "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Several weeks ago I started reading a book called Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer that will interest most people that pride themselves on their outdoor experience.


Based on truth, this book's central character is Christopher McCandless (a.k.a Alexander Supertramp) who for no apparent reason depletes his saving account by giving $25,000 to charity and hitchhikes his way to the Alaska wilderness, where he walked into the wilderness with nothing but a gun, a few books, and a ten pound bag of rice. Four months later he was found dead.


Chris's story was first told in an article in Outdoor Magazine, written by Jon Krakauer. This story got a record number of responses. Readers comments ranged from people who tried to defend Chris's action to others that thought he was no more than an inexperienced crack-pot who not only met his fate, but a fate he deserved.


The book traces the journey by McCandless, introduces you to the people he met along the way, and speculates on what his final months were like by piecing together events written in a journal kept by Chris. At times this book seemed to be a defense of Chris; trying to explain to readers that he was not a crack-pot, nor deserving of the fate he met. However, Chris's story was only one of several in the book.


Into The Wild included stories about the Alaska wilderness and those who have fallen victim to it. Plus, the author parallels his life to the life of Chris, which gets any reader that enjoys the outdoors to do the same.

It is suspected that one of the authors that influenced Chris's walk into the Alaska wilderness was by his favorite author, Jack London. Jack London wrote The Call Of The Wild, which was one of the books Chris took into the wilderness with him.

I must admit, while reading this book I had not yet read The Call Of The Wild , but from what I read in this book I can assume that I do not have the call to the wild that Chris obviously felt from deep within. Although I pride myself on my outdoor activity; I have no illusions that I am fit enough to depend solely on myself for survival.


Reading this book has made me curious about the ideals that were written by Jack London. My next read will be The Call Of The Wild. Hopefully, I will have a better understating of Chris's actions after reading it. However, I do not feel the understanding is necessary in order to enjoy this book and would recommend it to anyone.