This is a powerful account of an idealistic young man who walked into the wilds of Alaska and died there. Engrossing.

This book has been sent along to keep another one company on a trip to Germany--it is a surprise from a wish list!

I got this in the mail today, along with Sue Grafton's C is for Corpse. Thanks to kiptrix! I was quite surprised by this one, I had only expected the Grafton book! But I'm definitely looking forward to reading this one, and I'm putting it onto my TBR pile.

From the cover text:
In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter...

A moving book, not quite as impressive as Krakauer's Into Thin Air, though.
McCandless's dream life goes far beyond the usual camp fire romanticism. He was moved by a basic, somehow fundamentalistic, attitude and disregards the eminent dangers, which eventually cost him his life.

Krakauer manages to re-construct the Odyssee of Chris Mc McCandless (or Alex Supertramp, as he called himself) and he underscores the philosphy that underlies the whole adventure by telling the stories of other adventurers (including Krakauer himself).

Despite its title which seems to be begging for a wild release, I'm organising a bookray for this book. This is the list of participants so far (BCers with numbers in bold print have already made a journal entry):

01. mojitopt [Bayern, Germany]
02. linguistkris [Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany]
03. Bni-legi [Niedersachsen, Germany]
04. 16stepper [Arizona, USA]
05. Miss-Efficiency [Ontario, Canada]
06. cestmoi [Ontario, Canada] asked to be left off of the ray
07. MaryZee [Maryland, USA]
08. Mom-of-one [Pennsylvania, USA] asked to be left out for now
09. reader1212 [Washington, USA]
10. Klute [Baden-Württemberg, Germany]
11. junegirl [Wisconsin, USA]
12. Tuz [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
13. rbroski [Florida, USA] declined
14. retc [Louisiana, USA]
15. Lisa-B [Hessen, Germany]
16. dschinny [Hamburg, Germany]
17. Balham [London, UK]
18. outofreach [Victoria, Australia] received another copy as a Christmas gift

EDIT: This ray has turned into a ring and returned home. I will probably not release it into the wild postal system again.

Released on Monday, May 12, 2003 at mailed to a fellow bookcrosser in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany.

The bookray starts - and off it goes to mojitopt from Munich, who is currently staying in Hamburg. So there'll be a little more travel time involved for this little book...

The book arrived today. Thanks to *Herrundmayer*! The cover looks exciting. This book will sneak in on the pole position of the TBR queue. Will write comment before passing it on to the next person in the bookray.

Into the Wild is a meticolously researched and well-written account into Chris McCandless' life and death. The boy decided to "live off the land" in Alaska, where he died from starvation. The book highlights episodes of Chris's life and tries to pinpoint the important aspects of his character and the reason's why he decided to do what he did. Krakauer draws parallels to other men, who have challenged nature, walked-off into remote parts of the USA and eventually died. He also puts himself into a row with the main character, when he describes his own failed attempt to climb the 'Nordwand' of Alsaska's Devil Thumb. Although in contrast to McCandless' he made it home alive (as the publication of this book proves!), Krakauer concludes that McCandless may have had some oedipal conflict (like Krakauer apparently) that influenced his behaviour and triggered his search for authenticity, his desire to be on his own and the quest for nature's purity.

As to the main character, I am not really sure what to think of him. On one side, he is strong-minded, courageous, daring and - in a way - also convincing. On the other hand, his naiveté, his overestimating himself and his adoration for Tolstoy, Thoreau and other Romantic writers somehow made me feel pitiful. However, in the end he was just another guy who died ... and he kind of directly worked his life to this point.

All in all, I think this is a good book. The language Krakauer uses is versatile and rich as the Alaskan nature. 8 out of 10 only for the fact that the author presents his own heroic climbing adventures - two chapters he may have well omitted.

Sorry to the fellow bookrayers for not being able to finish this book earlier. It is off to *Linguistkris* today. Enjoy !

Had this in the mail yesterday & I'm very much looking forward to reading it asap!

Platzhalter für eine schöne lange Kritik :)

Released on Thursday, June 12, 2003 at BookRing in Fellow BookCrosser, Postal Release Germany.

Having just returned home from holidays I've found this book in my postbox. Great I can go on "virtual" holidays again by reading it. Thanks *linguistkris*.
Just finished the highly recommended book, very tragic story, though. As I couldn't have described it better ;-) here's a link to a review: Krakauer: Into the wild

The book will move on to fellow-BCer *16stepper* .
Posted it Thursday, July 29th 2003

Arrived in Gilbert on Saturday August 9. Can't wait to read it! Going in the bookray pile.

Another excellent book by Krakauer. I love his writing style, and this book was somewhat cathartic for me. One of my cousins did basically the same thing as McCandless, but in the Canadian wilderness. His body wasn't found for over 3 years, however, making the ID process more difficult. A very drawn out ordeal for the family. I imagine that the McCandless family is very appreciative of Krakauer's attention to detail and his honesty about his own history, not to mention the time and energy spent in researching and writing about their son's last days.

This goes in the mail tomorrow to Miss-Efficiency.

Just got this in the mail today. Can't wait to dive into it. Just have to whip through The Drought first. Thanks!

Finished this one yesterday. It was an interesting read, but a bit of a downer. I like Krakauer's style when he can keep his ego in check, which is most of the time. I'm not quite sure what to think of Chris McCandless.

I'll be sending this off to cestmoi shortly.

Cestmoi's asked to be left off of the ray, so it's on to MaryZee.

Just received this in the mail today. Will start as soon as I finish my current read, in a few days.

I also enjoyed Krakauer's Into Thin Air. This is the sad story of a young man who showed so much promise, and could have done anything with his life that he wanted. He chose to test himself by living off the wilderness for several months, and he nearly survived this adventure. It would have been interesting, if he'd come back, to see how this experience would have changed him. Unfortunately, due to either his naivety or arrogance, he was ill-prepared for this experience, and this lack of respect for the wilderness led to his demise.

This story was stretched a bit from its original form, as an article in Outside, but it's good that the author had the opportunity to correct his earlier assumptions about the reason for death. Of course, no one can ever be sure, but this still made an interesting tale.

Thanks, Kiptrix and Herrundmeyer.
Mom-of-One has passed on this ring for now, so this goes off to Reader1212 today, 10/18.

Rec'd this in the mail today and will start reading it tonight since the other book that I just started reading on the bus tonight, I am only 12 pages into.

Very quick read-interesting book. I will be mailing this off to the next person on the list either on Saturday, or early next week.

It is being mailed out today to Klute.

Just got it in the mail! Thanks reader1212!

A very moving story, although I found it a bit too long. For my taste Krakauer digresses too often with his own adventure and that of other young men who have died in the wilderness. Also, I do not find the dramatic structure very felicitious. Because it is non-linear it is very anti-climatic and Krakauer is forced to constantly repeat himself in order to pick up the loose ends he left behind in previous chapters.
Even so, I was very moved. As for Chris Candless, I very much pity his death, although I did feel a certain rejection toward his arrogance and dogmatism. Off to the next one in line!

I sent this on to junegirl about a week ago. Enjoy!

Received it today. Thanks for mailing it so far. I've wanted to read this for a few years.

I finished this book with mixed emotions -- both pity for McCandless' needless death and frustration with his dogmatic arrogance (well put, Klute!). I think it was the poet, John Donne, who said, "No man is an island unto himself." It seems tragic that a person of such integrity with such highly developed moral values could not find a way to work within the cultural system he was born into. One wonders what this young man could have accomplished, had he returned from his journey a wiser, calmer, less rigid soul. But ultimately, one wonders if his values were genuine -- or rather, as mojitopt points out, adopted as part of an ongoing oedipal conflict with his father. I suppose donating $25,000 to an organization dedicated to ending world hunger suggests the former. However, how did McCandless' rejection of society and his jaunt into the wilderness promote anything other than self-absorbed rebellion? How terrified McCandless must have been of intimacy and interdependence. In the end, I felt sorry for him.

Just as interesting as the conundrum of McCandless' portrait, I found Krakauer's description of his own "inner demons" quite interesting. It does seem that these two young men were cut from the same cloth. I've wondered about Krakauer ever since reading Into Thin Air (which was the more compelling read of the two). I was vaguely annoyed by Krakauer's ego interrupting McCandless' story with the two chapters detailing his climb of the Devil's Thumb. However, I do think Krakauer paints an unflinching portrait of himself and his less-than-heroic motivation for extreme adventuring. In the end, I didn't mind reading about Krakauer, because I do think his experiences reflected directly on McCandless' psychological makeup.

What I absolutely loved about this book was the sharp, clear, resonant prose with which Krakauer presented McCandless' story. He is one very fine writer! His word choice and command of the English language, in particular, rate magnificent, and I am envious!! I agree with Klute that the non-liner structure of the book made it challenging, choppy, and somewhat anticlimactic. I suspect Krakauer has become a better storyteller over time. Should anyone like to read his latest book, Under the Banner of Heaven, which presents the (again true) story of cold blooded murder in the name of Mormon extremism, please let me know. I have a perpetual ray going, though the list of participants is rather long.

Many thanks to kiptrix and herrundmeyer for satisfying my curiousity about this book. It's been on my intended reading list for several years, and I am very glad it dropped into my lap. Next, it's off to Tuz in Brazil.

This book's arrived safe and sound this week. I expect to read it soon! :)

August 5, 2004

I've just finished the book and liked it very much. I had become a fan of Krakauer with Into Thin Air, and Into the Wild as admirable as well.

I'll send it to next person soon.

August 20, 2004

I think I sent it to LivelyWriter in the US, today. I hope she sends it to Retc after her reading.

Thanks for letting me participate in this RAY! :)

I am putting this on the TBR stack, ut I should get to this fairly soon.

How I got this, I have no idea as I am apparently not on the list for this ray. Anyway, it is an excellent book, very involving, if not as stimulating as Into Thin Air since the author makes no bones about the outcome from the beginning. Fascinating case study.

On to the next reader!

Released on Friday, October 29, 2004 at about 3:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at in the mail in Bookring, A Bookring Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Retc. Happy reading!

DC #03040370000131395791

Received in mail yesterday & started it last night. Looks good. Thanks!

Finally finished. Have to say it was a quick read at first but somewhere in the middle I got bogged down. Interesting story but I did not enjoy it as much as Under the Banner of Heaven, also by Krakauer. Thanks for sharing. I will message Lisa-B who is next.

Released on Friday, December 10, 2004 at about 9:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at book ring in Mailed to fellow bookcrosser, Postal Release Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

sent on its way

Received yesterday. I liked Krakauer's style in "Into Thin Air" very much, so I am looking forward to "Into The Wild".

I indeed like Karakauer's writing style (and I agree that he better had not included his own adventure). As Klute said "a certain rejection toward his arrogance and dogmatism" is what I feel, but mostly I am sorry for him, because I think he would have found his way back into society.

As soon as I receive Dschinny's adress the book will be on its way.

The book arrived on Friday. Will start reading as soon as I'm finished with my current read.

There is not much to add to what previous readers have said about this book already. I liked the way Krakauer let you find out by and by how Chris McCandless' tragedy came about. It helped me to understand why he wanted to do what he did. What I can't understand is that he went so ill prepared into the wilderness with no plans for emergency situations.
The two chapters about Krakauer's own attempt to climb Devil's Thumb could have been omitted as I think it interrupts the story.

Will be sent off to Balham when I got the address.

9.2. Will be posted today.

Just got this book & am about half way through - thanks for giving me the chance to read it.

After more than 31 months on the road around the world, this book has returend to me. Thanks everyone who participated and shared their views. I'm not sure what I will do with this copy next, but I'll let you know.

Thanks to Balham for sending a copy of "Under the Banner of Heaven" along. I've read another copy already, but I'll register this one and pass it on within the BC community.