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Into the Wild | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Krakauer
Creator: Philip Franklin
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $11.71
You Save: $8.28 (41%)
New (35) from $11.71
Avg. Customer Rating:  1228 reviews
Sales Rank: 75792
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 6
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.2 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0739358049
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.98045
EAN: 9780739358047
ASIN: 0739358049
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
"God, he was a smart kid..." So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn'tcannotanswer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: "At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams." Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless.
Product Description
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...
"Terrifying...Eloquent...A heart-rending drama wandering of human yearning."--The New York Times
"A narrative of arresting force. Anyone who ever fancied wandering off to face nature on its own harsh terms should give a look. It's gripping stuff."--The Washington Post
From the Audiobook Download edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1223 more reviews...
An interesting approach of adventurers psychology through this tragic story January 1, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Krakauer, with his experience of extreme adventures and good understanding of psychology, has done an excellent work of investigation.
Methodically, he allows the reader to better understand this tragic story, clearing alongside McCandless of foolishness and irresponsibility suspicions. He highlights the intelligence and deep determination of an unusual person.
This story just keep triggering questions like "would the kid have been able to clear his psychological issues and find way to better accept of life if he didn't have such conjunction of bad luck?".
He finally teaches us a lesson of understanding and humility. A must read for every parent willing to understand what goes through the mind of a teenager or just to remember one's own youth...
 A tough one to read December 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"What a waste." That's how I must sum up my reaction to the death of Chris McCandless from starvation, after he found himself unable to walk out of the Alaskan bush once he'd decided it was time to return to civilization. McCandless - or "Alexander Supertramp," as he preferred being called - walked into the bush in April, determined to experience living off the land in total isolation. By that time he'd been out of contact with his family for two years. Yet he died inside the sleeping bag his mother made for him...author Krakauer does a fine job of helping the reader understand why McCandless behaved as he did, but I still found this book incredibly sad reading. I saw in its subject a boy trying to grow up, and killing himself (however unintentionally) in the process.
Difficult and painful to read, but intriguing and worth the time.
Fascinating story of a life outdoors December 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Just finished this one. I think there is something in all of us that wants to get in touch with the great big world outside, a hunger, a keening...and it's especially true with US corporate types challenged to find the balance. While Alex McCandless embraced this search early in his life before he had other responsibilities, and he was reckless about it, the picture here is one of a man who - by looking inward - comes to terms with his need for external relationships. The book was recommended to me by my local outfitter - Evergreen Outfitters, in Luray, VA. I found the experience reading this fascinating and moving.
Good Movie, Great Book December 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I saw the movie before I read the book. Having read "Into Thin Air" before reading "Into the Wild", I was already a big fan of Jon Krakauer. "Into the Wild" did not disappoint. If you have a wandering spirit, this book will inspire you. In our current fallen culture, the fact that there are still those who are willing to venture out on their own personal "vision quests" is reassuring to me. Thank God we still have a few who maintain the warrior spirit in a culture full of couch potatoes and X-Box athletes.
Haunting and spellbinding December 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I purchased this book after watching the movie and, believe me, the book was just as haunting as the movie. The book is written exceptionally well and I found this book difficult to put down. Naturally, I read the book in three days. However, there were parts of the book which did not belong.
Krakauer's narratives of others who went into the desert, and especially Krakuaer's own narratives of his personal exploits did not belong in the book. His narratives quickly disrupted the natural flow of the book. I was not intersted in reading about his dad's problems with polio and alcohol. It had no place in the book. Naturally, I skipped that chapter when the story was about Krakauer and not McCandless.
This is one of those books that leaves you resting in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering what you would have done in Chris's place. How would you have done things differently? It gave me the inspiration to leave society and try it myself. The book is that good!
Just ignore Krakauer's Chapters 14 and 15. Doesn't add to the story at all!
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