Into the Wlld

Good grief, what can I say? I am glad it’s over! :)

Seriously, I was really concerned initially when I started this book. I didn’t think it would hold my interest and that reading it would be like a bad date...can’t get it over with fast enough. However, I have to say once the main character died, getting the story backwards and getting to see they type of person he was and the relationships he formed was slightly more interesting... and I do mean slightly!
I was really frustrated and disappointed by the organization of this book. The author loved to digress for way too long to places beyond my understanding. I truly could not grasp the significance of long parallels to the other adventurous mentioned in the book and I was especially annoyed with his story. I mean come on...what significance did that have to the book? None that I can see. I suppose he needed some way to let the reader know that he was adventurous...TMI!

I found the end of the book particularly interesting when Chris' parents when to the place their son died. How the mom sat on the mattress where her son expired and left the first aid kit for others who may find themselves in her sons situation. There was something very human and bigger than herself and her excruciating pain in that moment. For a brief moment, I wondered what kind of person she was. Interesting, the sister didn't go with the parents...I wonder why. Maybe that was too much for her, not a cathartic moment she needed to have. After all, she knew her brother better than anyone else; she must have made her peace with his death.

Chris McCandless was a selfish young man, who though he knew everything about everything. This is too bad, if he had been open to learning outside of a book or a classroom, he would have lived longer. It actually made me chuckle for a moment when he messed up the butchering of the moose, instead of chunks of meat and steaks etc. he should have made moose jerky, which he would have known if he had taken some time to talk to a few folks who knew.

I guess you live and you learn, or die trying.