And the book that makes the Number 6 place on my Top Ten List is:
Into the Wild, is the book that makes it to the Number 6 position of my Top Ten List.
This book makes my list for a multitude of reasons, but I will only name a few:
1. This book is the true story of Christopher McCandless. He is a young man from a well-to-do family who graduates from Emory University. He leaves everything behind, even his name, and tries to find the true meaning of life. He changes his name to Alexander Supertramp. He leaves his car behind and burns his money. He does his very best to leave life as we know it in the 20th Century behind. He wants to and does his best to get to what Thoreau called the "marrow of life". Jon Krakauer is the writer and he weaves one of the best adventure/searching/biographical accounts that I have ever read. I read this book in one day on a rainy Saturday while I lived in Mentone, Alabama. The main reason that I like this book is that within its pages is the great yearning to explore that most all boys have. The feeling deep inside that we don't have many outlets for in the 21st Century. This feeling drove past generations to push the boundaries of civilization far past that of safety. It drove men to get on ships and sail to where conventional wisdom said that you would fall off the horizon and cease to exist. It is the feeling that makes me not want to live in a subdivision and spend all of their life playing it safe. This book is about getting to that point and actually taking the greatest risk of life: To strip life down bare and examine it for what it is really all about. Chris McCandless does this and does not blink. And through many wonderful and tragic adventures and relationships, he finds out what life is all about: human relationships. This is what all the men and women who have attempted to do this have found out. It is what drove Muir back to civilization. It is what made Thoreau walk to town often. McCandless finds out that the truest wilderness of the world that surrounds us is a real, deep, meaningful relationship with another human.
2. This book is a true story, but Krakauer does not infuse the book with subtle lines of his own judgement on the character and person of Chris McCandless. He just writes the story as it actually took place and played out. He leaves all judgments to the reader. Very few writers are able to do this. At times, I was tempted to do the same. I think all guys are, but you constantly say that you can't and shouldn't. Other times, through his very own actions, I was able to see Alex Supertramp for exactly who he really was: a young, often-times immature, hidden egoist. Yes, he had a good heart and did good things, but he was also selfish. He disappeared from life for four months and never let his parents know where he was. They had to come retrieve his body from Alaska and never got a chance to say good-bye. The reader is able to see the paradox of Chris McCandless and if one is honest, he/she will know that this paradox exist in us all. We have good inside us, but all of that good is very tainted.
3. The quotes in this book are incredible. Krakauer choose quotes from Thoreau and others to explain this longing and then writes about through the life examples of Chris McCandless/Alex Supertramp. They add much to this book. Without them, the account would seem lacking.
Yes, they made a movie out of this book. It is an okay movie. They actually keep pretty close to the actual story. Many have now read this book or say they have because they have seen the movie. This comes to one of my many dislikes. Why must a movie be made out of every book like this and why do people, myself included, wait till the movie has been made and seen to read the book? I hate this, but play a part in it. Read this book. My wife advises no night reading. I advise reading with a headlamp on your porch. Read it quickly so you don't lose the ire urgency that is found within the pages.
Living within the Wilderness of Life and Marriage,
David
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