Book Discussion: Into the Wild
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- Let's discuss!
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Read it when it was first published by happenstance. It was one of the featured books in the local library and so I checked it out. Found out I might have had an encounter with Chris when he was working at McDonald’s in Arizona. He was the guy who took my order, standing there with unkempt hair and beard with this beautiful smile. I knew there was something about him, but I never approached him for a conversation, regrettably. I think he was staying not far from my house. I’d see him riding his bike, on my way to school. The fact that it stayed with me speaks to the gravity of his spirit, imo. The story still saddens me. I’m so glad they made the movie, he’s a person that deserves to be remembered.
Cap
Hello, thanks for the discussion. I would like to share something on this. I don't think Chris life is just an adventure or the outcome of his anger on his parents, may be there is more to it. I don't feel Chris is so dumb to get into wild just because he is angry on someone and so dumb to go unprepared. What I strongly feel is that this is more experiment than an adventure. May be he felt, his life was messed up in the middle of something and struck where he could not understand what he is doing or where he is going or why he is living. He wanted to understand his self and more importantly understand man. May be that's the reason why he wanted to start it again. You know what I mean by start it again? he wanted to start it again like a very primitive man to re-understand and re-define life. So he packed basic things like rifle and rice that could sustain him before he could understand how a man should survive. He had been figuring out everything about life. He thought he had lived enough to understand ones purpose of life and the idea of happiness. But its unfortunate that he could not come back when he wanted to. Whatever be the reason for his death I just loved this guy, his courage, his experiment and the thought process. If Chris had returned when he wanted to and successfully completed his book on his research then he must have named it "The purpose of life and the Idea of happiness". I'm writing a fiction on similar line to share everything I understood about the purpose, path process of life and Idea of happiness. I hope I could write a small bit of unpublished thesis on life discovered by Chris.
venkat mani sai hey have you finished writing?
In the times we live in, I think we ALL have a little Chris in us. We all live in a time where there has been a lot of lies told us from birth. The more I learn about Chris the more I see it in my life. I am 74 years old and really can relate to what he was feeling. We live in a time where being a individual is frowned on. The Internet has had some pluses in our lives, but I really feel the culture frowns on critical thinkers and individualism. Chris was a individual!!!
And because he was a critical thinker he could see that we have been programed right from birth. To everyone reading this: Keep on Keeping on!!!!!!!
I have it unread on my shelf. Thanks for reminding me about it:)
It makes me sad to say I have seen the film but I haven't read the book. I definitely need to change this.
Hey you definitely should read Chris’ sister, Carine’s book called The Wild Truth. That gives you some serious in depth details of the life Chris had come from and what motivated him to get out there. Jon knew about these details when he wrote Into The Wild, but Carine had forbidden him to use that information at the time in his book, even if it would help people understand what happened better. The book itself isn’t about Chris’ trip, Into The Wild covered that pretty well. It’s about what happened to them while growing up, what happened to his sister while he was away, and how his death was handled throughout the decades after his death.
I really should! I've seen it around since I originally posted this video but I've never actually picked it up.
I. LOVE. INTO THE WILD.
This made me so excited. This made me jump for joy. AND LEMME JUST MENTION that's a beautiful copy.
Though I have yet to actually finish the entire book. I find that Krakauer goes so off track and I don't care about all these little side comments, I just want to learn about Alex.
Also Emile Hirsh in the movie = oh my lawd did he ever rock it
It's a great edition of the book, isn't it? I think the one we usually see is really ugly so I found this other version on The Book Depository.
I had to buy the movie cover because the regular copy at my bookstore was like ten dollars more. And I wasn't paying ten dollars for just the cover.
Though I don't really mind that movie cover too much
He was just tired like most people that work 9-5 he said nope not me. So he was looking for something more then 9-5 basically. But he was young and ill prepared.
He never had a 9 to 5 job
I like the way you explained this video, I am a college student and am writing a paper on the connections between "Into the Wild" and "The Call of the Wild" the more I read the books the more I wanted to go into videos as well and see people feedback between the connections. Do you have any thought on how the two books relate and how the "The Call of the Wild" book itself had an impact on the way that Chris lived his life?
Thanks! I’ve never read The Call of the Wild so it would be hard for me to speak to the different layers of connections. Good luck on your paper!
Loved this book. Listening to it again as an audio book. I've been a wanderer as well. It's truly bizarre how much Chris and I are alike. Very smart, social genius, yet no human attachments, misunderstood, somewhat mentally ill, stubborn, confident and most of all, absolutely enamoured and fascinated with Jack London, to a fault. For me, it was Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolfe character (when I too was 24) and Hunter S. Thompson's Fear And Loathing. Chris was naive because he was young. But he was brainwashed by the romanticism of London's fictitious characters. The combination of genius, youth and the idolatry of such fiction, along with at least one screw loose, led to Chris' demise. He was a kind, loving guy by all accounts but had trouble with authority and human relationships. I traveled the same way, in the end getting 4th stage cancer, I believe, from drinking tainted water too close to factory run offs. As I have grown older, I see things differently and Chris would have too, had he had the opportunity to grow old. He impacted so many, deeply in a short time. I feel like I know him. RIP Chris and I hope to meet you someday.
I feel like Chris had a certain level of naivite, because he was taking things literally and like you said it's almost impossible to live off the land in today's society. But what I admire is his courage and his journey stretched pretty far, taking into accout that he was going solo for like 2 years. It was a shame he died like that, if he'd gotten out alive and returned home I think he would be speaking about his venture even to this day. Wishfull thinking : Krakauer and Chris would meet and collab on the book, or maybe even better , I wish Chris wrote the book from his pov. Would you have liked that?
After watching the video shared above about Chris's parents, I feel like I understand some of the things he did a little better. I agree with what you said in the review about Chris being ill-prepared and overconfident, but I do sympathize with his need to escape the toxic environment at home.
I also grew up in a home where my father was verbally abusive and at times borderline physically abusive, and who set an extremely strict agenda for what was an acceptable "plan" post high school, i.e. excel academically and then get a high paying career in a science or technology-based field. My brother couldn't/wouldn't tow the line, and eventually disappeared with no notice for a period of about a week after dropping out of college. The story of Chris disappearing after graduation strikes a little too close to home, and I feel like I have some inkling of what Chris's family went through.
Eventually my brother and my father did patch things up, and my father's temper has mellowed over the years. I feel like now everyone gets along better than we ever have before, and it's tragic that the McCandless' s never got to have that healing with Chris. I suspect that if Chris had made it out of Alaska, he may have made a phone call to his parents and started healing their broken relationship, or at least that's what I would like to think may have happened.
I think that this is already why Into the Wild sticks with people for so long, everyone can relate different aspects of the story to their own life. It's both an exhilarating and tragic story.
Thanks for sharing. I think what you said about Chris maybe calling his parents when he made it out of the Alaska wilderness would have been highly likely, especially from Krakauer's account.
I have to agree with you: my personal feelings on the Chris McCandless story are two-sided. His tale is compelling. While I do admire his initiative to make his dreams a reality, his willingness to try new experiences, his drive, that is where it switches for me. You see, I think that if Chris had been better prepared (more food, practical clothes, a proper survivalist guide, helpful advice from more experienced locals), he could have later written his own autobiography, on which the film would have been based. He would have been alive to tell his own story. I also think he made a huge mistake not letting his sister Carine or a friend know where he was going. Anybody at all, who would have known where to look for him in case something went wrong... which it obviously did. He could have tested himself, and still have stood a good chance of making it back into the world when he was ready. I don't believe he was suicidal... I believe he was idealistic, a romantic that failed to fully grasp just what level of mortal danger he could be facing, in spite of how bright and educated he was. He was not stupid at all, far from it, but he was both impractical and overconfident. Chris, as we learned in the ensuing years, was a pretty broken young man, running from a deeply dysfunctional family dynamic that had traumatized his life. He sought healing and renewal in his experiences. He was like Don Quixote. And he ended up paying with his life, which was tragically needless. Did he do a lot of living during during his last two years? Absolutely. But he also ended up doomed, alone and dying slowly and painfully by his own poor decisions. So, because of this, he passes into legend. Fascinating, compelling, iconic... and senselessly sad and avoidable.
Thanks for the discussion! The only thing I didn't really understand is the Thoreau bit. Why does it anger you that he comes up in the book? If he was important for Chris, why shouldn't he come up?
It's not so much that Thoreau does come up, but why. He wouldn't have been mentioned if Chris didn't idolize his ideas and actions. It does help the reader understand Chris more, but I definitely don't feel the same way about Thoreau that he does.
@@getbookish haha I agree but to be fair, Thoreau was more realistic about his moving into the wild situation... "Damn I'm hungry and there's no game... Better go into town and get me a cheeseburger." - fake Thoreau quote. The dude was more cautious. Lol
What is the URL and the reference of this book
I JUST read the book! perfect timing!
About the Henry David Thoreau idolizing thing, I don't think Chris liked what Thoreau did so much as what he stood for. Thoreau didn't really execute his ideal lifestyle very well, but his transcendental ideas about government and civil disobedience were pretty out there. McCandless also idealized Tolstoy, and Tolstoy was a total fucking hypocrite too. Its weird because Chris had other friends/idols that did terrible things and he still thought highly of them, but when Chris found out that his dad did some things that were considerably less severe, Chris completely detested his dad for the rest of his life. SO heres my question: Is Chris is being abnormally harsh on his dad/parents by blaming them for his (according to Chris) bad childhood and therefore a propensity to escape, or are all kids just harsh on their parents?
Anyway, awesome video!
It has far less to do with his parents than the account portrays. See above comment.
i'm going to get this wonderful novel, thanks for your wise suggestion... although i don't know your name but thank YOU
I loved this book and the movie
You talking about him after these years, thts how he is geart.! Humans die all die, but before dieing he was happy.! Tht all wht a life need.!
Liked the video, I think you guys (girls) should do more like these. I kind of admire Chris for what he did, I mean it takes real guts to go out to the wild and try to survive. At the same time, I think he should have tried being more prepared before going out.
Thoreau was a bit of an anti-intellectual, as were quite a few of the transcendentalists. Definitely a strain of thought that favored action and practicality over academia and information. I'm not familiar with the man described in this book, but if he idolized Thoreau it's no wonder that he didn't have the appropriate footwear.
I don't know too much about Thoreau beyond what I read/learned in Walden, but based on what you said, there's definitely a connection there.
The best book I ever read
How I can get the movie of the book (in to the wild ) or movie that related to the story.
It's hard to say without knowing where you live, but it might be available to rent on a streaming service or your local library may have a copy of the movie.
Thanks for the review. I will not hold it against you that you don't like Thoreau. I don't like Dickens, and after reading Steinbeck, I no longer like anyone from The Lost Generation.
Intro music name?
It’s a song that comes preloaded with iMovie, I believe it’s called Pastel...? Our more recent videos don’t use it anymore so I can’t recall as easily!
song name -"TERA CHERA JAB NAZAR AAYE "
From the Bollywood movie"sanam teri kasam".
Nice review
At first, I thought he was stupid; however, after one quick thought: it is better do die doing what one like, than to live a life of misery doing something one hates. My life is a living hell, and I make a daily pact with the devil for cancer. So It would have been better for me die at 26 than to live the life I live.
Why?
thx
He thought he knew better; he was given wrong information on what society is . That’s why he left, he was wrong in the beginning , and wrong when he ate the poisonous food in the end . Society isn’t an office job boring place , we have freedom in America to do anything which can be good and bad but in general good and better for people. Judge a tree by its fruits , if everyone followed this kid we would all be dead. Not entirely his fault yes but it’s okay to say that he was wrong and naive . You go camping but you gotta come home eventually, retreats are temporary.
The title should be, "Snowflake Poetic Justice"
When you read the book, one of the main takeaways one should get is that Chris wasnt a snowflake. An idealist, yes, snowflake no.
Don't like Henry David Thoreau... you sadden me
i hate books
Does it matter that Chris wasn't poisoned by peas or carrots? Maybe mushrooms? He didn't burn his money or SS card. His wallet was found later with $300 and lots of IDs and SS card. He also had a map. And a canoe not a kayak. Why did the author and Sean Penn lie so much? It's a great story, but they wanted a social statement.
It’s not that the author and Sean Penn lied. The backpack with IDs and money wasn’t found until years later. If someone were to reboot the movie (as Hollywood does every few decades) hopefully the future production will include the ID information.
@@ella_komiya the backpack was found in fall of 92, the Sean Oenn fantasy film released in 07, they knew this was lies. The documentaries continue to repeat the same lies, and the author continues to tell lies about this story to this very day. In spite of the evidence.