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mymiddlename123's review against another edition
DNF
When I first started reading this book I was kind of excited about it. I never really read biographies or non-fiction books so it was a bit of a change of pace. The beginning of the book read pretty well and told a good story about those who came into contact with Chris during his last year or so.
However, it began to get very repetitive and very dry getting into around page 100. I think it would have been easier to read if it had been written in a chronological order instead of jumping around the past 2 years of his life so much. It became hard to keep track of when was when and who was who without looking back a couple pages. I didn't like this part of it.
I also was looking forward to finding out what the whole point was. I kept seeing Chris as a stubborn and foolish person who was just set in his own ways without really thinking of how it affected others. I suppose I could see that he was lost, in some ways, and was looking for the answers to something. But who isn't? I always feel a sense of being lost and looking for these answers, but it doesn't mean I would risk my life to such a degree as Chris did.
When it comes down to it I couldn't finish the book. I got to Chapter 14 where the author starts relating to Chris on his own level and I couldn't really read anymore. It just became super repetitive with the last note to Westerberg (I believe it was the 3rd time it was talked about) and I just couldn't stay in the story.
Mind you, I am not a huge non-fiction fan and I have not read a lot of biographies, but it would have been so much easier to follow if it could have perhaps started at the death (like it did), then chronologically gone through the last 2 years with the information he gathered. It was difficult to follow the way it was written.
It's an interesting story but overall I wasn't a big fan and I couldn't really relate to pushing my family away in that way and risking my life in the last days he was alive in Alaska. I just couldn't relate and I couldn't finish it.
When I first started reading this book I was kind of excited about it. I never really read biographies or non-fiction books so it was a bit of a change of pace. The beginning of the book read pretty well and told a good story about those who came into contact with Chris during his last year or so.
However, it began to get very repetitive and very dry getting into around page 100. I think it would have been easier to read if it had been written in a chronological order instead of jumping around the past 2 years of his life so much. It became hard to keep track of when was when and who was who without looking back a couple pages. I didn't like this part of it.
I also was looking forward to finding out what the whole point was. I kept seeing Chris as a stubborn and foolish person who was just set in his own ways without really thinking of how it affected others. I suppose I could see that he was lost, in some ways, and was looking for the answers to something. But who isn't? I always feel a sense of being lost and looking for these answers, but it doesn't mean I would risk my life to such a degree as Chris did.
When it comes down to it I couldn't finish the book. I got to Chapter 14 where the author starts relating to Chris on his own level and I couldn't really read anymore. It just became super repetitive with the last note to Westerberg (I believe it was the 3rd time it was talked about) and I just couldn't stay in the story.
Mind you, I am not a huge non-fiction fan and I have not read a lot of biographies, but it would have been so much easier to follow if it could have perhaps started at the death (like it did), then chronologically gone through the last 2 years with the information he gathered. It was difficult to follow the way it was written.
It's an interesting story but overall I wasn't a big fan and I couldn't really relate to pushing my family away in that way and risking my life in the last days he was alive in Alaska. I just couldn't relate and I couldn't finish it.
eracenet's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
Story emphasizes much more on outside stories than the story of Chris/Alex, which wasn't necessarily a negative, just not what I'd expected from the story. Story heavily relies on recounts by miscellaneous individuals who interacted with Chris/Alex. The book also regularly discusses adventures of the author that are largely independent of the story, aside from describing how he and Chris/Alex are alike.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Racism and Suicide
elizabacelar's review against another edition
5.0
The meaning of life is indeed an obscure question no one really fully understands, I believe, and this book is about a few stories of people that went into searching for the answer to this question and others, similarly to the main backbone story told here, Chris (Alex) McCandless'. Sadly, not a lot of those stories left living main characters, and this book is a beautiful tribute to those that really tries to go to the heart of the question they were trying to answer, and also reflects on how these people started wondering about the purpose of life in the first place, but in such an intense way that they were not only willing to risk their lives to the edge of physical and psychological limits, but in a way almost called by it, with such an intense urge towards the vast immensity only the darkest of wildernesses has. These people were also the same that saw a colossal boundless and genuine beauty only nature has to offer. To understand this calling and follow through with the needed courage takes a very special (or crazy?) human being. I'm still reflecting on a lot of what this book makes you ponder, especially between the lines, and that is really this nature and equilibrium of choices we have in life; that is complete safety and constant imminent death; consciousness and instinct; status quo and freedom. There's just so much to it, it really isn't purely black and white. At first, I was really mad with the whole concept of abandoning one's family and walking into the wild seemingly very ill-prepared, especially feeling for his family. I still have some of those feelings, but I also am looking past the surface of the situation and trying to understand this drive a little better. It definitely changed the way I respect nature and appreciate the blunt abundant beauty that it has.
agrippinaes's review against another edition
3.0
I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed this book, as I don’t think this is the sort of book that is enjoyed. It’s not always an easy read; the story is bleak and complicated. Reading the opening chapters, it was easy to be judgemental towards Chris McCandless and the decisions he made; but as the book went into more depth, it was easier to see how his story went the way it did.
That said, I wobbled on feeling sympathetic towards Chris McCandless, who is, in my opinion, not the easiest to empathise with. Jon Krakauer paints a portrait of a complicated man. He was hugely intelligent and capable, and I found it very interesting how capable he was at striking up friendships with people everywhere he went. He clearly left a striking impression on most people that met him, even those he met fleetingly. That said, he also comes across as difficult and mercurial. Even once you understand why he may have been led to make the decisions he did, it’s not always possible to actually understand the decisions themselves.
Jon Krakauer’s writing style is easy to follow, engaging, and I think he told the story with sensitivity, correcting previous narratives (even his own) where necessary. It’s an interesting story, and once I finished it I was left with a sense of sadness for what transpired. It’s a story that will stick with me, that’s for sure.
Content Notes:
Warnings:.
That said, I wobbled on feeling sympathetic towards Chris McCandless, who is, in my opinion, not the easiest to empathise with. Jon Krakauer paints a portrait of a complicated man. He was hugely intelligent and capable, and I found it very interesting how capable he was at striking up friendships with people everywhere he went. He clearly left a striking impression on most people that met him, even those he met fleetingly. That said, he also comes across as difficult and mercurial. Even once you understand why he may have been led to make the decisions he did, it’s not always possible to actually understand the decisions themselves.
Jon Krakauer’s writing style is easy to follow, engaging, and I think he told the story with sensitivity, correcting previous narratives (even his own) where necessary. It’s an interesting story, and once I finished it I was left with a sense of sadness for what transpired. It’s a story that will stick with me, that’s for sure.
Content Notes:
Warnings:
Spoiler
Death, discussion / description of a corpse, grief, references to racism, war, animal death, suicide, near-death experiences, attempted suicide, mental health issues.jul_grk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
wallflower___'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
ryanreadsstuff's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
lilyr2023's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
sarahetc's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and very, very sad, the story of Chris McCandless's death is romantic in the way that can maim and kill, and literary in a spectrum from Thoreau past Kerouac into Kerouazy, if you'll pardon the term. Determined to live alone in the Alaskan bush, McCandless wanders into the wilderness at the end of April and lives until mid-August, when a few others find his corpse. Though they can never be completely sure what happened to him, it is likely that he starved to death. Krakauer's book tries to flesh out the details of his life, mine his motivations, and eulogize what many people scorned as ignorance and worse, arrogance.