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Into the Wild cover art

Into the Wild

By: Jon Krakauer
Narrated by: Philip Franklin
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Summary

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. His body - along with a camera with five rolls of film, an SOS note, and a cryptic diary written in the back pages of a book about edible plants - was found six months later by a hunter.
©2007 Jon Krakauer (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"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."—Washington Post

"Compelling and tragic ... Hard to put down." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Engrossing ... with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man."—Los Angeles Times Book Review

What listeners say about Into the Wild

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Inspiring and cautionary.

Krakauer's narrative of McCandless' last months is a piecing together of letters, postcards, interviews and notes scrawled in the margin of a book about edible plants. Despite the somewhat scattered threads, Krakauer manages to sew together a tale which is both incredibly inspiring and sadly cautionary.



Readers of this book will, I imagine, fall into one of two camps. One group will see McCandless as an ungrateful fool who didn't make the most of the privileged situation into which he was born. Yes, he gave his money to charity, but it could be argued that someone with McCandless' brains and education could have made more of a difference to the world around him if he had used his idealism and tenacity (and that $25,000) to benefit others instead of indulging his desires to be an intrepid explorer.



The other camp will admire McCandless' daring willingness to live a life less ordinary. He wanted to do something so he did it. He wanted a different kind of life and wished for a different kind of world, and did all he could to make these things a reality. That's a noble ideal, right? Brave even. But also, yes, undoubtedly selfish and somewhat foolhardy.



I find myself with a foot in each of the camps. I understand McCandless' thinking. He was looking for an adventure, for a new and more poignant existence in some untamed part of the world. Unfortunately, he was looking for the sort of adventure that just isn't possible now.



He could have chosen a better adventure. He should have taken measures to ensure that his need for change wouldn't have hurt those who cared about him. But he was also willing to "be the change". In my mind, that made him special.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Into the Wild

I saw the movie before I ever read the book and I used to love it, a guy leaving society behind to live a life of great adventure. It amazing and I think I always wanted to do, even thought I am not half the human Chris was, I didn't do well in school and I didn't go on weekly crusades. Reading this book, changed the way in which I saw him however. He had a good work ethic and had some good ideals. But he was also terribly stubborn and quite a crappy human when it came to the people that cared for him. I feel bad for his parents and the people in who's life he came in and changed. It is fantastic to go on great adventures, but not telling a single soul of where you go is foolish and begs for trouble. Anyway, my rating is more indicative of the story within the book than the book itself. It was a good read, well narrated and quite enjoyable. If this story strikes you as interesting, you should definitely read it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

best book ever

I've watched the film, and found it inspiring. after listening to this book, it has let me understand him more and gave information about Chris that the film doesnt share

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

As close as you’ll get to being on the road with Chris

A great listen, some beautiful additions in here that really make you feel like you knew Chris in a way. Definitely check out Carine McCandless’ book The Wild Truth too, it’s a perfect companion to this book.

Will definitely listen again.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Food For Thought

A sad but well written (and read) story of an idealistic young man, perhaps born out of his time.
The author uncovers a surprising amount of detail about his subject's literal and philosophical journey. It is read in an engaging and appropriately unhistrionic style. There are some editing errors, mostly repeated sentences here and there, but it's not a deal breaker.
Gripping and heartbreakingly redemptive. Recommended.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • MR
  • 23-10-11

Compelling, but....

A compelling story, but the narration is sadly lack-lustre. As full a story of events as you are likely to get regarding the enigmatic young man that was 'Alex Supertramp'. Be prepared for a little self-indulgence from the author who clearly associates with his subject, for better or worse.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not great

Got this as I loved the film (if it's ok to love a film that's so sad and based on truth). I didn't realise that there was so little really known about Chris and actually hardly any diary info or first hand thoughts of his so it's all just guess work and info from those who met him. The main issue I have though is the other explorer narratives which are discussed and which just get confusing to the point you don't know if it's Chris' story or someone else's... especially if you take a break and come back. Too dry for me and just would have liked more real info on his journey than hearsay. The film made it feel like there was lots of info on really what happened to him and what he went through but that clearly isn't the case. No one really knows why he did what he did which I didn't appreciate on watching the film.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Love the film, not so much the book

I had high hopes after having seen the film, the book is a slight disappointment.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

brilliant

Beautifully descriptive & empirically rich. Much better than the film. looking forward to my next krakauer book already

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The need to escape can be so insurmountable that nothing else matters.

There has always been something about Chris McCandless that has intrigued me. I have once again found myself falling back into a fixation on him and his story. There is something about this human being that I have never met which really resonates with me.

With this fixation comes recurring cycles of reading this book (or this time listening to the audiobook), watching the movie, or falling down a YouTube pit of stories about his adventures. However, this time, while I am still undoubtedly enamoured by Chris and his ability to simply drop everything and go, I think I feel differently about him.

At the core of it, Chris was unequivocally ignorant to his own privilege, to the people that he cut off, to the land that he sought to make his own, and to how insignificant we humans are in the face of nature.

Krakauer’s objectivity allows us on the outside to make up our own minds about Chris, and listening to this book spurred new understandings for myself. The parts in the epilogue where Chris’ mum says “I haven’t prayed since we lost him”, and when the elderly man Ronald Franz denounced god at the loss of McCandless really struck me hard.

I do wish that he made it out in the end.

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