An Exceptional Story

I have to start this review by admitting that this book was a total impulse buy for me, based more on interest generated by the many posters on the London Underground promoting the spin-off film starring Reece Witherspoon. It has turned out to be one of the best audiobooks I’ve bought for years.

Following the death of her mother the author finds her life and her family unravelling, and to say she goes a tad off-the-rails would be an understatement. After a few years of this destructive freefall Cheryl decides she must make a change, and a chance encounter with a guide book on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) stirs her interest and she sets about planning a solo hike that will take her over 3 months, and hopefully enable her to move on from her recent traumas.

And you are there at every step, practically walking alongside the author as she talks of the events that led her to be here, a woman alone in the wilderness, miles away from anywhere or anybody. She talks of her childhood, her family’s early struggles, her violent and unstable biological father and, after he had left them, the loving, caring man who became her step-father. The book does a first-class job of being able to talk aloud about the past whilst keeping the listener in the present, with the sights, sounds and grandeur that such an epic trek would entail. You are right there with her at every turn of the trail, savouring every meal, dressing every blister, feeling palpable frustration at every wrong turn when the trail becomes overgrown or disappears altogether. But you will also smile warmly at the kindness of the people you will meet on the trail, their openness and generosity toward a perfect stranger.

Recognition must also go to narrator Laurel Lefkow who does a first-class job; energetic and always engaging, she brings the whole story to life.

At the time of writing I’m still only midway through the second-half of the book, but am totally hooked, and look forward to my daily commute just so I can pull on the headphones and continue my hike through the woods.

An exceptional book, and very highly recommended.

105 people found this helpful

I hated this book

It's beautifully written and the narration is good. And the parts where she talks about the dreadful life she was walking away from are interesting.

But most of the rest of it - she's just a very poorly equipped hiker making a lot of mistakes. I don't find it particularly inspiring to read about someone who potentially puts rescue workers at risk as she's too incompetent to learn what to take with her on her trip. She writes well and mostly sweeps you along and covers up her incompetence and self absorption - though it's that self absorption is really the point of her long walk.

Im guessing people find it so inspiring because they can't imagine making a hard and difficult walk themselves. That the writing sweeps them along. But if you've ever done serious hiking, her lack of savvy will likely annoy you. And if you've done a lot of serious travelling she will likely appear a naive fool.

It works as armchair travel - there's the blisters without being there. But the urge to reach through the book and shake her for being so stupid is strong

27 people found this helpful

An Inspiration

Great narrator, the whole thing made me feel like I was Sheryl, I couldn't stop listening, just wanted to know what happened next!

19 people found this helpful

Our yearning for adventure

My guess is that this story touches many readers' yearning to toss off their shackles, their troubled relationships and their possessions and just set off into the void for the great unknown.
Personally I didn't think this particular story was that remarkable. Brave yes, entertaining in places, but also dragging on.
Many a humble woman has made incredible journeys, the stories which make you sit at the edge of your seat from first page to last. For example little known Helen Thayer, the first woman to trek solo to the Magnetic North Pole at the age of 50. Her hair raising encounters with hungry polar bears, the loss of her food and fuel in a vicious storm, the arctic temperatures of -50, pulling all her gear on a sled... with no back-up. She wrote about her 27 day adventure in Polar Dream. Later she crossed the Gobi Desert, another amazing adventure. Or sailor Ellen McArthur who holds the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, sleeping only 20 minutes at a time over 71 days, and looking death in the face many times over.
Personally, I have my own: I hitchhiked around SouthAmerica as a 19 year old, a journey that took a year, with some pretty wild and dangerous adventures along the way, especially staying with primitive Amazonian Indians, and finding myself in Chile at the moment of Pinochet bloody coup.
I don't knock Cheryl's courage, but it is perhaps her skill as a writer that makes this book so popular, more than the actually feat of her trek.

15 people found this helpful

Brilliant

Very good, written well. always wanted to know what happened next. Made you think if you could do a similar project it took a lot of guts to take on such a dangerous journey

10 people found this helpful

wow

or inspiring story by what it seems a strong independent woman loved it amazing I 100% recommend it. just amazing

9 people found this helpful

Amazing story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love many aspects of this book - the independence to strike out on her own. Her pure honesty of her feelings and emotions through out. The rawness of her experience.
What I found difficult to listen to was the level of pain she has felt through the tough parts in her life. I found it really difficult to listen to in parts, tears rolling down my face - this experience in some ways overwelmed the rest of the story.
Worth a listen and maybe bypass the really gritty bits if you like me don't want to fall asleep crying!!

15 people found this helpful

Excellently written and narration perfect.

The author being a writer and a traveller second is always the preferable attributes for a travel book. This is the case here - with the book being a great combination of travel journalism and self analysis/improvement.

6 people found this helpful

Awesome Listen

What did you like most about Wild?

Following her story, the ups and the downs, the funny mistakes she makes and the way she describes how she goes through her ordeals is captivating

What did you like best about this story?

The journey. I felt like I was on the journey with her and felt more determined in my own life too.

What about Laurel Lefkow’s performance did you like?

I LOVED her read. I thought she was absolutely spot on. Best narrarator I have heard.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, its not like that. For me it was a journey I wanted to take over time, the same as the character. I found it relaxing and listen at bedtime.

Any additional comments?

The way she describes her ordeal with the passing of her mother at the start of the book it actually amazing. I normally dont want to read about grief. But she drew me in and I felt every inch of loss for her. It was fascinating and incredible. So well written. And the pace of it was awesome too from the narrator. It was so well written and read.

5 people found this helpful

Gutsy and feminine, hart worming tale

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Just what I have dreamt I would like to do.

What other book might you compare Wild to, and why?

The Way

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

Loved the no nonsense way she came to terms with life and the way it was written,

10 people found this helpful