Why I Love Into the Wild

I'm in debt to Jon Krakauer, Christopher McCandless, and Into the Wild. This was my fifth or sixth time reading Into the Wild. My previous read was close to 10 years ago. Since then I've learned so much more about so many things. I feel like a very different person now (this could be false, of course), but surprisingly I had a very similar reaction to Into the Wild.

This year, I decided to eventually reread all of my five star rated books. I follow the goodreads.com rating system, so a four star book is "I really liked it" and five star is "it was amazing." I'm a stickler for words, especially words like amazing. Amazing is a word that should be sparingly used, and I expect to downgrade many of my five star ratings. Currently, about ten percent of my rated books are five stars, and my average rating is 3.27. 

Into the Wild will not be a downgraded. I love Into the Wild. The structure of the book feels a bit cliche now. So many writers use quotes to start chapters and tell nonlinear stories. But it works. Krakauer is a master of his craft. Having heard a few Krakauer interviews and reading a few of his other books, I know how much time and effort he put into the organization of the story and ideas. It is as perfect as a writer can hope to achieve.

When I first read Into the Wild, I was about McCandless' age when he died. I related to everything. I agreed with McCandless and shared his ambitions to live life fully and be a good person. I read Into the Wild before my spring break. When spring break hit, I hit the road. I hitch hiked to Los Angeles then to Las Vegas. It was frustrating waiting for rides and I eventually had to fly home from Vegas after a failed day of hitch hiking, but it felt worth it. Catching rides and getting from Point A to Point B was exhilarating. The random people and conversation I had on the road remain with me today.

Along with a liberal college education, a couple philosophy courses, and living the poor college student life, I started appreciating an ascetic lifestyle. The less I had, the happier I felt. I started backpacking more. Into the Wild pushed me to experience life by a more vigorous standard which was also more rewarding. Into the Wild was a book I'd revisit multiple times in my 20s. It influenced me, along with other factors, to become, what a friend labeled me as, an experience junkie.

Most importantly, it had a huge impact on who I am today. Into the Wild gave me reasons to value reading. Becoming a reader still took a while. My scrap paper bookmark was turned into a list of all the books that McCandless and Krakauer mentioned. I carried that scrap paper around several states and at least a couple continents. I didn't read all the books, but it implanted a seed to read. And that seed flourished into a decent tree, a tree with many branches and hundreds of leaves.

War and Peace was the monumental book on that list. I'd love to recall what I thought about War and Peace before reading it. I remember thinking it was one of the longest books ever written and that is about it. 1,500 pages (depending on the version) was a daunting obstacle to me. But McCandless' love for War and Peace rubbed off. I wanted to know why MecCandless told his friend Wayne, "That is a very powerful and highly symbolic book. It has things in it that I think you will understand. Things that escape most people." I wanted to understand it. It took me several years and many books before I tackled War and Peace. It is one of my five star books. I'm rereading it as I write this review. (Click here for my reread response to War and Peace post)

In 2021, I'm closer to Krakurer's age when he wrote Into the Wild. I see McCandless through a different lens. He is more radical, risk seeking, and stubborn. Last time, I was a single Peace Corps volunteer in my late 20s. This time, I'm a married homeowner, barely employed/part time substitute teacher, stay at home-ish spouse/dad, and dog owner in my late 30s. I've learned more about every aspect in life. I'm more moderate in my ideas and values. I have interest in philosophy, economics, statistics, psychology, evolution, and science in general. I'm a superior thinker than I was. Even though my ideology and values have changed, the story is as readable, relatable, and relevant as it was in my 20s. It is easy to remember who I was and why I loved and still love this book so much.

Although I disagree with McCandless's take on man's spirit, the following quote, and similar quotes, inspire me. Those words makes me want to pursue new experiences. They make me regret falling into a debt trap. They make me want to drop out of society and get off the grid even though I can't and won't.

McCandless' advice is terrible. Unless someone had prior interest in this lifestyle, I wouldn't advise anyone follow a "helter-skelter style of life." People can find meaning and beauty potentially anywhere. Living in solitude in a nice house isn't what I'd advise either, and Ron probably needed a push back to a more meaningful life, but he had a lot of other options too. With that said, I'm one of the unhappy people with their circumstances. I long for more nature and less civilization, more adventure and less monotony, but I have other responsibilities. Otherwise rereading Into the Wild may have sent me on a trip.

McCandless' life and death makes the reader wonder. What would have McCandless become if he successfully walked out of his wilderness adventure? Would he be a more moderate family man, like me? Would he be a successful writer like Krakatau? Would he have died taking on another risky adventure? How many people successfully live adventurous lifestyles unknowingly and without fatal outcomes? How many others meet a fatal outcome without any mainstream media covering it? (I'm curious to explore the last two questions) It's hard to say. McCandless was approaching an age where young men start to recalculate the rewards of risky behaviors. He may have settled down and been one of those eccentric high school teacher that students love.

This is where Krakauer's perspective is perfect for telling McCandless' story. When I first read Into the Wild, I thought Krakauer was highjacking the story with his personal experiences. Many critical responses to Into the Wild make that claim, and it's a bad and unfair critique. It is clear how well crafted the story is on critical examination. It is similarly clear how important Krakauer's life is to telling McCandless' story. Krakauer was a McCandless. Many of us were in some to many ways. The book includes other historical figures with tragic deaths trying to live off the land. I love these stories too. McCandless and his tragic peers wanted more; they took risks; and they died living their ideals. It is an interesting paradox for readers to evaluate.

Over the summer I found the best explanation for McCandless and his tragic peers.

"His actions were hardly those of a sportsman... there is only one word for what was happening in Hans Castorp's soul: defiance." 

Hans Castorp is the fictional protagonist in Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain (another five star book). Castorp is a 20 year old who spends 7 years at a sanatorium in the Swiss Alps. Castorp experiences a near death hallucination after ignoring the warning signs of a blizzard. In addition to being ill equipped for his adventure, Castorp uses awful judgement. He should have died, but his story is for another book review. Castorp is a McCandless. And his defiance, in the chapter titled "Snow," should be paired with McCandless' death. I will always read "Snow" with Into the Wild. When Krakuaer speculates on McCandless' death, pause, and go read the chapter "Snow" from The Magic Mountain.

Into the Wild is a story of defiance. You cannot understand McCandless or his peers without defiance.

Defiant readers should love Into the Wild. If you were defiant, want to be defiant, or know defiant people then Into the Wild is for you. If you liked Into the Wild, I strongly recommend rereading it and reading Jon Krakauer's other books. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel is a story about a McCandless type character.