Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

First Published: 1998 by Villard Books (New York)
Date Started: 24th February 2013
Date Finished: 25th February 2013
Genre: Non-Fiction
Read for: Uni
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Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless, a man from a well-doing background, who when graduating college, gives up everything and decides to to hitchhike to Alaska. McCandless begins a new life out in the wild, but unfortunately, he ends up being found dead four months later by a hunter.

Although I do like reading non-fiction books, especially biographies, I haven't really read anything like this one before. Something that I found interesting about this, was that Jon Krakauer would also talk about other people like McCandless and explain how they were alike in whatever way. I was intrigued by this because at first I thought that maybe he was just trying to make the book thicker and/or he was struggling with what else he could put in. Upon reading though, I realised why Krakauer did this, and I'm kind of glad he did; it made me realise how throughout history, there have been other people who were like McCandless. Thinking about that now, it makes me wonder about why certain people go so far in the ways that they do to 'become one with nature'.
Another thing I was a bit unsure about (and part of me is still a bit unsure now) is that Krakauer talks about his own life, from being raised as a child to where he is now. I can understand why he did it as he can, in certain aspects, relate to McCandless, and as a reader I can see that too. For me though, it made me feel like he was trying to get something for himself out of this, like a little fame almost. I do feel bad writing that, but it is something that's playing on my mind.

Krakauer mentions the people who McCandless meets along the way and how they helped him out, him often returning the favour.I could see just how much these people grew to care about him. His family background is important as well as it helps to establish his relationships with each member and why, in some cases, McCandless made the decisions that he did. I liked that he talked about the family, before and after his death, as it allowed me to see how the relationships had developed over time.

I think I would of enjoyed this book more if I was into exploring nature and activities like climbing, but as I'm not, at times I didn't want to carry on reading as I found it a bit difficult to connect with McCandless and what he was doing. I am glad that I did though because firstly I had to do it for my course, but more importantly, it gained me a new insight into how biographies can be written.                                
However, maybe you don't have to connect with him, you just have to know what he did and why. As I mentioned, I'm not into the things that McCandless was, but if I was, could I have connected with him and therefore enjoy the book more?