Book Talks : Into The Wild

Hola!

I just finished reading a book that surprisingly felt so long. It book only has less than 200 pages, but why did I take a long time to read it?

I read a biography book titled Into The Wild. This book was written by Jon Krakauer. The book already adapted in big screen with same title, but I just share my thought from the book, because I don't have time to watch the movie. A bunch of Netflix still waiting for me lol.

Into The Wild talks about an American man, Christopher McCandless who entering the wilderness and end up being dead because of starvation (this book also gives several opinions about the possibility of getting poisoning from the food he has eaten in the wilderness).

Christopher McCandless is from upper class family, whose father is NASA engineer. He was graduated from Emory University in Georgia. So, basically, McCandless is far from poor term, well-educated and has bright future ahead. From these facts, I can assume the background of McCandless is quite opposite with what he'd decided to go to Alaska by hitchhiking and left no trace to his family.

Actually, this book did not give any specific problem about what exactly happened with McCandless. Are he tired of his life? Or, probably he is enough with materialism that he experienced since he was a kid? Into The Wild was clueless, so am I. I didn't find the right answer of his action.

One thing that become my highlight is the relationship between McCandless and his family, especially his father. But -again-, this book didn't give me what I wanted. What it's doing only guessing. There's no specific fact that the relationship between father and son wasn't going well. Even. the whole book didn't give any reason behind McCandless's behavior. So, after reading this, I found myself not getting any enlighten.

Yet, I have to appreciate what Jon Krakauer had done to gather many information to build up a story about McCandless. I know it's not an easy task to assume the motive behind McCandless's action only from his family's perspective, people around him and the witnessess when he was in Alaska. I do praising his effort to came to the abandoned bus scene where McCandless was passed away.

Jon Krakauer also doing a great job to describe what McCandless going through in his journey to Alaska. I can imagine myself jump into the story with the detail of his words.

But, I don't understand why Jon Krakauer had to add his own biography in a full of chapter? We are talking about Christopher McCandless, not his book author. If, Jon Krakauer want to show the readers that everyone in this world have a hectic moment, a hectic life, a hectic same activities that frequently happen everyday and try to escape from reality by climbing, hitchhiking and many else, why don't he write his own story?

I know he wanted to find any correlation to McCandless's story, but his own was like a turning off point for me.

Into The Wild was giving many kinds of opinion. I couldn't found myself appreciate and proud what McCandless done to his life. Enter the wilderness with ill preparation, knowledge and even, cut the contact with the world -for me- was an easy way to die. I can't say it's pointless death or dumb way to die, because I don't understand what's exactly happened to him until he'd made this extreme decision. Therefore, I couldn't say he was stupid or tried to look edgy by looking for the freedom by wrong way.

McCandless is not a hero for me, but not a loser either. I don't find myself agree with the concept of freedom that he was doing in entirely book.