Into the Wild and Into the Wild Truth

I was too little to actually remember when the news story broke out late summer of 1992. I was going into the 3^rd grade upcoming school year.  Since then, up until I actually read the book, I heard about it every now and then when it was brought up or when I saw something online about it.  Being an adventurer myself, (not as hardcore) I was drawn to the curiosity on what the book was about.  I knew it was about a kid just out of college and he traveled to Alaska and died inside of a bus.  I really didn’t know anymore beyond that.  I love me a good mystery and by nature I am a very curious individual anyway.

I watched the movie before I had the chance to read the book.

Just before I met Ben to eat dinner at one of our favorite places, I decided to go a little early and browse around at the bookstore just nearby.  I had to wait until he got off work anyway.  I knew what kind of a book it was so I thought I would be able to find it on the shelf, turns out I was correct but the bookstore had a special section on travel memoirs that I didn’t know about.  The book was piled on that table with several other travel memoirs written by other authors.  I could have walked away with several but I was on a mission to learn more about Into the Wild.

Honestly I didn’t know what to expect when I read this.  I now knew the story based on the movie but I know most books differ from the movie.  I thought I would give it a try pretending I hadn’t seen the movie.  While reading it, I found out that it was written by Jon Krakauer  and he did all he could with the notes, photos and personal accounts and stories by Chris McCandless’s family and friends.  It was incredible that he could tell a story with just very little since he didn’t actually get to talk to Chris about his experience face to face.  As I read further and further into the book I understood why Chris left the way he did being the victim of domestic abuse and his values. Also, that we were all young once and want to experience life without anyone telling you what to do.  As I read on, I found out that there was more to the story than Jon wrote and knew about.  You could just tell.  There is also speculation that Jon didn’t write the story well and that he was just filling in the gaps with stuff that didn’t happen.  For me I can agree and disagree, we really won’t know what happened ever, but we can still assume what did happen out there in the Alaskan wilderness.  Or Chris was stupid and was ill prepared for his journey to Alaska…we really will never know.  We just have to take it with a grain of salt.

I read that book in two days.  I needed to know what happened.  When I was done I wasn’t satisfied.  I knew there was more to learn.  I did some research on the internet and watched a few documentaries on YouTube and read a few articles and even the one article that started it all, Jon’s story in Outside magazine published January 1993.  I even found out Chris’s sister Carine, wrote a book called Into the Wild Truth, information she kept from being shared in the first book, so she wouldn’t alienate her parents.  That one also kept my interest.  Out of everyone who knew Chris, she was the closest person he could trust…we all know she can not speak for him but she could shed light on some of the situations they endured as kids living in a house hold full of lies.  I know everyone has a different perspective on what growing up “normal” is, if you don’t know any better or have an example to compare, than it’s deemed normal.  I know this example doesn’t even compare but I grew up in a mobile home until I was 12.  I thought everyone lived in a mobile home until I was old enough to go to other kids houses and found out they didn’t live in a mobile home.  Or kids who think it’s normal to have divorced parents or kids who didn’t have grandparents.  I am lucky enough to have grandparents and know who they are and I am very thankful to have parents who are still married.  In this day and age, having parents who are still married is almost uncommon.  With all of that aside, we were introduced to the possibility of why Chris left and didn’t want to be contacted by his family, got rid of his money and some of his material things, they just didn’t matter to him.  He wanted the adventure of a lifetime and he got it.  Unfortunately, his journey to Alaska proved fatal and he has become a pop-culture icon for travelers, adventure seekers, hikers, people trying to find themselves and his story is even read and taught in educational curriculum's around the nation. I wanted to read it to have my own opinions and thoughts on the story and I don’t care what everyone else has to say about it.

"Happiness is only real when shared" and I believe that.  Most of my memorable happy moments were with my friends or family.

For me I enjoy reading biographies, books based on true stories, mysteries, true crime, ghost hunting, histories and tragedies (9/11, the Titanic, JFK..etc.).  I know that is a really weird list of topics to enjoy reading about but they keep my interest.  

I truly enjoyed both books and I look forward to the next interesting book I come across.

Next Adventure:  Mowich and Tolmie Peak Lookout Hike