What made me want to read this book was why would Chris McCandless, a young man with a life that anyone would be grateful for, want to develop a whole new one? If only he knew how his life would end, he would have never even thought of taking one step into the wild.
At first Chris came across to me as very stubborn, who just wanted to make things hard for anyone who cared about him. Even as I read through the book I still felt that way, but I started to feel some sympathy for him. Chris was just one of those people who had to do things his way. From his writing, you can tell Jon Krakauer really cared about Chris. Without a doubt he put in the effort and research that it took to make this book as truthful as it could get.
At times it was confusing to keep track of where Chris was and who he was with, he was always on the move craving for something new and fresh. He met many people along the way, and created special relationships with strangers that he only knew for a couple of weeks. He was careful not to get too close, because he knew he would have to leave at some point. In my head I kept thinking why Chris was doing this. I just wanted to scream at him to go home! I didn’t want him to go to Alaska because I knew what would happen to him. And by the end of the book I was still troubled on why he set out to do this.
I liked how the author wasn’t too biased on how he thought of Chris. He wanted his readers to come up with an opinion of their own. For me, I respect Chris that he did what he set his mind to do, but at the same time I think he thought too highly of himself. He was too inexperienced about living in the wild, and that’s what cost his life. It makes you wonder the kind of person he would be today if he survived.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes traveling and adventure because this book is a good example of having a limit. You want to make sure that what you’re doing is worth it. You learn from mistakes, but not ones that end up being fatal.