I read this book after watching the movie version of the true life of Chris McCandless a recent Emory graduate who burned his money, donated his trust fund and left home to hitchike two years through the country and ultimately ending up in Alaska living out of the bush and ultimately meeting his end there too.
I felt irritated by the movie. I felt it glamorized this kid. I also was not sure why I wanted to read the book as I had heard Krauker also tended to glamorize him as well. But there came a point in reading his story that it finally clicked and I understood why his story meant so much to many people.
Chris was a very well read and intelligent kid despite whatever mental illnesses he may or may nto have had. Much of his journey was inspired by literature such as Jack London, Tolstoy, Gogol. In some ways he set off to bring to life the ideals and values from the literary writings of those he admired.
Chris' story is a story of commitment to ones values regardless of its cost. While this is very dangerous, as a story, as an idea, this is a very interesting and compelling concept. Its sad that a real person died for a concept, but the story is truly fascinating.
I think Krauker told the story well, he also filled the book with his own stories and the stories of other adventurers... these I found a bit distracting and skipped most of them as my interest was more in McCandless' tale... still, its a good book and I enjoyed it.
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