Book #38 - Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

This is a book that my sister asked me to read. She had seen the movie and had heard that of course the book was much better. This was a short story of the two years a young college graduate walked away from everything he knew, and lived on the road. After a lifetime of struggle with his father's expectations and his dreams of being free from the capitalistic world, he simply walked away. There were times as though he seemed to be crazy, and others where the things he did seemed completely logical. But, in the end, he survived 112 days on nothing but the offerings of the land of Alaska. His death was the result of ingesting seeds which were coated in a toxic mold. Any Alaskan would say he was arrogant to think he did not need a topographical map, a compass, a shotgun, and an ax. The neat thing about the story is that he documented this 2 year journey through the Western states via journals and postcards to friends he met along the way. I don't feel it is too far-fetched for a young man to exit college and want to wander to find himself. Tons of students do it today, but more glamorously label it as "backpacking through Europe." After having spent time in the barren landscapes of Utah and Arizona, I can see how he got started on his quest. There were times while I hiked through this area I could see the excitement and challenge of backpacking and living off the land. But, as we would hike just far enough away from civilization, I would feel overwhelming anxiety that no one could find me if I got lost. Unlike the young man in this book, common sense and the understanding that I was ill-prepared to walk off the beaten trail kept me, and most others like me, from simply walking away from the world. Such insight into what I think many twenty-somethings search for once they've accomplished all of the goals they have mapped out from their childhood and are now left with a void to fill.