In April 1992, Chris McCandless walked into the Alaskan wilderness as the culmination of several years of soul searching. His body was found in September of that same year. This book focuses on Chris's life leading up to his decision to make that trek and the author's trying to piece together his final months. By all accounts, Chris was intelligent and charismatic who was able to induce a parental protectiveness in several of the people he met as he was hitchhiking and wandering the country. His relationship with his parents is said to have been rocky but they were not abusive or ill-meaning. There is nothing to suggest that when he embarked on this journey that his aim was death, in fact most of the evidence points in the opposite direction and that this was more about pulling a Thoreau than anything else.
This was part of the Hero's Journey literature unit we are doing for high school this year. I think by the measure they are using, this does qualify. Chris was definitely trying to be true to himself and was ready to face daunting challenges in this quest. My biggest issue with this book was not in the story of Chris himself but the fact that the last 1/3 of the book the author inserted himself into the story in what I felt was an extreme amount. We were regaled with stories of his climbing mountains and his father issues. I get that he was trying to build more sympathy or understanding for Chris but for me, it failed and took away from Chris's story by making it more about the author. The fact that the last chapter and the entire afterword were all about the author's trying to discover what exactly killed Chris and the lengths he went to again just seemed to be about inserting himself further into this story. I get that there is mystery and he was trying to solve it and maybe it's just the way he was telling it but it did not strike a good note with me. I do think Chris's story was interesting and I enjoyed it, I just wish the author had done a better job of playing biographer.
Page count: 215p/1,892p ytd/293,913p lifetime
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