Jamie’s Book #4: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

“In April 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher McCandless He had given $25,000 in savings to a charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet and invented a life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter.”

Clearly, Jon Krakauer isn’t worried about a surprise ending, as this paragraph is on the front cover of the book. “Into the Wild” looks back at the events and decisions that led 24 year old Christopher McCandless to his lonely death in the Alaska wild. It is a true story.

I specifically chose this book because it is not my normal genre and one of my goals for this challenge is to expand my reading comfort zone. I don’t typically like non fiction to be honest, and I was uneasy about this one from the start since I already knew the ending was not going to be a happy one. However, there is no denying this is a good book!

A few interesting things:

Christopher’s final words in his journal: "Beautiful Blueberries."

 A page torn from Louis L'Amour's memoir, “Education of a Wandering Man” was found near his body with the words “"I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!" written on the back.

A note found on the abandoned bus he spent his last days in read: “"S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless.”