Chris McCandless is an individual, dedicated to pursuing his own priorities, and author Jon Karkauer can understand him.
In 1992 McCandless’ body was found in an abandoned bus relic, miles from the nearest road, in Alaska’s wilderness. This is the story of his journey from idealistic teenger to rambling traveller, his differences with his family, and the friends he met along the way. But this book aims to do much more than chronicle his journeys, it aims to understand the qualities that won him friends, drove his wanderings, and ultimately killed him far from others.
Jon Krakauer (whose other widely read book, Into Thin Air, details the disastourous attack on Everest in 1996) takes us through McCandless’ life in fairly straight-forward fashion, detailing his travels, stops along the way, friends made and left. In so doing, he gradually snaps into place each piece in the puzzle that explains the demise of a highly independent and capable young man searching for a calling. Some readers may find Krakauer’s diversion for a couple of chapters to recount his own almost Quixotic attack on Alaska’s Devils Thumb annoying; others will identify with his recognition of his common traits with Chris McCandless in their search of noble quests.
The book, in a sense, starts with the ending, the discovery of McCandless’ body in the Alaska wilderness. It then jumps back to the beginning, and proceeds in fairly linear fashion to make its way back to that abandoned Fairbanks City bus, stopping only briefly for the author’s climb. The writing flows smoothly along the course, building speed as each necessary condition for the conclusion is revealed.
One can hardly say that this is an enjoyable book, and yet in its way it is a celebration of the path of a life that had an uncommon end.
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Read: July, 1998
Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
If you liked this book, see: Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)