Sometimes we read a book that really speaks to us. Sometimes we read a book that we become so completely lost in that it consumes every waking moment until the last word. Sometime we read a book and it changes our outlook on life.
These kinds of books are one-in-a-million, not just anything can change the way you look at something, they way you perceive it. Sometimes this book is a big national seller, sometimes it's just a small publishing that happened to strike the right cord with you.
In 2007 I was sitting in my in-laws living room, it was the four of us, and we were flipping through channels when we saw a movie titled "Into The Wild" was on. My mother-in-law had seen it before and suggested it to be a good watch, so we did. Unfortunately, she remembered it a little bit incorrectly and told us early on that the main character breaks his leg - I spent the entire movie anticipating this dramatic leg breaking scene... it never happened. But what did happen? Well, that movie spoke to me like no other piece of cinema had before.
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| googled image |
Quick sinopsys incase you haven't read it or seen the movie: (*true story*)
Christopher McCandless graduates from Emory (a private college in Atlanta) and decides that he wants more from life. He donates all his money (his parents were very wealthy) to a charity and leaves his family without notice. He hikes across country meeting different people and obviously has a lot of different adventures. In the end his goal is to get to Alaska, America's last frontier. He arrives in Alaska in the winter and finds an old bus to stay in, when he decides he's lived that way long enough to be content he tries to hike out - but it's spring time and the river he crossed is unable to be passed through. He stays in his bus and eventually runs out of food and takes his final breaths before his parents ever find him again.
After the movie I ran out and bought the book. I read it in just a couple of days; I would come home from work, change clothes and read all afternoon. It's not a big book by any means, but I am easily distracted so finding a quite place sometimes means moving around the house, plus I wanted to fully hold on to every word. At that time Josh and I were not yet married (that happened in 2008) and we had not firmly decided on a place to move once he was done with school (also 2008).
There are so many things you can say McCandless did wrong in his adventures, he was mapless, compass-less, and basically had only a dream in his head - but these are the things that I loved about the story. I didn't read this and say "what an idiot for going off like that with no planning or proper knowledge", I read that story and thought "why can't we all have that same mind set, to be free". He wanted something in life and he went out there to get it. Yes, it is true that he died, but it wouldn't be a great story if he had made it through alive. I know that sounds awful, but what can you learn from his story if he had made it back home to Atlanta after traveling/hitch hiking the country? He would have been just another over-privileged kid who did what he wanted when he wanted. There wouldn't have been any depth, anything to learn from.
Many people romanticize this story, there is a cult-like following to this book. Lots of people go out and try to do what he did (some not because of him, some to mimic him). The bus in Alaska where he died has been completely defaced with tourists and graffiti. Some people hang on to every word McCandless spoke and Krakauer wrote (side note: recently found out Krakauer is from my current town and still has family here!!). Some people do things because of the way they were portrayed in his story.
I think of Christopher McCandless' story as a poetic tragedy. Yes, it is easy to play up the dramatic dreamy parts, to make it sound like he did this GREAT thing that we all wish we can do one day. To leave life behind and go on a real adventure of our own completely carefree. But the cold hard facts here are that he did die from his carelessness and failure to think things through. He died 3 miles from a town, he could have lived. I was sad when I read the ending, I was sad when I watched it in the movie. The tragic part is that he died over this when it was so easily avoidable. But still, the way he traveled and touched everyone he met. The way he wanted life and was determined to make it happen - that's the poetic part.
I learned A LOT from this book. Seriously, we wrote our vows with quotes from the book, from McCandless paraphrasing Thoreau "Rather than love, than money, than faith, give me truth". It really helped me open my eyes and decide that I need to get outside more! I was never really into being dirty or sleeping on the ground much. I wanted to live in a high rise in Chicago and live my life out in the concrete jungle. This book hit at just the right time for me. My thoughts were already changing about how I wanted the rest of my life to look. Josh's influence was strong - he did not want to live in the middle of a city. We had some friends at the time who did a lot of outdoor activities and spent a lot of time sleeping in the woods and on trails. It was just the right culmination. This book is most of what made up my mind in choosing to move to Oregon.
After reading Into the Wild I decided we needed to do a backpacking trip. Our first. We hiked the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Trail. Heck yes I wanted to hike the entire Ga to Maine, but realistically that wasn't going to happen (time and money), so we settled for an 80 mile hike from Springer Mountain, Georgia to the Ga/NC boarder. Following that hike we were set on Oregon and it was just getting down the timing, money, and courage to leave everything we'd known behind to move 3,000 miles away. We spent every weekend we could visiting all the state parks in Georgia and spending all the time we were able to with family and friends. We knew Oregon was the right move for us, we had grown into a lifestyle that was more outdoors and secluded, apposed to "keeping up with the Jones'" of suburbia.
I took away a lot of values from that book, and even though I saw the movie first I really think Emile Hersh did an amazing job of portraying McCandless and really showing what it was like to be him in those moments. Sometimes I feel silly for being to wrapped up in this story and someone else's life, but then I think about how much I enjoy my life, I think about all the things Josh and I have done together, all the places we've been, and all of the beauty we have experienced together. I wouldn't change that for making $100,000 a year and living in a condo any day of the week. I feel like our lives are full and rich, and although we are always planning our next big trip that usually doesn't happen - we are trying to see as much as we can and experience all that we can given any chance. That is what life is all about - "Happiness is only real when shared" "The core of a mans spirit comes from new experiences".
There are so many things you can say McCandless did wrong in his adventures, he was mapless, compass-less, and basically had only a dream in his head - but these are the things that I loved about the story. I didn't read this and say "what an idiot for going off like that with no planning or proper knowledge", I read that story and thought "why can't we all have that same mind set, to be free". He wanted something in life and he went out there to get it. Yes, it is true that he died, but it wouldn't be a great story if he had made it through alive. I know that sounds awful, but what can you learn from his story if he had made it back home to Atlanta after traveling/hitch hiking the country? He would have been just another over-privileged kid who did what he wanted when he wanted. There wouldn't have been any depth, anything to learn from.
I think of Christopher McCandless' story as a poetic tragedy. Yes, it is easy to play up the dramatic dreamy parts, to make it sound like he did this GREAT thing that we all wish we can do one day. To leave life behind and go on a real adventure of our own completely carefree. But the cold hard facts here are that he did die from his carelessness and failure to think things through. He died 3 miles from a town, he could have lived. I was sad when I read the ending, I was sad when I watched it in the movie. The tragic part is that he died over this when it was so easily avoidable. But still, the way he traveled and touched everyone he met. The way he wanted life and was determined to make it happen - that's the poetic part.
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| (google) |
After reading Into the Wild I decided we needed to do a backpacking trip. Our first. We hiked the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Trail. Heck yes I wanted to hike the entire Ga to Maine, but realistically that wasn't going to happen (time and money), so we settled for an 80 mile hike from Springer Mountain, Georgia to the Ga/NC boarder. Following that hike we were set on Oregon and it was just getting down the timing, money, and courage to leave everything we'd known behind to move 3,000 miles away. We spent every weekend we could visiting all the state parks in Georgia and spending all the time we were able to with family and friends. We knew Oregon was the right move for us, we had grown into a lifestyle that was more outdoors and secluded, apposed to "keeping up with the Jones'" of suburbia.
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| The real Christopher McCandless, a self photo (google) |
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| Found in the bus with his body (google) |
