Into the Wild Audiobook Review

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Mr Verdant Green
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Into the Wild Audiobook Review

Postby Mr Verdant Green » Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:22 pm

I wrote this review of the Into the Wild audiobook for my blog a while back. It basically sums up my view for those interested. It potentially contains spoilers.

My wife downloaded the audiobook version of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer from Borders.com for free. They were doing some kind of promotion. The book consists of six CD-length sections each over one hour long. She saved it onto our Sansa Clip MP3 player so I could listen to it.

Into the Wild tells the true story of ill-fated wanderer Chris McCandless (A.K.A. Alexander Supertramp), a story made famous by this book, the article in Outside magazine also written by Krakauer that preceded it, and the film version of the story directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch that came in 2007. I had actually read the print version of the book about over 10 years ago. I remember finding the story somewhat depressing. In 2007 I saw the movie version, originally because it featured Alaska, and I actually enjoyed it very much. My wife’s downloading of the audiobook gave me a chance to give the book another try. Maybe I’d like it better since I enjoyed the movie. I felt it might also help put the events in the movie in better context with the true story.

While the movie switches between two parallel storylines (McCandless’s/ Supertramp’s time in Alaska and his wanderings through the contiguous U.S.) the book follows a much more haphazard path. It begins with what’s actually the end of the story, goes back to the beginning, goes through much of the wanderings south of Alaska, switches to his background and family and eventually works its way back to the end. After reading it, I felt I got the whole story and some good background info. The order might coincide with how the story grew as Krakauer did his research, conducted interviews, and travelled to the places mentioned. However, the book doesn’t quite give a sense of the order in which events took place.

Every chapter begins with a quote, usually a passage that McCandless/Supertramp had underlined or highlighted in one of his books. Some of these quotes were included as dialogue in the movie. They’re mostly quotes about nature, philosophy, and other beliefs that motivated the wandering. They include passages from Jack London and Thoreau. Some quotes get very deep and detailed sometimes making them difficult to follow when listened to on an audiobook. One quote that did not appear at the beginning of a chapter but in one of McCandless’s letters struck a chord with me. I’m not sure if it’s his original quote or if he got it from somewhere else. It goes, “Nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.” I found this quote oddly comforting.

As expected, the book includes a lot of content not presented in the film. It goes through all the doubling back in the wanderings. It mentions the more mundane times such as him working at an Italian restaurant in Nevada for a few months. The film actually portrays fewer than half of his travels and it more greatly emphasizes ones that the book emphasizes less. The book mentions that McCandless went to Los Angeles to “get an ID.” The movie has him spending a couple of days there wandering the streets, trying to get a bed at a homeless shelter, asking how to get an ID, and imagining his life if he hadn’t chosen to reject society. That’s just Hollywood building up events it feels are more interesting to the audience but it makes for a slightly different story. Some of the actual events that were very exciting in the book were given less emphasis in the film such as McCandless’s journey down the Colorado River in a canoe through Mexico.

The book provides more information about McCandless’s background and family. The dysfunctional situations seem a bit more subtle and complicated than how they were portrayed in the film. There’s also more information about the aftermath such as his family’s and friends’ reactions and the public’s reaction. Krakauer provides many of his own reactions and opinions. He states very early in the book that his account is biased and he espouses many of his own theories on events and what motivated McCandless. Much of what Krakauer learned came from McCandless’s journals and photos taken during his wanderings. Other information is from interviews with family and friends and people McCandless met along the way. There are some time periods for which Krakauer had no information requiring him to speculate. As for McCandless’s motivations, Krakauer tries to paint the most favorable portrayal, however biased. He notes that many people, especially Alaskans, disagree with him. I disagree with some of his opinions but I think this is because Krakauer can relate to McCandless better than I can.

The book includes a chapter about other wanderers similar to McCandless. Everett Reuss wandered the Southwestern U.S. in the 1930’s. John Waterman made solo climbs of many peaks in northern and central Alaska sometimes with minimal equipment. Krakauer notes the similarities and differences. He seems to equate McCandless most closely with Reuss. These other wanderers, explorers, and eccentrics underscore that McCandless is not wholly unique.

Another chapter details Krakauer’s own perilous solo adventure. When he was 23 years old he travelled on the cheap to Petersburg, Alaska to climb the dangerous face of a mountain known as Devil’s Thumb. He had many setbacks and endured very dangerous ice climbs and harsh weather. His journey was similar to McCandless in that it was fraught with danger, he went solo and was young and brash. It differed in that he didn’t try to subsist off the land and he wasn’t as motivated by intellectual philosophies and thinking. I was impressed with the detail of his account. It was like I was right there with him. The rest of the book never gets as detailed, but then, it’s not all about him. I can understand the connection he felt with McCandless.

I’ve never felt as close a connection, especially when I first read the book 10 years ago. My life followed a very different course from McCandless’s. While he went from suburban Washington D.C. to Atlanta, GA to wandering the American West to the Alaskan wilderness, mine went from Juneau, Alaska to Salem, OR to Seattle, WA to Los Angeles, CA when I was nearly the same ages. It’s like he tried to work his way out of society while I worked my way into it. There are many differences and our motivations clearly differed but I believe we both sought our own desired adventures (in my case, still seeking). I can relate to some of his gripes about society and the desire for adventure, but I could never understand the extremes to which he took himself despite Krakauer’s strong opinions and Sean Penn’s Hollywood magic.

The audiobook is read by Phillip Franklin who does a great job as the “voice” of Krakauer. When quoting McCandless he makes his voice sound more carefree and exciting, embodying his youthful exuberance. Overall, Krakauer did a great job writing the book. In some ways, it’s just as much his story of trying to learn about and understand McCandless. I didn’t really like the last chapter where Krakauer seems to go overboard in his justification but I understand what he’s trying to do. McCandless probably never would have been this famous or even known to me if his story turned out differently. He probably still wouldn’t have been so well-known if it wasn’t for Krakauer and, much later, Sean Penn.

To anyone mildly interested in the story, I recommended seeing the film before reading the book. Keep in mind that it’s “inspired by” and not 100% based on the true story. I should also warn that, despite being made by Hollywood, it does not have a “Hollywood ending”. I probably would not have enjoyed the movie as much if I hadn’t already known this. Then, if you’re interested in more background, check out the book. Again, view it as someone else’s (i.e. Krakauer’s) interpretation and don’t accept everything he says and justifies without thorough consideration. I try to focus on what I find most interesting and relatable, though that isn’t everything. I wouldn’t call it inspiring (though I know many others do), but McCandless, Krakauer, and Penn were able to bring a very compelling story out of the wild.

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