Book(s)

[wondering]

What book(s) did Chris bring with him to Alaska? I noticed on the coroner's report they list a "book". The movie shows a book about edible plants, but I would like to know if anyone knows the title of the book? Thanks!

[Mr Verdant Green]

Here is a (very incomplete) list of the books or authors I remember being mentioned in the Into the Wild book and film. I’m not sure which ones Christopher McCandless actually brought with him to Alaska and I don’t know the name of the one about plants, though I think the title is mentioned in the Into the Wild book. All: please mention any that are missing.

The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp by W.H. Davies
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
(Other unspecified books) by Jack London
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
(Unspecified books) by Leo Tolstoy

[wildgirl142]

this is a list from Krakauer's book about what Christopher brought with him into the wild:

'Tanaina Plantlore' by Priscilla Russel Kari
'Education of a Wandering Man' by Louis L'Amour
-Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
-Death of Ivan Ilych (Tolstoy)
-Call of the Wild (London)
-White Fang (London)
-Moon-Face (London)
-Brown Wolf (London)
-To Build a Fire (London)
-Doctor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak)
-Terminal Man (Michael Crichton)
-O Jersualem! (Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre)
-War and Peace (Tolstoy)
-Walden (Henry David Thoreau)

[wondering]

Thanks for the book lists...... I gave a book about wild edible plants to a friend of mine and someone told my friend to be careful, that's the book Chris used.... Ha! I wanted to find out for sure if it is.

[GoNorth]

I think "Family happiness" from Tolstoy also belongs to the list.

[sagratin88]

Hello Everybody!

I am 21 years old girl from Hungary, and I found this web site yesterday, so I thought that I have to register here, because I like it very much...
I am sorry, but my English is not the best:-) but I am hope, that you will understand what I want to say:-)
There are three books in my live, which inspired me. The first was The Drifters from James A. Michener, the second one was The Catcher in the Rye, from Sallinger, and the last one was Into the wild...I also saw the film, and I like it very much too.
I learned many things from Chris..I will never go into the wild, I know that (I am not so brave:-) but I think that we can respect nature in our daily live, and we can also respect eachother.
I am also sick from this dirty society...but in another way I cannot immagine that I could ever live so far away from those people who are very important for me....
The real happines comes from human relationships...I think so...and I think that Chris learned that there far away from civilization....but unfortunately it was too late:-(
The most important thing is that he had happy life..


sorry again because of my bad English:-(..I learn this language for 4 years but I was never in the USA or in England...so I hope that you will understand what I wanted to say...and if you have some time please help me by the comminucation, I think that it could be a good practice for me:-)

many grettings from Hungary:-)

[ScoutmasterTroop11]

Why did he have more books than survival gear??? Just a question...

[GoNorth]

Why did he have more books than survival gear??? Just a question...

Probably because he considered it rather as a philosophical or spiritual thing than a survival trip. I suppose?

[djpults]

Mr. Mccandless still seems to be a great enigma to me. I understand all of the self-exploration, life exploration, resistance to the convention of life, etc. Having been to Alaska, as well as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota (another pristine location), I also understand the compulsion to enjoy all that nature and the wild have to offer its visitors. Being an English teacher, I also am very pleased that McCandless saw the great messages and potential that classic literature has to offer. The fact that he was able to see into these great thinkers and wrestle with these questions is indeed compelling, and all I could ever ask my students to do.

However, having read and studied all of these things, and being intellectually very gifted, how does McCandless fail to recognize the errors of his own ways? Clearly he had some hubris in him, seen through his change in nomenclature as well as his devil-may-care attitude toward the wilderness. How could he grasp the complex messages of Thoreau and Tolstoy, yet miss the basic message of the power of nature in London (specifically "To Build a Fire")? Ultimately, he was a young man of extreme paradoxes. I think Mr. McCandless for his life's explorations, but am saddened that I would never share a drink with him and get to know him better. For as he recognized during his wilderness time- lessons and happiness are best when shared with others. I would have loved to have heard his thoughts.

[Mr Verdant Green]

Sagratin88:

Your English is very good. I understand what you want to say.

Thanks for mentioning The Drifters. I’ll add that to my book list.

I’ll send some pointers on English.



ScoutmasterTroop11:

That’s a good question to which we’ll obviously never know the true answer. I think GoNorth is on the right track that it was much than just a wilderness survival trip for Christopher McCandless. It seemed to be about severing personal connections as well.

In an interview with Oprah that I’ve quoted in other forum threads, Jon Krakauer was told that “many people have pointed to a few decisions Chris made—not taking a map, not having an axe and carrying a small-caliber rifle”

Krakauer answered:

“But this was by design. [Chris] believed that if you're going to have an adventure and you know the outcome, it's not an adventure. It's not a challenge. So he cut it down to the bare minimum that he thought he would need to survive.”

Link to the full synopsis and slideshow of the episode:

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Sean-Penns-Latest-Passion/



djpults: excellent points.