How did you find the book? Where were you?

[enewbs]

Hello,

Today is July 16, 2018. I read the entire book in a single afternoon.

I was born in 1996. The year the book 'Into the Wild' by Jon Krakauer was published. I had only ever known of the movie, it has been on my Netflix watch list for a long time. After reading the book and hearing the story, even mentioning Netflix in this post makes me cringe a little, because for some reason I cannot imagine Alexander Supertramp having a Netflix account.

I have a habit of buying books that I know are movies. On Saturday, July 14, 2018, I went to the Barnes & Noble that is on the RIT campus in Rochester, NY.

I did not know what "Into the Wild" was about. I did not know it was a book. On that Saturday, when I saw that book, I knew that I had to buy it. I do not know what it was, but it was like something was telling me that I absolutely had to purchase this book. So, I did, without hesitation.

Now, here is the part I don't understand. There is a reason that I was meant to buy this book.

I am from a small town in Illinois, I am currently in Rochester, NY for a research internship that I applied to on a whim and had no intentions of going to even if I miraculously got accepted. But, I did get accepted and I did go. So, the fact that I decided to go to this internship, the fact that I decided to leave my small summer dorm room on that Saturday afternoon is supposed to be a coincidence.

Reading the cover, I knew I was going to love this book and I did. I loved every single word. However, upon reading, I became shocked as I read that Chris has traveled to Carthage, S.D. I go to school in South Dakota. I looked on a map how far Carthage was from my small college town and it was only 47 minutes away. Which surprised me because like most of the areas around there, everything is extremely spread out. It got even more mind boggling to me as I kept reading. It wasn't until I got to page 58 that I actually leapt out of my chair. On page 58, Christopher McCandless' return address he gives 'Ronald Franz' is one that I have spent my entire school year memorizing. Madison, S.D. 57042. I go to school at Dakota State University which is in Madison, S.D. A place so small and random for me to be there has now become an important place and a amazing book.

I didn't know why I knew I had to buy this book. I have no reason to have a connection to Chris McCandless and perhaps I still don't. But knowing that I can share this small little thing with him is absolutely amazing to me. I would really love to get in touch with Wayne Westerberg. I believe he still lives in the area. I'm not as brave and self-confident as Chris but I hope to one day be. I don't know why I waited so long to watch the movie but I am glad I did. Books are always better.

[SteveSalmon]

Dear ENEWBS,
That is very interesting! I love the parallels life gifts us from time to time. How did the internship turn out? Have you seen the movie yet? I think Sean Penn's interpretation of Chris was very unique. Another case of great movie, even better book. However, I feel that Jon Krakauer understood Chris a bit more. I definitely believe that the book should be read before the movie is watched.
Sorry it took 9 months and 9 days to get back to you.
~Steve

[SteveSalmon]

I forget when I ordered the book online. perhaps 3-5 years ago, or longer. I read about it through Jon Krakauer's website on mountaineering, I believe. Or it was when I wanted to kayak to AK and stumbled upon it from Outside magazine. memory serves me badly, sorry. I didn't know there was a movie until last year when I was skimming netflix for something interesting. I always am drawn to history, documentaries or films based on fact. I watched the film again last week and I researched online which lead me to this site.

Hurley, thank you for sharing your story. Did you kayak to Alaska yet?
~Steve