Into the Wild

Well things are back to normal at work, and the daily humdrum tasks leave plenty of time for reading. Today I finished up a great book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I have read one of Krakauer's other works (Into Thin Air) and I have to say that I highly recommend both.

This book, now a major motion picture, is a reflective look at the life of Christopher McCandless, an educated young man who walked into the Alaskan wilderness to live off the land and never returned. There have been many arguments over the years as to whether McCandless was mentally disturbed, suicidal, naive or just simply stupid, and Krakauer explores all of these possibilities. The story is intense, much like I would expect McCandless himself was, and it was a consuming read.

Krakauer's books are not for the faint of heart - he describes in non-fiction autobiographical form the most harrowing adventures, the deepest darkest side of man and the harshest beauty of nature, but they are excellent reads and I would highly recommend them.