Into the Wild

[50 Mission Cap]

Read the book, saw the movie, bought the soundtrack.

Gotta say, I am DIGGING the soundtrack Eddie Vedder did for the film. Hard Sun is a jam for sure, but as are the rest of the tunes.

Great book about a guy searching for something and living completely simply while looking. Something to be said for stripping down to the bare essentials and just experiencing life on the absolute base level.

Kinda like the summer I was reading alot of Kafka, Tolstoy and Kierkegaard in college. I walked around in a beat up grey t shirt and cut off sweat shorts. Just didn't care; you'd be amazed w/ all the chicks that were totally into that. Steve I'm talking here.

[RepublicanSS]

I actually enjoyed the soundtrack better than the movie and the book. I equate the book to the book written by the guy that had to cut his hand off to survive his hiking mishap in Moab. I read his book as well. Especially the Moab guy? He was an experienced hiker, cyclists and climber, but he broke every rule in the book, not letting people know where he was going, when and for how long. Plus not carying enough supplies, he never prepared for and emergency.

Into the Wild, that guy just didn't respect nature and the power of it. Plus I thought he treated his family pretty shitty. They may not have been perfect, but as a parent and I'm sure others out there understand, you do the best you can.

I really did like the soundtrack though. I think Eddie Vetter or Vedder may be better on his own than with Pearl Jam, though Pearl Jam made some good music, eventhough I don't agree with them politically.:D

[cMc]

I have it on DVD but haven't watched it yet. My neighbor is in SAG and gets all the nominated pictures "for her consideration" but never watches them.

The book was great. I also thought Hard Sun was a good song, but I really kinda can't stand Vedder.

[Tman]

Mother Nature will spank you if you don't bow to her power.

I read the book shaking my head the whole time. Ignorance comes to mind when I think of that guy.

[FBX]

I just finished the book on the flight back to Montana. Although I agree that McCandless did not prepare himself fully (Nor did he do basic things, like buy a map of the area, buy first aid equipment or emergency supplies, etc), I am impressed that he survived as long as he did in the Bush.
As a son of a former Bush-rat, and having grown up in interior Alaska, I know that it's an unforgiving landscape, and it's impressive that an idealistic young man managed for months on his own out there. However, I think he should have stayed in touch with his parents. I thought he was very ungrateful, seeing as he didn't consider how they felt as he went on his odyssey without sending them so much as a postcard.
If he wanted to separate himself from society, I think he'd find it a greater challenge to join a Carmelite monastery... that's a lifestyle definitely not for the faint-hearted!
On a side note, another of Krakauer's books I'd recommend is Under the Banner of Heaven. It's about the cold-blooded murder of an innocent young woman and her baby daughter by relatives in Utah, and the Fundamentalist Mormon theology that influenced them. (Not a part of the actual LDS Church, mind you... it was one of several breakaway sects that revived controversial early teachings of Joesph Smith, namely polygamy and self-prophesying).

[cMc]

On a side note, another of Krakauer's books I'd recommend is Under the Banner of Heaven. It's about the cold-blooded murder of an innocent young woman and her baby daughter by relatives in Utah, and the Fundamentalist Mormon theology that influenced them. (Not a part of the actual LDS Church, mind you... it was one of several breakaway sects that revived controversial early teachings of Joesph Smith, namely polygamy and self-prophesying).

It's sitting on my bookshelf; I think it's the next one up.

[50 Mission Cap]

Mother Nature will spank you if you don't bow to her power.

I read the book shaking my head the whole time. Ignorance comes to mind when I think of that guy.

Completely agree. I do like his anti-consumerism philosophy, but that's about where it stops. I think he was a bit of a contrived self-righteous spoiled child that was completely unprepared for what he was up against in alaska. Totally ignorant - unlike this guy.... (http://http://www.dickproenneke.com/DickProenneke.html)

[cMc]

Just watched it... beautifully filmed... just gorgeous shots. It was a good story well told, but not quite as engaging as 3:10 to Yuma, another contender for this year's best pic.

[dangerousdave]

John Krakauer does a very politically correct job of letting people make up their own minds as to the sanity of people like this. The problem is that as he does with UTBO..Heaven" he doesn't use the opportunity -worldwide- to make a point, he doesn't use the chance to reach and teach...I view that as a disservice to all peoples...
Yeah, yeah, thats part of the allure, but it seems like a perpetuation of the problem by not showcasing the ignorant decisions that lead to such tragic mistakes...
Whether they be in the middle of wintertime AK with out a clue, inflicting future pains and griefs upon family... or in the mindset and heart of a deranged people busily inflicting pains and griefs upon families...

[mscotch]

maybe he figures most folks can figure it out for themselves. After reading the book do you think he needs to have DO and DON'T list at the end on how to survive? Maybe he figures that's up to the individual?

[Opie]

The problem is that as he does with UTBO..Heaven" he doesn't use the opportunity -worldwide- to make a point, he doesn't use the chance to reach and teach...I view that as a disservice to all peoples...

I agree w/mscotch on this. What challenge is it to the reader to have a clear morale attached at the end of every piece of literature? Like the events and experiences that have shaped your personal views of religion, they are your own, I hope. Don't you think the education process is most effective when not preached down unto others?

[mscotch]

I agree w/mscotch on this. What challenge is it to the reader to have a clear morale attached at the end of every piece of literature? Like the events and experiences that have shaped your personal views of religion, they are your own, I hope. Don't you think the education process is most effective when not preached down unto others?

what's also somewhat interesting is that based on what I've figured out about DD, he would be one of the last person one would expect to be "told" or even suggested what to think. hey, DD whatya' think?
By the way, what do you (or do you) classify yourself as? agnostic, atheist or nothing? just curious, no attack planned.:)

[Opie]

By the way, what do you (or do you) classify yourself as? agnostic, atheist or nothing? just curious, no attack planned.:)

I only have a moment to respond, but I am a Christian that doesn't really care for preachers. :) Seriously, I subscribe to no denomination, and I find it very difficult to believe sometimes, but I try to study it from all angles. My mind is also highly scientific, so this adds to the struggle, but do any of us really know why we're here? If we all started out from amoebas, then what advantage was it for some of those amoebas to need to see optically?. Science and faith are both too deep for any living human to entirely comprehend, but I applaud those who continue to seek to find answers to their own questions (like DD, though his delivery can be caustic and condescending ;), he's thinking...studying...). No preacher can convince you otherwise.

[mscotch]

I only have a moment to respond, but I am a Christian that doesn't really care for preachers. :) Seriously, I subscribe to no denomination, and I find it very difficult to believe sometimes, but I try to study it from all angles. My mind is also highly scientific, so this adds to the struggle, but do any of us really know why we're here? If we all started out from amoebas, then what advantage was it for some of those amoebas to need to see optically?. Science and faith are both too deep for any living human to entirely comprehend, but I applaud those who continue to seek to find answers to their own questions (like DD, though his delivery can be caustic and condescending ;), he's thinking...studying...). No preacher can convince you otherwise.

sounds familiar:). I'm hoping DD will respond to the question as well.:D

[ironspoke]

Has Sean Penn been in contact with Babs???:rolleyes:

Not sure about this one. I havent read the book or seen the movie yet. I have read some interviews with the author in a few different magazines. From what I've read the people up in Alaska really dont understand why this guy would be lionized like he has been.

I'll have to read it...and catch the movie.


"No Country for Old Men."

The Coens get some respect finally.

[cMc]

John Krakauer does a very politically correct job of letting people make up their own minds as to the sanity of people like this. The problem is that as he does with UTBO..Heaven" he doesn't use the opportunity -worldwide- to make a point, he doesn't use the chance to reach and teach...I view that as a disservice to all peoples...
Yeah, yeah, thats part of the allure, but it seems like a perpetuation of the problem by not showcasing the ignorant decisions that lead to such tragic mistakes...
Whether they be in the middle of wintertime AK with out a clue, inflicting future pains and griefs upon family... or in the mindset and heart of a deranged people busily inflicting pains and griefs upon families...


I hate to sound like davka, but shit fire, boy, did you read the same books I did? ITTW, the film, left out some of the glaring mistakes that McCandless made, such as not having a map of the area; a map that disclosed the existence of a bridge across the swollen river that prevented his walking out and of a stocked cabin some two miles downstream from his would-be crossing point. Krakauer doesn't say McCandless was a fool for this reason, perhaps because he's showing a bit of class and respecting the idealism of a rare spirit, but the reader should be able to see that of course, with a bit more humility and foresight that tragedy may have been avoided. Also, McCandles' insight that the greatest happiness comes with someone to share it was a conclusion he had to learn in this fashion. Yes, it was tragic but sometimes life is. Likewise in Into Thin Air.

As for UTBOH, I am only up to Chapter 6 thus far. Of course the author hasn't come out and said, "gee, Mormonism, particularly so-called fundamental Mormonism, is a fvcked up & brutalizing pedophiliactic psuedo-religion founded by a certifiable whacko and perpetuated by more and more of the inbred same," but that conclusion fairly leaps off the page.

If he started with the stated premise above, would any of it be as interesting or powerful? I don't think so. People would dismiss him out of hand as an anti-religious wingnut like you. ;) His message would be lost before it had the chance to be heard. When you have to draw your own, inescapable conclusion about something, it stays with you more; it's far more profound.

~Chris

[cMc]

Has Sean Penn been in contact with Babs???:rolleyes:

Not sure about this one. I havent read the book or seen the movie yet. I have read some interviews with the author in a few different magazines. From what I've read the people up in Alaska really dont understand why this guy would be lionized like he has been.

I'll have to read it...and catch the movie.


"No Country for Old Men."

The Coens get some respect finally.

Krakauer doesn't lionize McCandless. Penn might have... but Penn's best work was long ago.

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060921/151442__fasttimes_l.jpg

McCandless deserves credit for trying to live up to an idealistic aesthetic. He ultimately concludes that this aesthete is flawed, i.e., that his solitary quest for wild truth and beauty omits the truth and beauty of interpersonal relationships. The film omits McCandless' glaring failures to be as prepared as reasonably necessary for AK; his hubris is addressed in the book in a respectful manner, I think.

[mscotch]

ITTW, the film, left out some of the glaring mistakes that McCandless made, such as not having a map of the area; a map that disclosed the existence of a bridge across the swollen river that prevented his walking out and of a stocked cabin some two miles downstream from his would-be crossing point.

heard Penn's follow-up is a documentary how the state and federal government is actually responsible for McCandless not having that map and everyone entering in Alaska will need to be briefed on entry so as to prohibit this from ever happening again. Guess Micheal Moore is going to be on the set as well to guarantee realism and accuracy in the endeavor.
Considerations being made of the following for the name of the flick:
- If I wanted your opinion, I'd give it to you
- Truth, you can't handle my truth!
- It has to be someone else's fault

I'm sure there could be more.
Can't wait for it's release!:D

[ironspoke]

Krakauer doesn't lionize McCandless. Penn might have... but Penn's best work was long ago.

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/060921/151442__fasttimes_l.jpg

.

Quite simply and without a doubt one of the best characters ever created on film.

"Is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?"

[50 Mission Cap]

heard Penn's follow-up is a documentary how the state and federal government is actually responsible for McCandless not having that map and everyone entering in Alaska will need to be briefed on entry so as to prohibit this from ever happening again. Guess Micheal Moore is going to be on the set as well to guarantee realism and accuracy in the endeavor.
Considerations being made of the following for the name of the flick:
- If I wanted your opinion, I'd give it to you
- Truth, you can't handle my truth!
- It has to be someone else's fault

I'm sure there could be more.
Can't wait for it's release!:D

As much as I liked the book / movie, McCandless was an unprepared fool.

[Jay13]

Quite simply and without a doubt one of the best characters ever created on film.

"Is he gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?"

"First he's gonna shit, then he's gonna kill us"

[phlatlander]

I'm a little past halfway through this book (thanks again, Cap), and I thank you all for giving away the fact that he dies in the end.

I am not really impressed by anyone. There are so many folks out there that are geniuses or can master a particular skill or have tremendous luck and fortune. So McCandless' drive to simplify is just another person trying to deal with what life dealt, and the sacrifices and concessions made in doing so. Some are born with nothing and become self-made millionaires, but all they wish for in the end is a little red sled. There seems to be a large desire — almost instinctual — to never be satisfied with one's own economic status. You see wealthy white folks feeling guilty for being everything that they are, and you see poorer people working 3 jobs to be like them. Certainly I am amazed that McCandless even made it to Alaska without dying sooner. But even though I find some thought parallels with him in my own mind as I read, I find what happened to him neither tragic nor fantastical. Only inevitable.

[cMc]

I'm a little past halfway through this book (thanks again, Cap), and I thank you all for giving away the fact that he dies in the end.

I am not really impressed by anyone. There are so many folks out there that are geniuses or can master a particular skill or have tremendous luck and fortune. So McCandless' drive to simplify is just another person trying to deal with what life dealt, and the sacrifices and concessions made in doing so. Some are born with nothing and become self-made millionaires, but all they wish for in the end is a little red sled. There seems to be a large desire — almost instinctual — to never be satisfied with one's own economic status. You see wealthy white folks feeling guilty for being everything that they are, and you see poorer people working 3 jobs to be like them. Certainly I am amazed that McCandless even made it to Alaska without dying sooner. But even though I find some thought parallels with him in my own mind as I read, I find what happened to him neither tragic nor fantastical. Only inevitable.

Yet another reason why it's better for the reader to draw his/her own conclusions in this genre.

[ironspoke]

"First he's gonna shit, then he's gonna kill us"


"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it."


In college we always misquoted this line. We always said "...he's got this awesome set of tools..."


Unfortunately because of political correctness we also cant quote another one of his stellar lines.


"Those guys are fags."



Thank God for the Internet.

[fudgedit]

As I recall from reading the book several times that Krakauer tells you right away at the beginning of the book that McCandless dies. What I enjoyed about the book was that Krakauer identifies within himself as a young man some of the idealism and flaws that McCandless had. I enjoy that Krakauer does not pass judgment on Chris. I have read it the book several times and each time as I age I come away from it with a different perspective. I still admire some of the foolishness and adventure that Chris had towards life. He didn't let obstacles get in his way. Did he make mistakes? Hell, yeah. Did he treat his family like crap? I think so, but I have always been close to mine. The thing is that he is not the first person to have failed at a dream. Sure his unfortunately had a fatal ending. But, I am guessing that the wilderness has swallowed more than this young idealist. It is just we can all sit on our asses and pass judgment or not. I say long live the spirit of Chris McCandless. The greatest thing about this book is that it has probably saved more than one life in the past 10-12 years.

[mutantvan]

I'm a little past halfway through this book (thanks again, Cap), and I thank you all for giving away the fact that he dies in the end.

I am not really impressed by anyone. There are so many folks out there that are geniuses or can master a particular skill or have tremendous luck and fortune. So McCandless' drive to simplify is just another person trying to deal with what life dealt, and the sacrifices and concessions made in doing so. Some are born with nothing and become self-made millionaires, but all they wish for in the end is a little red sled. There seems to be a large desire — almost instinctual — to never be satisfied with one's own economic status. You see wealthy white folks feeling guilty for being everything that they are, and you see poorer people working 3 jobs to be like them. Certainly I am amazed that McCandless even made it to Alaska without dying sooner. But even though I find some thought parallels with him in my own mind as I read, I find what happened to him neither tragic nor fantastical. Only inevitable.

Wow, I wish I had said that. Right on.

[ss29mtb]

if all you can take from the book / movie is the mistakes made... then I think you have truly missed the whole point of the journey in the first place.

yes there was a bridge to escape on, yes there was a cabin with food near by.

the whole point you have missed is at the end

he accepted who he was, and admitted he had a good life, and that lifes experiences were beter shared with
somebody.

the point of the journey was NOT knowing the lay of the land, not knowing what lied miles away.....

look around you right now, how much BS and clutter do have and own and most likey owe money on?

most of it is just crap, humans and more so americans are collectors of crap. 90% of what we own could be thrown away and it would not change your life what so ever