I FINALLY finished this book... I have to say, I didn't really want to finish it. I only got through it because I wanted to finish what I started and because I want to see the movie with the entire book in my head. The story did not follow a typical timeline, it jumped all over from the end of Chris' life to the beginning of his journey, to his childhood, and all over yet again... that bothered me since I like to be able to picture linear timelines rather than be confused as to what event happened when. Also, there were so many tangents in the book, I was put off. The author spent over 2 chapters writing about himself. Yes, there were parallels between his life and Chris' life, but it felt self-promoting rather than informative. Also, the multiple stories about other travelers and mountain climbers got tedious. To sum up my thoughts: I didn't enjoy this book. The story was intriguing and Christopher McCandless was an interesting person to read about, but this style of writing was not for me. I'm almost positive I will enjoy the movie more than I did the book.