imaginary_space's Reviews (246)

I really thought I would like this book, and I did, probably until 2/3 or even 3/4 in.

The story is amazing, the world is vibrant and believable, the main characters are interesting and you instantly start rooting for them. I liked following their life stories so much, I could ignore the metaphors, comparisons and repetitions of both that were just a bit too much for my taste.

At first I didn't understand why I stopped liking it, because I usually don't have a problem with violence in books. I thought maybe I did just not understand something important about it. But in the end I decided it was just that - needless violence, and that's what I didn't like. I failed to see the storytelling purpose of it and reading it, I felt more vouyeuristic than anything else. Maybe that WAS the purpose, I still don't know, and maybe that's my fault.

It is very easy to either idolize Chris McCandless as a hero leaving a capitalist, unpersonal and cold society or to condemn his as a naive and in the end stupid youth with a romantic dream and no knowledge about his dangerous endeavour. I've seen both and, in my head, I have done both. Jon Krakauer manages to do neither but to give us insight into both claims and in the process leaves it up to our own interpretation. This, I think, is just the right way to write about the live of Chris McCandless, to not just tell his story but also make us think about his motives and his actions while maintaining the necessary tact and respect for Chris and his family.