Last evening Nathan and I were wandering around our new home town of Indy, which so far usually ends up with us paying a visit to one of the malls around here. Anyway, we ran across a book store that was going out of business and I was able to pick up a copy of "Into the Wild" by John Krakauer for 40% off.
Well that was a little over 24 hours ago and I finished the book already....granted it is barely over 200 pages and it is a Sunday...but I really got lost in this facinating story.
And I guess part of the facination for me, as well as the author, is our ability to see (at least parts of) ourselves in this wide-eyed protagonist. After ending a three month journey around the country, I have a taste of freedom on my tongue that has only left me hungry for more. Before even printing out pictures from these three months living in a van, I have listed numerous other destinations for future rembling adventures.
I can also understand Chris's "itchy feet" that he reports to get each spring. Granted, I have no inclination to burn all my earthly possessions, bury the rest in the desert, and cut off all contact with my family...but at times I understand the temptation to enter a solitary existance for a season.
Perhaps, for me, the most gripping section of the book is a letter that Chris sent to an elderly gentleman who housed him for a while on his travels. Without his characteristic brevity, Chris emplores the old man to embrace adventure.
"I'd like to repeat the advice I gave you before, in that I think you really should make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future."
Just my thoughts on a book about a 23 year old man who walked into the wild and never walked out.
Comments