Into the Wild

"Into the Wild. By Jon Krakauer" - This is one of those book's that has had an everlasting impression on me. It was probably about a decade back when I first read it when my mum lent it out from the library. I had never heard or read about Christopher McCandless till then.

It was really difficult to get a copy of the book those days, but my mum did surprise me with a copy of the book in the coming days,something I treasure till this day.

Chris, was an intelligent young man (He graduated in June 1990 from Emory University in Atlanta, where he distinguished himself as a history/anthropology major and was also offered membership in Phi Beta Kappa, but declined it, insisting that titles and honors were of no importance). He was also an accomplished athlete, and a veteran of several solo excursions into wild, inhospitable terrain.After graduating he donated the entire amount of $20,000 in his account , to Oxford Famine Relief Fund. Then, without notifying any friends or family members, he gathered his belongings in a backpack into an old yellow Datsun and headed out into the wild without any plans, relieved to be away from the mundane industrialized world and trying to invent a new life in the wild.

An extremely intense young man, McCandless had been captivated by the writing of Leo Tolstoy, Thoreau etc. some of the authors I admired as well.. Some of the quotes found in his belongings..

"Wilderness appealed to those bored or disgusted with man and his works. It not only offered an escape from society but also was an ideal stage for the romantic individual to excercise the cult that he frequently made of his own soul. The solitude and total freedom of the wilderness created a perfect setting for either a melancholy or exultation - RODERICK NASH"

"I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I felt in myself a super abundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life - TOLSTOY"

"As to when I shall visit civilization, it will not be soon, I think. I have not tired of the wilderness, rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and the star sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and the difficult trail, leading into the unknown, to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities. Do you blame me then for staying here, where I feel that I belong and am one with the world around me? It is true that I miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom I can share the things that mean so much to me that I have learned to contain myself. It is enough that I am surrounded by beauty....
Even from your scant description, I know that I could not bare the routine and humdrum of the life that you are forced to lead. I don't think I could ever settle down. I have known too much of the depths of life already, and I would prefer anything to an anticlimax-Evert Ruess's last letter to Waldo"

When I heard that Sean Penn ( i admire him as an actor, one of the best ones around) was making a movie based on the book, I was happy in some sense but also a bit apprehensive that his perception or interpretation wouldn't live upto the book.

The movie released this September, haven't heard about its release in India yet. I was able to download the movie this weekend and watch it . To be fair, Sean Penn has done a great job trying to make a film on such a talked about book and portray it in the true spirit. The music is is great as well. I can't wait to get hold of the original DVD of the film.

Don't miss the film and ofcourse if you haven't read the book yet, go grab a copy.

Watch the movie trailer:


Ironically I am still part of the modern working world, haven't yet broken free !!

More links:
Book
Article in the outside
Official Movie Site
Music Review
National Geo. Article