I read it about 10 years ago, Im a little sketchy on the details but I do remember liking it and that it was a very powerful story.
I too "dropped everything", and ran away to Alaska when I was 18 so I had alot of common ground with the story that probably biased my perceptions as the story had an automatic in with me.
I read the book back in 2003 or so. It particularly pricked my interest because the kid had come from the same general area where I grew up and went to high school. But, if I recall correctly, the kid in the book was portrayed as a dreamer and self made "intellectual". He also seemed to be very selfish in my opinion because of his lack of concern for his family and his purposeful decision to not communicate with them. And, when he was down in Collyfornya (CA ;-), he seemed to be a free loader as well. And, his foolishness got him killed. I am very curious to see how he has been portrayed in the Movie. I guess it was directed by Sean Penn, and so, no doubt the take will be "interesting". The conclusion will probably be that George Bush and the Neo-Cons killed him.
We get a whole lot of what many of us Alaskans call "pilgrims" who come up here for their Alaskan Adventure. They can be seen the State ferries on their way up from either Bellingham, Washington, or Prince Rupert, British Colombia. They are often clad in wool and hiking boots, and with a trademark "Laplander wool hat" with the ear flap and strings hanging down. And, they almost always write in their journals and read books in public. They frequent the espresso shops of Juneau, playing their guitars and busily philosophizing with their peers about this and that, while their back pack leans against a chair. And of course all of this is just fine, although it is sometimes kind of funny to watch. Especially when they are decked out in what they think would be "Alaskan attire". Meanwhile, I am wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, and Xtra Tuffs.
And so, was Christopher McCandless one of these "pilgrims"? In my book I would have called him so. But was a he a smart pilgrim? No, personally I thought he was an idiot, and his foolishness killed him. Alaska is a very harsh place, particularly up North where he perished. The lay of the land and the mountains are probably no worse than many places in the Lower 48 when you think of the Rockies, the Appalachians, the west coast Coastal ranges, the Cascades, etc. But Alaska is sparsely populated and just plain HUGE. An easy place to just disappear in. And it is particularly harsh. The Interior of Alaska is way more easy to travel in during the winter because it is frozen.
I have Pals in Two Rivers, AK, where I have spent much time, who simply can't wait for wintertime! In the summer, one can't really just go hiking in the woods or on the tundra as easily as in the winter because there is so much swampy land. And man, the mosquitos! I am here to tell you that I have been in many of the places in America where the mosquito population is claimed to be worse than any place else. But I am here to tell you that I have neverever experienced anything like the intense clouds of the biting little bastards that I ran into up North in The Interior! And, they are not particularly big mosquitos up there, small, actually, but their sheer numbers screwed me out of fishing the Little Chena many a time! It just wasn't worth the temporary insanity that they can bring upon you!
And so, I am glad that this story has been told, so that future wandering idealists can take heed and not hurt themselves like McCandless and his family was hurt.
This book "Into The Wild" is the kind of Alaskan book that we find displayed in the check out lines at supermarkets and such. There are a lot of books like "Alaskan Bear Tales", and "More Alaskan Bear Tales" and others that are written by people with personal experiences up here, or are about people and their wild tales from the North. Another Incredible read, if you want to know The Truth about Alaska's wolves is "Alaska's Wolf Man" by Jim Reardon. It is the story of Frank Glaser, a man who came to AK in 1915 as a young man and hunted for the Alaska Railroad crews, as well as trapped wolves for the Federal Government. It is an awesome biography of one of the most remarkable Outdoor guys I have ever heard of. Too bad young McCandless didn't have just one 8th of old Frank Glaser's savvy. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the boy, and worse for his family whom he left behind. But I think that his lack of clear thinking was hindered by a large dose of pride, which came before his fall.
And so, I do look fwd to the movie. Apparently it has already come and gone here, but will be out in DVD at some point. And, thanks for the heads up at the "shout it out" chat thing NaughtyGrrrl! Oops, I mean RottieGrrrl! ;-)
I live in Juneau, the state's capital city. Juneau is located in what we call the Southeast Panhandle. Juneau, was named for Joe Juneau, a gold seeker who put Juneau on the map when a local Tlingit Indian, Chief Kowee, showed him where the "yellow metal" was. Took him there by canoe, if I remember correctly. check out the map link, and scroll to the lower right corner. I have also lived in Haines, just north of Juneau where I still own a house, as well as in Kenai, which is located on the Kenai Peninsula, up in South Central Alaska, down on the coast. But I have traveled the state extensively in the Interior up to Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs, Two Rivers, Delta Junction, and Tok. On the Bering Sea Coast, I have been to Unalakleet as well as Nome, Mountain Village, Emmonak, Shaktoolik, Stebbins, Kotlik, Council, and St. Marys. All of the times I traveled to those places, I was working , and mainly building housing for the Eskimos and Indians, and making big bucks! It was nice getting that forty dollars an hour, lots of OT, plus hotel and per diem. And man, those Eskimo women in Nome! Whew! You can google any of those funny sounding villages and come up with some fun viewing and reading. And so, hopefully this link will work for you. It's just a map...
I don't believe Sean Penn is actually in the movie... just behind the scenes.
I found this paragraph on the www.imdb.com entry for the movie:
"Actually, McCandless did not live through the winter here in Alaska. He set out on the trail in April and died in August. In winter the trail he walked in on is covered with many feet of snow. He died during the summer, when the rivers are full of fish and the sun is always out. For anyone who wants to know what really happened just check out "The call of the Wild", into the wild de-bunked. This is a good film that tells the truth. It appeared here in Alaska a few months ago and the real people in the film were in attendance. Chris McCandless did a lot of things the Sean Penn left out. Hollywood evidently sees what it wants to see."
And this from another site:
A company called Terra Incognita Films has produced a documentary about Christopher McCandless, the inspiration for Into the Wild. Call of the Wild disputes several primary arguments made by Into the Wild, both Sean Penn's movie and Jon Krakauer's book. For those of us who were moved by Into the Wild, it may or may not be something we want to know about, but there is a page of the Terra Incognita website devoted to the argument, entitled "Into the Wild Debunked" [www.tifilms.com/cw-sub/debunked.htm]. The evidence presented is impressive, and the whole affair pretty sad.
Sounds like the "real" Alaskans confirm everything you are saying, Johnny.
Did anyone ever consider he might have had that adventure with suicide in mind?
I personaly have witnessed several yes several people perform suicide willingly by starving .
No not an eating disorder, suicide by the only means to the end of the circumstance they are in, in nursing homes or the elderly or terminal will DECIDE not to eat and barely drink to be able to die.
Not hunger strike which is a behaviour to incite with the person losing wieght but not dying, true suicide with a sound mind.
At a certain point in the process the brain becomes ill and literly starved to thepoint it is difficult to make choices or to think but when food is available they will still refuse and then die.
If he did have food available and chose not to eat that is suicide, he may have gotten to weak to hunt or fish, but contary to what people think the feeling of hunger does NOT go away until they die neither does thirst.
We see the third world countries and the babies with the extended stomach etc. they are malnutritioned not starving they will stay alive with minimal food and suffer brain and organ damage but they are not really starving to the point of death until they do... have enough damage the heart or kidney gives out. anorexia is about the same .
true starvation is the most horrid and I mean HORRID thing one has to ever witness and endure it is painful and tormenting and just an awful awful thing.. the last few hours they scream in pain unless given very serious pain drugs such as morphine to minamize the discomfort which slows them down and makes death enter more quickly.
If he had food available why didnt he eat was he depressed did he go up there to die? it does happen more than people want to hear about.
Did anyone ever consider he might have had that adventure with suicide in mind?
I personaly have witnessed several yes several people perform suicide willingly by starving .
No not an eating disorder, suicide by the only means to the end of the circumstance they are in, in nursing homes or the elderly or terminal will DECIDE not to eat and barely drink to be able to die.
Not hunger strike which is a behaviour to incite with the person losing wieght but not dying, true suicide with a sound mind.
At a certain point in the process the brain becomes ill and literly starved to thepoint it is difficult to make choices or to think but when food is available they will still refuse and then die.
If he did have food available and chose not to eat that is suicide, he may have gotten to weak to hunt or fish, but contary to what people think the feeling of hunger does NOT go away until they die neither does thirst.
We see the third world countries and the babies with the extended stomach etc. they are malnutritioned not starving they will stay alive with minimal food and suffer brain and organ damage but they are not really starving to the point of death until they do... have enough damage the heart or kidney gives out. anorexia is about the same .
true starvation is the most horrid and I mean HORRID thing one has to ever witness and endure it is painful and tormenting and just an awful awful thing.. the last few hours they scream in pain unless given very serious pain drugs such as morphine to minamize the discomfort which slows them down and makes death enter more quickly.
If he had food available why didnt he eat was he depressed did he go up there to die? it does happen more than people want to hear about.
did he? I didnt read the story. He may have became to ill to find food depression, or poisin i suppose a bad mushroom can be toxic but wouldnt the autospy show if it was something other than a bad flu bug or berry?
i guess i will have to read those links or the story to know, but i know this it take a VERY large will to starve to death. it seems like if he was a all able he would have ate soemthing if he wasnt ill, even if he was lost . eat a fly a bug a worm a rabiit something it was summer and wild life was about. my father used to serve us turtles eew but they ate them.
Thanks for answering Johnny. I'm going to show my Mom that map. Her and my dad traveled extensively in Alaska in the 80s and loved it. Sounds a bit too rugged for me though.
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doojable
I didn't read it - but I did listen to it as an audio book this past summer.
It's a disturbing story, to say the least.
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mstar1
I read it about 10 years ago, Im a little sketchy on the details but I do remember liking it and that it was a very powerful story.
I too "dropped everything", and ran away to Alaska when I was 18 so I had alot of common ground with the story that probably biased my perceptions as the story had an automatic in with me.
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RottieGrrrl
I just learned of this story recently, I know this was a recent movie. I wonder what Johnny Lingo's take on this guy would be?
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pond
Is this the one who was eaten after spending year or so surviving on his own in the wilderness?
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RottieGrrrl
He wasn't eaten he starved to death. I really really would like Lingo man's take on this one.
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J0nny Ling0
I read the book back in 2003 or so. It particularly pricked my interest because the kid had come from the same general area where I grew up and went to high school. But, if I recall correctly, the kid in the book was portrayed as a dreamer and self made "intellectual". He also seemed to be very selfish in my opinion because of his lack of concern for his family and his purposeful decision to not communicate with them. And, when he was down in Collyfornya (CA ;-), he seemed to be a free loader as well. And, his foolishness got him killed. I am very curious to see how he has been portrayed in the Movie. I guess it was directed by Sean Penn, and so, no doubt the take will be "interesting". The conclusion will probably be that George Bush and the Neo-Cons killed him.
We get a whole lot of what many of us Alaskans call "pilgrims" who come up here for their Alaskan Adventure. They can be seen the State ferries on their way up from either Bellingham, Washington, or Prince Rupert, British Colombia. They are often clad in wool and hiking boots, and with a trademark "Laplander wool hat" with the ear flap and strings hanging down. And, they almost always write in their journals and read books in public. They frequent the espresso shops of Juneau, playing their guitars and busily philosophizing with their peers about this and that, while their back pack leans against a chair. And of course all of this is just fine, although it is sometimes kind of funny to watch. Especially when they are decked out in what they think would be "Alaskan attire". Meanwhile, I am wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, and Xtra Tuffs.
And so, was Christopher McCandless one of these "pilgrims"? In my book I would have called him so. But was a he a smart pilgrim? No, personally I thought he was an idiot, and his foolishness killed him. Alaska is a very harsh place, particularly up North where he perished. The lay of the land and the mountains are probably no worse than many places in the Lower 48 when you think of the Rockies, the Appalachians, the west coast Coastal ranges, the Cascades, etc. But Alaska is sparsely populated and just plain HUGE. An easy place to just disappear in. And it is particularly harsh. The Interior of Alaska is way more easy to travel in during the winter because it is frozen.
I have Pals in Two Rivers, AK, where I have spent much time, who simply can't wait for wintertime! In the summer, one can't really just go hiking in the woods or on the tundra as easily as in the winter because there is so much swampy land. And man, the mosquitos! I am here to tell you that I have been in many of the places in America where the mosquito population is claimed to be worse than any place else. But I am here to tell you that I have never ever experienced anything like the intense clouds of the biting little bastards that I ran into up North in The Interior! And, they are not particularly big mosquitos up there, small, actually, but their sheer numbers screwed me out of fishing the Little Chena many a time! It just wasn't worth the temporary insanity that they can bring upon you!
And so, I am glad that this story has been told, so that future wandering idealists can take heed and not hurt themselves like McCandless and his family was hurt.
This book "Into The Wild" is the kind of Alaskan book that we find displayed in the check out lines at supermarkets and such. There are a lot of books like "Alaskan Bear Tales", and "More Alaskan Bear Tales" and others that are written by people with personal experiences up here, or are about people and their wild tales from the North. Another Incredible read, if you want to know The Truth about Alaska's wolves is "Alaska's Wolf Man" by Jim Reardon. It is the story of Frank Glaser, a man who came to AK in 1915 as a young man and hunted for the Alaska Railroad crews, as well as trapped wolves for the Federal Government. It is an awesome biography of one of the most remarkable Outdoor guys I have ever heard of. Too bad young McCandless didn't have just one 8th of old Frank Glaser's savvy. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the boy, and worse for his family whom he left behind. But I think that his lack of clear thinking was hindered by a large dose of pride, which came before his fall.
And so, I do look fwd to the movie. Apparently it has already come and gone here, but will be out in DVD at some point. And, thanks for the heads up at the "shout it out" chat thing NaughtyGrrrl! Oops, I mean RottieGrrrl! ;-)
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RottieGrrrl
Johnny, Thank you so much again, as I'm writing this, I'm calling my Mom over to read it. This is facinating.
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RottieGrrrl
PS Johnny if you read this. What part of Alaska are you from? My Mom wants to know. ;)
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J0nny Ling0
I live in Juneau, the state's capital city. Juneau is located in what we call the Southeast Panhandle. Juneau, was named for Joe Juneau, a gold seeker who put Juneau on the map when a local Tlingit Indian, Chief Kowee, showed him where the "yellow metal" was. Took him there by canoe, if I remember correctly. check out the map link, and scroll to the lower right corner. I have also lived in Haines, just north of Juneau where I still own a house, as well as in Kenai, which is located on the Kenai Peninsula, up in South Central Alaska, down on the coast. But I have traveled the state extensively in the Interior up to Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs, Two Rivers, Delta Junction, and Tok. On the Bering Sea Coast, I have been to Unalakleet as well as Nome, Mountain Village, Emmonak, Shaktoolik, Stebbins, Kotlik, Council, and St. Marys. All of the times I traveled to those places, I was working , and mainly building housing for the Eskimos and Indians, and making big bucks! It was nice getting that forty dollars an hour, lots of OT, plus hotel and per diem. And man, those Eskimo women in Nome! Whew! You can google any of those funny sounding villages and come up with some fun viewing and reading. And so, hopefully this link will work for you. It's just a map...
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...s%3Fq%3Dalaska%
2Bmap%26um%3D1&start=2&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=2
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J0nny Ling0
Did Sean Penn actually play in the movie?
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TheHighWay
I don't believe Sean Penn is actually in the movie... just behind the scenes.
I found this paragraph on the www.imdb.com entry for the movie:
"Actually, McCandless did not live through the winter here in Alaska. He set out on the trail in April and died in August. In winter the trail he walked in on is covered with many feet of snow. He died during the summer, when the rivers are full of fish and the sun is always out. For anyone who wants to know what really happened just check out "The call of the Wild", into the wild de-bunked. This is a good film that tells the truth. It appeared here in Alaska a few months ago and the real people in the film were in attendance. Chris McCandless did a lot of things the Sean Penn left out. Hollywood evidently sees what it wants to see."
And this from another site:
A company called Terra Incognita Films has produced a documentary about Christopher McCandless, the inspiration for Into the Wild. Call of the Wild disputes several primary arguments made by Into the Wild, both Sean Penn's movie and Jon Krakauer's book. For those of us who were moved by Into the Wild, it may or may not be something we want to know about, but there is a page of the Terra Incognita website devoted to the argument, entitled "Into the Wild Debunked" [www.tifilms.com/cw-sub/debunked.htm]. The evidence presented is impressive, and the whole affair pretty sad.
Sounds like the "real" Alaskans confirm everything you are saying, Johnny.
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pond
Did anyone ever consider he might have had that adventure with suicide in mind?
I personaly have witnessed several yes several people perform suicide willingly by starving .
No not an eating disorder, suicide by the only means to the end of the circumstance they are in, in nursing homes or the elderly or terminal will DECIDE not to eat and barely drink to be able to die.
Not hunger strike which is a behaviour to incite with the person losing wieght but not dying, true suicide with a sound mind.
At a certain point in the process the brain becomes ill and literly starved to thepoint it is difficult to make choices or to think but when food is available they will still refuse and then die.
If he did have food available and chose not to eat that is suicide, he may have gotten to weak to hunt or fish, but contary to what people think the feeling of hunger does NOT go away until they die neither does thirst.
We see the third world countries and the babies with the extended stomach etc. they are malnutritioned not starving they will stay alive with minimal food and suffer brain and organ damage but they are not really starving to the point of death until they do... have enough damage the heart or kidney gives out. anorexia is about the same .
true starvation is the most horrid and I mean HORRID thing one has to ever witness and endure it is painful and tormenting and just an awful awful thing.. the last few hours they scream in pain unless given very serious pain drugs such as morphine to minamize the discomfort which slows them down and makes death enter more quickly.
If he had food available why didnt he eat was he depressed did he go up there to die? it does happen more than people want to hear about.
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cheranne
he ate poisonious berrys.
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pond
did he? I didnt read the story. He may have became to ill to find food depression, or poisin i suppose a bad mushroom can be toxic but wouldnt the autospy show if it was something other than a bad flu bug or berry?
i guess i will have to read those links or the story to know, but i know this it take a VERY large will to starve to death. it seems like if he was a all able he would have ate soemthing if he wasnt ill, even if he was lost . eat a fly a bug a worm a rabiit something it was summer and wild life was about. my father used to serve us turtles eew but they ate them.
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RottieGrrrl
Thanks for answering Johnny. I'm going to show my Mom that map. Her and my dad traveled extensively in Alaska in the 80s and loved it. Sounds a bit too rugged for me though.
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