Why can’t he be both?
I’ve started on the misnamed The Complete Oscar Wilde. Misnamed because it does not have De Profundis, but it’s a great collection anyway.
(Referring to Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild–unprepared idiot or inspiring free spirit.)
I did see him as both. That was one of the reasons why I found the story so compelling: I thought the author (Krakauer, right?) managed to show both sides of McCandless’s personality. I kept going back and forth while I was reading the book (“You didn’t bring BOOTS?”/“Your dedication is impressive…”), and afterwards as well.
My recollection/impression is that Krakauer saw a lot of himself in McCandless and found him to be a very sympathetic figure. But to his credit the author did not handwave away the man’s problems or mistakes.
On the whole, if I had to choose one, I’d say McCandless was in over his head, thinking that he could do more than he was actually capable of; whether that was out of arrogance or inexperience I don’t know. I doubt I would have liked him very much in person. Still, I found some things about him to be rather admirable…so I would choose “both.”
The McCandless scales tipped pretty decisively towards the “idjit” side of things for me.
Just finished John Scalzi’s The Ghost Brigades and loved it all over again. Great military sf with an attitude. Next I’ll read Scalzi’s novella The Sagan Diary, which builds upon it. Also still reading Salman Rushdie’s essay collection Imaginary Homelands, which is interesting, all in all, but no page-turner.
Yeah, the film version did the same for me. While the movie showed him as a nice-enough guy, you had to keep wondering just what the hell was he thinking? (I just posted in another thread about a similar other American I used to know here, also a nice guy but really had some brain cells missing. I have become more familiar with this type than I ever thought I would be.)
The PBS documentary said in pretty plain terms that McCandless was schizophrenic.
Currently reading Jon Ronson, Lost at Sea, a collection that flows very nicely.
Ever since I finished Hauntings by Norah Lofts I’ve been kind of all over the place with my reading lately. On the one hand I’m really into this slick, psychological thriller called Stranger in the Room by Amanda Kyle Williams. On the other hand, my friend just lent me Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I have yet to finish. In my free time I just kinda pick up whatever I’m in the mood for.
I finished The Black Box by Michael Connelly, Not up to the standard of Echo Park but head and shoulders better than The Drop. The action is smooth and the story unwinds at a pace that isn’t hurried but doesn’t drag either. The climax is fast paced and exciting, a real page turner.
My only complaints are the editing, he really needs an editor that understands the “Show, don’t tell” rule, however there were fewer instances than in The Drop. And Maddie… yeah, Maddie is a little *too *good at everything she does. Whether it’s rookie cop shooting practice or learning to drive a car, she gets it all the first time.
I’m reading Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim, a novel about a magician who escapes Hell and is out to kill those responsible for sending him there. This is one of those series I always meant to get around to one of these days. Now I finally have, and it’s decent, as I thought it probably would be. Not great, but fun and I plan to continue.
Right now, I’m reading an old, out of print Ellery Queen novella called Face to Face.
It had a slow start in my opinion and I really didn’t like Slim until the end (I would have thought he’d got the whiny adolescent out of his system while in Hell). The second book Kill the Dead was a much better book. I’m waiting on the third from the library…
I love this series, personally. The plotting can be a little uneven sometimes, but I really got into the characters and of course, the setting and unique magic. I particularly like that you get your urban fantasy / mystery blend with a great dose of snarky humor, something that stays consistent throughout the series. Hang in there for the sequel & report back! 
At my wife’s prompting, I read Girl on a Train. Man, what an indictment on humanity is that book. There wasn’t a sympathetic character in the whole book.
Also read The Kronos Interference, a time paradox novel and Repeat, by Neal Pollock (who I suspect is a doper), another time travel novel.
I have a couple Max Allen Collins, Nolan novels left I haven’t read, so I will probably read them next.
Oh goody! It’s nice to know things will improve.
I’m happy this afternoon because I just got in the library hold queue for the new Ransom Riggs and the new Patrick Ness. quiet fist-pump at my desk
I will!
Though it may take awhile since my library doesn’t have it T_T I’ll either have to wait until I get back to work to buy it or see if I have a friend that can loan it to me.
But yes the snarky humour IS gold!
I read most of JD robb’s novella Midnight in Death last night and finished it up today, Basically it’s what every In Death novel would be if the sex and waxing poetic over Roarke’s hair, eyes, physique would be, in short, a smooth tight little mystery. The sense of suspense was well done and ratcheted up nicely in the last 15 pages or so. Not really any character development, but character development isn’t really a factor in a J D Robb novel anyway.
Double header today… I finished The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost by John Bellairs. I had started it last month and then got distracted by other things
Finished If the Dead Rise Not, a Bernie Gunther novel by Phillip Kerr. Now I am going to have to find the rest of his books in this series. They don’t seem to be in any specific chronological order. This one jumps from Berlin in 1934 to Havana in 1954, and most of the books in the series are set just before The War, or during it.
Despite some stilted dialog here and there–Bernie sounds like a German Rick Blaine–it was a very enjoyable book.
The Bernie Gunther series is awesome - one of my favorites.
I will give him this: I’d rather read the end of Midnight Riot again than read ANY Harry Dresden book.
I started Devil you know by Mike Carey. I’m certain someone here recommended it at some point…