# Your thoughts on INTO THE WILD by Jon Krakauer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728 "2003-08-12T21:01:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/21 "2003-08-15T17:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\*If you were, say, an insanely narcissistic kid who wanted to travel Alaska by snowmobile in winter, how would you know when you had left the Outback and entered the Arctic? The foliage where McCandless died wasn’t that thick so I wouldn’t think there’d be a treeline to speak of in winter but rather plains, etc… > > My favorite think in any of the articles about McCandless is what the woman who wrote the Anchorage Press article pointed out- on the cover of the [Outside Magazine](http://web.outsideonline.com/disc/guest/krakauer/bookintro.html) in which the story of McCandless’ death premiered, the other stories for the magazine are listed. One is > > “Are you too thin? Fat can be your friend” \*\* I must be dense this morning, but I’m still having difficulty understanding your questions. Perhaps it’s your terminology. We don’t have an “outback” here. What we refer to as “the Bush” is basically anything that requires something other than road access, which is most of the state. The definition of “arctic” is basically all the territory from the North Pole to the Arctic Circle. The Arctic Circle is at 66.5 degrees north lattitude and is the northernmost point for the sun to be visible at winter solstice. As one travels further north, the trees become more sparse and stunted, eventually giving way to tundra. I guess an answer to your question would be, if you’re not seeing any trees, chances are you are officially in the Arctic. One would not lightly undertake a snowmachine trip into the Bush without having known caches of fuel along the way. To not do so would probably result in equating ‘narcissistic’ to ‘suicidal’. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/22 "2003-08-15T17:11:54Z")
Krakauer’s “Eiger Dreams” is also a good read. It’s a collection of short pieces he’s done. He’s such a good writer that the one on being stuck inside your tent during bad weather (imagine a duller subject) is quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Homer\_J.Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a698b9/32.png) [@Homer\_J.Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer_J.Simpson)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/23 "2003-08-16T06:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > The foliage where McCandless died wasn’t that thick Did you read the book? The bush is quite thick. Chefguy can probably speak better about this than me, but the Alaska bush can be very dense. ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/24 "2003-08-16T13:18:30Z")
It’s hard for me to hear stories like this and not blame the parents for being so obviously neglectful in teaching their child the value of work. I was not a perfect kid, either, but this kid was really out there, giving away a trust fund, burning cash in the Mojave Desert, hitchhiking around the continent. :rolleyes: Like that girl who was bulldozed in Israel earlier this year, I feel sorry for the death of such a young person with a good mind, but in a free country you can’t stop people from killing themselves/putting themselves in harm’s way. This story reminds me of another book I read about crossing the Sahara from Algiers to Dakar - “Sahara Unveiled” by William Langewiesche. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/25 "2003-08-16T13:26:04Z")
I have no desire to read any Krakauer book more than once. I think we all know people like Chris. Brilliant but not quite all there. He did something real dumb in the wilderness and paid a price for it. He also could have been me but luck was on my side for some of my Tibetan treks. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/26 "2003-08-16T14:50:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer J. Simpson \* > \*\*Did you read the book? The bush is quite thick. Chefguy can probably speak better about this than me, but the Alaska bush can be very dense. \*\* Even when in alpine areas or on the tundra, the vegetation is generally thick and varied. While tundra vegetation is low to the ground, it contains an amazing variety of berry bushes and the like. As I said, I didn’t read the book, but had he possessed a decent knowledge of edible plants, he _may_ have survived the ordeal. A diet of moosemeat will not sustain you. It’s very lean and all protein, and without refrigeration is not going to last long. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728/27 "2003-08-16T20:46:15Z")
Wow, I had no idea so many people felt such distaste for the guy. I admire him mostly because I understand him(or at least something near him). I read that third link and wanted to slap the hell out of those people. It just seems so sad to me that people have so little sence of what discovering themselves is about. I guess if a safe life with no tests makes you happy than go for it. My whole life I’ve been trying to find a way to really figure out what I’m capable of, and what it means to be human. Tests such as how many people you can screw, how many people you can make your subordinants, how much money you can make, how many babies you can pop out just seem contrived and weak. Most peoples tests for themselves seem to be a method for fooling themselves from taking any real test. And by real test I mean a test with real stakes, putting something on the line and seeing what your made of. Disclaimer, I’ve never read the book, but I have been fairly familiar with the story. I’m pretty sure That If I did read it I’d go do the same thing he did. I’ve actually twice in life gotten in a car to just drive somewhere and do something similar, but one time I ran out of gas and had to walk 20 miles to town, and the other time I got caught speeding and had a three hour police search of my car. I kind of lost steam after that. It’s not stupidity going into the wild unprepared. It’s a conscious decision to see if you have the strength of charcter to survive thorugh will. I certainly don’t fell superior to him for what he did, and I don’t really feel that sorry he died. He made a decision followed through, with it, and just didn’t quite make it. But at least he had the balls to try to figure out his own life, his death is a sence of sadness, but nothing to pity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-thoughts-on-into-the-wild-by-jon-krakauer/194728.md?page=1)