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  1. #1

    Default Into the Wild by Krakauer

    Interesting take on a boy/man that wanted to olive off the grid and eventually died in Alaska. Seen by some as romantic because he followed his dream and lived live his way. Seen as a nut by others. Regardless, it is interesting and a fast read.
    If you faint in the face of adversity then your faith is indeed small--Solomon

  2. #2
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Pretty old story. Those who actually succeed at doing things like McCandless attempted are almost always better educated as to what they are getting into, have a plan other than just wandering off, and are prepared. Going off on a "romantic" adventure can be a wonderful calling. But going off "half-cocked" will often get you killed. In the end, his death was tragic, but predictable.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    In the end, his death was tragic, but predictable.
    Yours and mine too. Death is very much predictable. Where there's life, death follows.

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    Registered User Cotton Terry's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    Pretty old story. Those who actually succeed at doing things like McCandless attempted are almost always better educated as to what they are getting into, have a plan other than just wandering off, and are prepared. Going off on a "romantic" adventure can be a wonderful calling. But going off "half-cocked" will often get you killed. In the end, his death was tragic, but predictable.
    Richard Proenneke is nice success story. He lived in the wilderness for thirty-some years. I saw his documentary on PBS.

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    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cotton Terry View Post
    Richard Proenneke is nice success story. He lived in the wilderness for thirty-some years. I saw his documentary on PBS.
    Exactly...
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Into Thin Air. Also a good read.

    Wayne


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  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cotton Terry View Post
    Richard Proenneke is nice success story. He lived in the wilderness for thirty-some years. I saw his documentary on PBS.
    I never get tired of watching his story.

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    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    I never get tired of watching his story.
    The hand hewn door hinges, and the door latch and lock on the cabin door are just over the top. As are the perfectly straight shelves cut with a hand rip saw. And the repurposed metal cans made into flashing and pots - and that darn wooden spoon.
    Last edited by 4eyedbuzzard; 01-17-2016 at 00:34.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

  9. #9

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    You'd like any of Calvin Rutstrum's books.

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    the into the wild kid had a death/ attention wish

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    Registered User Cotton Terry's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4eyedbuzzard View Post
    The hand hewn door hinges, and the door latch and lock on the cabin door are just over the top. As are the perfectly straight shelves cut with a hand rip saw. And the repurposed metal cans made into flashing and pots - and that darn wooden spoon.

    http://www.nps.gov/lacl/learn/histor...ekes-cabin.htm

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    Quote Originally Posted by George View Post
    the into the wild kid had a death/ attention wish
    An attention wish?! Wow. If that's what you obtained from the book, you might want to reread it. Or work on your reading skills.

    I ask: Why would he have left society, his family, and all others he met during his travels if he craved attention? How, exactly, does one gain attention by being alone in a bus in Alaska, where no one knows where you are? (Recall: this was the pre-Internet age...he had no blog or Twitter account or Wastebook page.)

    A death wish, maybe...but I'm guessing more of a life wish.

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    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    I don't think he had a death wish, nor an attention wish. He got in over his head skills wise and then couldn't bail out due to the nature of the place. Just the over-enthusiastic wide-eyed type that wasn't patient or grounded enough to put in the homework and preparation needed to gain the experience to succeed at what he tried.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Mr. Supertramp read a lot of Thoreau....

    "As I was leaving the Irishman's roof after the rain, bending my steps again to the pond, my haste to catch pickerel, wading in retired meadows, in sloughs and bog-holes, in forlorn and savage places, appeared for an instant trivial to me who had been sent to school and college;
    but as I ran down the hill toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say --

    Go fish and hunt far and wide day by day -- farther and wider -- and rest thee by many brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving.
    Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek adventures.
    Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night overtake thee everywhere at home.

    There are no larger fields than these, no worthier games than may here be played.

    Grow wild according to thy nature, like these sedges and brakes, which will never become English hay.
    Let the thunder rumble; what if it threaten ruin to farmers' crops?
    That is not its errand to thee.
    Take shelter under the cloud, while they flee to carts and sheds. Let not to get a living be thy trade, but thy sport.

    Enjoy the land, but own it not.

    Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs."

    Henry Thoreau. from Walden, Baker Farm
    "The wind that blows, is all that anybody knows"
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    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
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    Thoreau was a poser.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by egilbe View Post
    Thoreau was a poser.
    How so????

  17. #17
    Registered User 4eyedbuzzard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by egilbe View Post
    Thoreau was a poser.
    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    How so????
    Yes, how so?

    One of the greatest concepts that Thoreau expounds on in Walden is the value of time and its relationship to material possessions - that we pay for material possessions not directly in money, but rather in the precious time (and labor) we ultimately exchange for those items. And we pay again (in time and labor) in securing, maintaining, and simply possessing them. It's a concept that was often repeated to my children as they grew up.


    He was certainly not motivated in the sense of traditional work or business success even though born in a reasonably affluent family. Nor did he conform to the norms of polite society in many ways. He was definitely a dreamer. But a poser? It wasn't like he presented his days at Walden as a death defying expedition to the wilderness. He even writes of his trips to town, visitors, the train, etc. Just a dreamer's escape to a small plot where he eked out a subsistence life for a while and contemplated the trappings of what was then modern, civilized life.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Into the Wild is perhaps the reason I am here on WhiteBlaze today. I saw the movie first, and identified with it as I had previously spent a year living outside voluntarily as I was sick of a mainstream life. It was a challenging time in many ways and I too came close to death's door, but it was also the best time of my life, and what keeps me drawn to the outdoors (and moreover, long distance hiking) through today. I'm much wiser now from it, less arrogant and more prepared, more humble and eager to learn more from others and experience.

    I thought it was a great story and highly recommend it.

  19. #19

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    I grew tired of the book about half way through it.
    Seemed the author was repeating himself for the sake of adding pages.
    Gave it to my BIL.

    Sad story for sure.

    The Richard Proenneke PBS documentary is one of my favorites.
    I have always longed to live like he did.
    I too was amazed with the hinges, lock and spoon.
    He was so good with a saw and knife.

  20. #20
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    Interesting book and movie, tragic and sad but thought provoking. I, too, am of the mind set of the "attention need" thing being prevalent. Just my take.

    I haven't read a book by Krakauer that I haven't really liked, try "Eiger Dreams" sometime Venchka, if you liked "Into thin Air".

    One thing is for sure (IMHO): The Eddie Vedder soundtrack from Into the Wild is fantastic.

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