Into the Wild
Has anyone seen the movie, Into the Wild?
If so, what did you think of it?
I personally thought it was a great movie and am looking forward to reading the book.
Movie good, book better, 20 page long thread about it someplace here.
really? I'll have to check that out.
Go to "search" and you'll find a lot of dialogue on the subject.
I thought both were great.
yeah nevermind this post, haha.
Shreild your eyes on the other threads you find hammer
There's some inexplicable haters out there for this beautiful sole who died so young.
A supernova I guess
Thanks VF
Hate is a strong word.Originally Posted by warraghiyagey
He starved to death.
How romantic.
sole is a fish
...and the bottom of a foot
I know there's that whole other thread, but just wanted to chime in here as I saw the movie first and then read the book. The newest edition of the book offers a better explanation for what happened to him - mold induced involutary starvation. Good read and the book offers more personal insight from the author that wasn't in the movie.
Lots of folks seem to think this guy was an idiot, and certainly he had a flawed outlook on society in general as well as a naive trust of himself and paper ideas, but his story is interesting in terms of just how well he was able to do on his own with so little in the way of what is normal in our lives, AND what he was able to experience as a result.
My wife, who cares little for the outdoors, and who somehow missed out on any of the reporting of the story in Atlanta, absolutely loved the movie.
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
I watched the movie...I really liked it. Yeah he made a mistake and it got him killed. Most of us who have been around a bit have probably made mistakes that could of killed us also.
I remember some friends and I were about 19. We spent almost a half day running around in the tidal flats in Valdez AK. We found out later that there is a tidal quick sand that can suck you in and hold you until;
A. you die of hypothermia (the sand & water are very cold)
B. The tide comes in and you drown
C. You get rescued which is supposed to be quite tricky.
Sometimes you live and learn, sometimes you die.
If you find yourself in a fair fight; your tactics suck.
On the practical side, I'm don't think it was the mold that killed him. Though it certainly contributed, I think he was already at risk. It is true that the moose hunters might have saved him had he not suffered the poisoning, but something else might have gotten him before then. I think his inability to cross the river was also partly due to his condition at that critical time. Had he more physical and mental energy at that time he might have been better able to take his chances and find a way across, or at least better able to make the better decision, whatever it was.
I think the story illustrates just how critical, yet how physically and technically difficult it is, to find safe sources of carbohydrates in the wild. Sources of fat are usually scarce also. Protien is not so scarce, but your body can only convert so much protien to carbohydrates each day, and your brain needs carbohydrates. Also, while your body can trudge a long way on body fat, to attempt something like a river crossing you really need to be loaded up on carbs to be physically and mentally prepared to attempt it. Carbs are key. It's easy to say he should have lugged in another 10 pounds or so of rice or flour or honey or whatever, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.
I'm just saying that besides all the other issues we shouldn't lose sight of this important lesson.
Carbs are critical.
I know his weakend condition made the river crossing tough but, there may not have been enough carbs in the world to help him cross that river. That river was glacier and snow melt fed. Very cold running very high and fast. You would need a real good plan and good gear to get across.
If you find yourself in a fair fight; your tactics suck.
Various "theories", but it looks like he just plain starved to death. He weighed only 67 lbs at time of death. The movie did not do it justice. Think death camp thin. Mold? Bad plants? Nothing romantic here, just a slow suicide.
There are so many miles and so many mountains between here and there that it is hardly worth thinking about
Good point about the river. That is an important lesson also. They can become very serious barriers. I do understand that he starved to death. I'm just saying that its still an important lesson just how important carbs are well before it reaches that point. It's easy to right stuff like this off as slow suicide, but there are important details to be learned or reminded of, and you don't get that by oversimplifying it.
People like to oversimplify things. The local fisherman say that kayakers should never go out on the Bay of Fundy, any time of the year. People say its 40F, all year round, and you will die in 2 minutes, and BS like that. Yeah sure OK. Wank wank wank. Pass the toilet paper. If you want to stay home stay home, but if you want to go, do your own research and don't oversimplify it. Pay attention to the folklore, but go deeper than the superficial children's stories. That's all I'm saying.
Maybe nothing romantic in the death....but perhaps something romantic in his life. I'll bet most of us hikers have had the passing fancy of chucking it all and heading "Into the Wild".
If you find yourself in a fair fight; your tactics suck.
Tell her not worry. If it wasn't for this thread, I'd never heard of the story either. But, then, I don't watch much TV and I never read/watch/listen to the news.
Might pick-up the book on the ride home.
Yellow Jacket -- Words of Wisdom (tm) go here.
In to the wild
You guys might want to check out your local library i just got the movie from mine. gone to watch it tonight.
My library has the movie and the old edition of the book. But they don't carry newer version of the book.You guys might want to check out your local library i just got the movie from mine. gone to watch it tonight.
Yellow Jacket -- Words of Wisdom (tm) go here.
I am reading the book now and would recomend it.
It would be easy to say that its suicide. But a movie can only do so much. Would you really think someone could diet down to 67 pounds? Not likely. The author may have put some of his insight into the story, but Chris McCandless kept a journal, so i think he made it as accurate as possible
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