Into the Wild as Biography They are always non-fiction works about the life of a real-living person written by another person, often after its subject's death. Fantastic book, exquisitely well-written.Īlso Know, is Into the Wild a literary work? " Into the Wild" is a a short but very poignant book. He fully intended to come back from the wilderness. Secondly, is Into the Wild a good book? Proof that Chris had no thought of suicide when he embarked on his Alaskan adventure. Into the Wild, the 1996 book by Jon Krakauer, told the true story of Christopher McCandless, a suburban college graduate who, inspired by the wilderness tales of Jack London and Henry David Thoreau, hitchhiked deep into the Alaskan wilderness.
It lacks the resonance of great literature (including Into the Wild ), which less focus on her marriages and a deeper exploration of the journalistic ramifications of restricting information, or of the psychology of abusers might have provided.īut The Wild Truth is an important book on two fronts: It sets the record straight about a story that has touched thousands of readers, and it opens up a conversation about hideous domestic violence hidden behind a mask of prosperity and propriety.Then, what book is Into the Wild based on? The Wild Truth is undoubtedly a "courageous book," as Krakauer asserts in his gracious foreword, and Carine McCandless comes across above all as a resilient survivor. Interestingly, she accepts her beloved brother's abandonment without bitterness, seeing it as an unfortunate casualty of his clean break with their parents. The Wild Truth moves swiftly from Carine's closeness with her brother - invariably pictured hugging her protectively - to a candid (though, not surprisingly, less compelling) account of her lifelong search for unconditional love and self-worth through three marriages, close bonding with her half-siblings, devoted motherhood and owning a successful business. But although Billie repeatedly vowed to leave Walt, raising her children's hopes, she never followed through. When Carine was 1 year old, Marcia finally escaped with her six children. In the next few years, he would father two more children with his wife, Marcia, and two with Billie - Chris and Carine - while brutalizing and lying to both women. Family photos paint a sunnier picture, though she makes clear that these command performances were part of an elaborate false front.īillie and Walt's relationship began at Hughes Aircraft, where she was a young secretary and he was her married boss, a rising star electrical engineer. In her efforts to present a balanced picture, Carine flags happier times, too - like the camping trips her brother loved. What she does do is chronicle Billie and Walt McCandless' miserable wine- and gin-fueled marriage and its lasting repercussions on their children. Her memoir reveals what Chris was running from - and should lay to rest allegations that her brother's behavior was cruel to their parents.įortunately, McCandless - while searingly honest - doesn't sustain this level of distressing intensity, or I doubt I would have been able to make it through. Now Chris' younger sister, Carine McCandless, 21 at the time of her brother's death, has come out with The Wild Truth, which tells a story as poisonous as wild potato seeds. He hoped that the new findings would squelch some of those accusations. In a fascinating 2013 followup article in The New Yorker, Krakauer finally confirmed the cause of McCandless' death: a toxic amino acid in wild potato seeds, previously thought to be benign. But he never fully answered what motivated McCandless' ascetic renunciation, and the book drew scores of letters accusing him of arrogance, ignorance and selfishness.
Krakauer's book struck a nerve with readers. His emaciated body was found a little over four months later. After tramping around the country for nearly two years, he headed into the Alaska wilderness in April 1992. Jon Krakauer's 1996 book Into the Wild delved into the riveting story of Chris McCandless, a 24-year-old man from an affluent family outside Washington, D.C., who graduated with honors from Emory, then gave away the bulk of his money, burned the rest and severed all ties with his family. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Wild Truth Author Carine McCandless and Jon Krakauer
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