/lit/ - Literature

idk but i've always found /lit/ to be incapable of any analysis of this book other than base contrarianism

>>21922275
Story of a family who let their mentally ill son run off to the woods, nothing inspirational about it

>>21922287
By base contrarianism do you mean hating on Chris for running off into the Alaskan Wilderness?

>>21922349
Are you sure about him being mentally ill? Seems more as if he lacked connection with his family and environment around him so he went off into the wild

>>21922275
he had a moment where he felt like he figured out life and the source of all failures and hardships in his past.
like how sometimes we think we've finally figured it all out only later to realise it was just another temporary delusion, and we still have no idea how to be happy or how life really works.
he died during one of those cycles, is my guess.

>>21922417
What would you call people like him?

>>21922417
>he had a moment where he felt like he figured out life and the source of all failures
Yeah, that sure was a false epiphany. I would have preferred that he took all of the money that he donated and spent it on gear and training. His grand adventure was more than he even imagined. He should have worked up to it. He went balls deep and paid for it. I hate that stories like this get sensationalized and actual adventurers get associated with this faggotry. In Between a Rock and a Hard Place, author Aron Ralston fawns over McCandless. The absolute state of turbo retards.

>>21922434
he was one of a kind, so just Chris McCandless or Alexander Supertramp

>>21922444
>he was one of a kind
Digits aside, fuckups cost just one dime per dozen.

>>21922442
maybe he was one of the early pioneers of the field you're a modern day expert at? anyway i enjoyed the film. haven't actually read the book honestly

>>21922275
>What drove him to the Alaskan wilderness, and more than that, even, even more than that, what drove him to his life of vagabondry and adventure?
What drove everyone else. You either feel it or you don't, you can't really explain it since it won't make any sense to you. Like when people abandon their lives to become monks, you may know why in theory but it still won't make any sense to you so you won't truly know why. He was just not prepared.

>>21922275
I was forced to read this in college and I HATED it. The only redeeming theme I can force out of it is the primal masculine urge to test yourself by throwing yourself into a completely unnecesaary survival situation. But even then, I still think it is dumb and anti-intellectual.

>>21922492
I want to know why

>>21922505
why do you think it's dumb or anti-intellectual?

>>21922556
It's basically an escapist fantasy that you can be entirely self-reliant innawood with zero preparation or help. The classical thinkers all knew socialization was the mark of a civilized person, and we are meant to live in a society.

There are also writers who have done this way more responsibly and without the delusion of society bad, like in Walden, Heart of Darkness, Desert Fathers, etc.

And personally, as a person who appreciates the art of bushcraft and survivalism, this book makes every possible mistake. It is like a guide on how to die of ignorance. He could have prepared himself with education, supplies, a group to travel with, transoprtation. But instead of furnishing these things through hard work, he wastes the hard work and material of others to his own demise. There is no virtue in what he did. He is praised only by sheltered wealthy urbanites who imagine they are experiencing a more simple life vicariously through a runaway abused adolescent.

>>21922275
The point is that Krakauer is a great writer. Into Thin Air is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. I haven't read Into the Wild, but I have to assume it's comparable.
Don't inject your politics into your reading until the dust has settled.

>>21922631
When will the dust be settled, anon. And also how did you guess I was a libertarian?

>>21922275
Untermenschen can never understand sensitive, romantic souls like Alexander Supertramp.

>>21922653
Please explain it. I need to know. All I can see is
>muh freedom

>>21922600
I don't know about that seeing that he was pretty smart, survived for so long, and had a LOT of survival experience.

>>21922657
I am sorry for your europoorism

>>21922600
Survival in the wilderness is harder than you think. He had some bad luck but did pretty good, better than anybody here would have done.

>>21922600
Now that I think about it, he is the ideal American
>maximum personal freedom
>minimal social responsibility

>>21922715
Maximum personal freedom requires high amounts of social responsibility my nigga.

>>21922483
No. He was a contemporary of mine. He was only a few months older than I. We shared a lot of attributes. I was more the outdoors type than he was. From my understanding, he lacked a lot of exposure to dealing with adversarial situations alone. It gets tough sometimes. Two men can do so much that one man cannot. I wish that I could have run into him along the way. I never would have told him to not go, but I would have told him to prepare better. I do not remember reading the book, just the news accounts when the story took place. Also, in all fairness, we just do not know what his state of mind was during departure. He seemed a bit fatalistic on some aspects. The fatal resolution may have been a hazy goal. Maybe he died early enough to influence some of our safety procedures and planning. Contemporaneous with the McCandless event was a failure of the standard rock climbing knot by a very high level climber's error. Also, three incidents of locking carabiners coming undone. We were still in the mythology of aluminum ''microfractures'' also - such related failures being finally correctly associated with faulty gate hinges and return springs. We were still learning about sand infiltrating the sheath on kernmantel rope and how it would subsequently attack the core strands. I just don't think that this kind of minutia clouded his mind. Avoid the temptation to disassociate us from him due to the rock climbing. We were heavily aid climbing to facilitate getting to remote locations.

>>21922552
Have you checked to see if his diary is available? It probably gives better insight than the book, unless the book has the full text. I read so many news accounts, etc., that I just cannot remember if I read the book. I do remember mention of a diary. Also of him letting go of a lot of personal items. He knew that there was a good chance of not returning.

>>21922761
He had a journal and some random notes, but I will try to find it.

>>21922685
>and had a LOT of survival experience
Can you elaborate on this? From my recollection, there may have been a lot of it, but that it was very thin.

>>21922783
Well maybe not a LOT per se, but certainly a substantial amount as he had kayaked down the Colorado River across into Mexico, survived off the land for a while in Oregon, survived a flashflood, and had trekked across all over different parts of the USA with minimal supplies.

>>21922701
>better than anybody here would have done
Not him, but I would probably have fared a bit better. I still would have died. There is a period in the alaskan winter in which no one engages in outside activity. That time is just erased from your calendar of time available for foraging. I would have gone in more gear heavy and likely done better procuring meat and also in preserving it. I carry flip out laminated cards that describe local vegetation. I think that his were not waterproofed so they failed him. I am not sure that I wish that he would have made it. He might have become a monument to failing to properly prepare. As it stands, only a select few adore him, and many of those only so because he died. I consider someone along the lines of Toni Kurz to have suffered more tragically because he was well prepared and it was a fluke of bad luck that caught him. One could make the argument based on a synthesis of the two incidents that you can prepare all that you want but die anyways. I do not object to that argument. A lot of people have ''Ich kann nicht mehr'' scorched into their hearts on account of Kurz. I fail to grasp any such inspiration from McCandless.

>>21922701
I'm sure that some anons can do it better since McCandless basically refused all advice, maps, useful information, etc.

Can't say it's "too hard" when you willfully try to fuck yourself over.

>>21922813
>he had kayaked down the Colorado River across into Mexico
Provided disaster does not strike, that can seem way more impressive than it is. I would check to see how many ''live, laugh, love'' broads have posted the same route on instagram while living the best version of themselves. It's probably a big number.
>survived off the land for a while in Oregon
Depending on conditions, that could be tough or it could be wonderland easy. More info is needed for that.
>survived a flashflood
I mean I have too, but I wouldn't brag about it. If you understand the terrain and keep track of the weather then you watch for it. You need to know that if you see the wash start to flow, that it IS going to rise. It does not rise as fast as it does in the movies. There is warning. For anything except the sandstone canyons in southern Arizona, you just climb out of the wash if rain starts to fall on the ground that feeds the aquifers that run your way. This is a knowledge base and preparation issue. Depending on how he personally framed the incident, it could be indicting. Does he frame it as a great escape or a dumb mistake?
>and had trekked across all over different parts of the USA with minimal supplies
Man, that is such a thin description. How much of it was alone? How far out was he really? What was the weather like for each leg? What were the lessons learned?

>>21922434
Children

>>21922864
This played out on a larger scale in the Amundsen versus Scott affair. Scott thought that he could just balls it out and fare better than someone that prepared better and was better equipped. Scott killed the fairy tale of indomitable english fortitude.

>>21922600
>without the delusion of society bad
>Desert Fathers
Lmao. The desert fathers had respect for worldly people because of the intensity of their temptations, but no man they hated the world. Are you dumb?

>>21922715
>freedom is living in the woods chasing squirrels all day or else i die like a turd

the state of americans lol

>>21922648
The dust is settled is when we realize that anyone who tried to escape this neoliberal globalism hellscape was right even if it was for the wrong reasons.

>>21922715
maybe Dresden was deserved

>>21922552

From what I understand of his motivations, he wanted a transcendent experience, where in confronting death he would either die or emerge a superior man. McCandless knew that he was likely going to die rather than transcend, and deliberately refused to bring anything that would prevent him from confronting his own mortality.

>>21923184
Oof. This aligns with the evidence. This is Toni Kurz intentionally putting himself exhausted on the cliff face above a knot that will not pass through his ascender tier. It's just suicide with extra steps.

>>21923177
Pearl Harbour*

>>21922275
>I can't bring myself to escape my biases and dislike/hate him

because u are a small man, living a farce of a "life" while he lived an authentic life, heroically. Nietzsche described u and your kind so precisely

>>21923245
Based
>>21922275
Small dick

>>21922275
Narcissism and indulgent parents.

>>21922483
>maybe he was one of the early pioneers

nope, just a modern retard

I understand the draw of the wilderness, but to do so without any preparation and then refuse the help of rightfully concerned people makes him completely unlikable. It's a bit like Timothy Treadwell thinking the bears were his friends. Naive idealism gets people killed.

>>21923245
>he lived an authentic life, heroically.
Retard went out innawoods and starved to death because he had no knowledge of how to actually survive in the wild. Instead of championing deluded romantics, look at the story of a guy like Richard Proenneke. He's the genuine Henry David Thoreau-like character you're looking for.

>>21923690
his dad abused him. sister went public about it a while ago. so it's "trauma victim with trauma induced daddy issues did something traumatic people do"

but hurr hurr edgy n cool comment

>>21922379
Apparently he always had a history of weird behavior like this. And nta but I do consider running off into the wilderness to accomplish ??? a sign of mental illness. Its not like he cut off his family to go live a his own independent functional life.

>>21923900
"Traumatic" people go off into the Alaskan bush, eschewing all warnings and offers of help with absolutely no experience? That's heroic to you?

>>21923908

Then Thoreau was mentally ill as well as all monks and philosophers. Not to mention all explorers and adventurers.

Actually the only people who have ever mattered in history were people who exhibited "weird behavior" and "ran off" to explore, to conquer or to find enlightenment.

>>21923900
Yeah, NTA but I get a kick out of people reading heroism into traumatic naivety and stupidity. I have met so many damaged types like that, they get an idea in their heads that sounds like a cool story of transformation on the surface but underneath is a suicide note. Y'know, it's like the true crime documentaries where the creepy dude with the pedo glasses rapes and murders some kid and the mom he swindled is like "I just don't know how this could happen, I never saw it coming", except the dumb bitch is anyone who finds a heroic story that tickles their pickle instead of a cautionary tale on what IRL mental illness looks like.

And if you're into physiognomy, that one picture of him sets off a lot of red flags. He has a look you see on those that have been through the foster system and aren't quite right because of it.

>>21922275
It's clear that McCandless had some form of autism. However, you can't attribute that alone to his actions. The truth is that McCandless felt a real passion for adventure and exploration of the Earth and that's what drove him on his adventure. This >>21922417 is a fair assessment.
>>21922442
To be fair, McCandless was aware that he could've spent more time and money working up to the challenge, but he wasn't interested in that. He wanted to go balls deep. He didn't want to die, but he understood that it was a possibility. McCandless was intentionally unprepared. It wasn't a wise decision, but he knew that too.
>>21922444
He was certainly not one of a kind. In the book Krakauer relays the stories of several individuals very similar to McCandless.
>>21922600
>The classical thinkers all knew socialization was the mark of a civilized person, and we are meant to live in a society.
McCandless was aware of this too. His great adventure was a social one. He spent two years on the road and not much of that time was spent totally alone. Out of those two years of travelling and making connections with people, only 114 days were spent totally alone in Alaska.
>>21922825
Well it's important to remember that McCandless did not go in the winter, and did not intend to be there during it. He also purposefully went in gear-lilght, even though he knew it was not a wise decision. Something that people often forget is that McCandless was actually skilled in hunting and preserving meat, however he learned all of these skills while living in South Dakota, and the methods and techniques one employs there do not apply to the Alaskan environment. Hence the Moose disaster. I also hesitate to say that McCandless died because he was unprepared. On one hand, his refusal to use a map prevented him from knowing about the cable-car across the river, but on the other hand, that's not what really killed him. McCandless died because the field guide to foraging did not explain to him that eating the seeds of the plant he was foraging in high volumes would poison him.

>>21924080
See >>21924081
You sound like you're looking for a compelling story, enough to twist the truth that Thoreau was a 20 minute walk from town.

>>21922742
>>21922825

I had a friend who did somethign very similar before McCandless became famous for it, leaving uni and wintering in Alaska in the woods.

All the time I thought he was freezing to death, but it turned out there are pockets of Alaska that actually have Seattle-type weather, so he was far more comfortable than I imagined.

>>21924084
>McCandless died because the field guide to foraging did not explain to him that eating the seeds of the plant he was foraging in high volumes would poison him.

Isn't it more likely he would have died from rabbit starvation? I mean what were his sources of fat? He couldn't have preserved enough from the moose and may not even have been aware of the risk of rabbit starvation.

>>21924093
Alaska is not the completely frozen wasteland which many assume it is. Where McCandless was camped was not a terribly cold area either. It's not the cold which makes much of Alaska a difficult place to live, it's the rain and the desolation.

>>21924103
If he was stuck there long enough without knowing how to get out, it's absolutely likely he would would have died from some form of starvation. However as it is, there isn't evidence to suggest he died from, or was even suffering from protein poisoning. Also, McCandless was killing and eating porcupines, which do have a decent amount of fat, so there is one source.

What truly killed him was eating the raw seeds of a wild potato plant. The movie misrepresents this in the scene which implies that McCandless accidentally consumed a poisonous plant which looks similar to a non-poisonous one. However, in reality, McCandless never made such a mistake. He was foraging and consuming wild potato plants which are safe to eat, however the seeds contain an anti-metabolic toxin which affects mammals. McCandless's field guide failed to mention this as Krakauer pointed out. Consuming those seeds in high quantities while on a stressed diet likely gave McCandless lathyrism, weakening him and preventing him from being able to forage. Then the toxins blocked his metabolic processes preventing him from gaining any nutrients from other food he had. Eventually he did starve to death because of these events.

>>21924084
>He didn't want to die
He called his trip his "final" adventure. He was suicidal, paranoid and manic

>>21922434
Manic depressives
this anons image always gets ignored in these discussions
>>21924167

>>21924167
"Final," here does not mean that he means for this adventure to be the last thing he ever does. It was the finale of his great adventure. McCandless intended to go home after Alaska. He regretted that he would not be able to, but made peace with his own death in the end.

>>21924080
Thoreau is not a good argument because Walden is fiction.

Regardless of if he was autistic, suicidal, or stupid, it's time for /lit/ to accept that his story is the most tightly written tragedy of the last 50 years. None of this is thanks to Krakauer, of course, who spends most of the book engaging in onanistic diversions. No, the strength of the story comes from concept alone.

An abused youngin finds solace in the wilderness. It's Romantic. Americanly Romantic! Something Emerson might have smirked at, had he been around to see it. This youngin grows up unable to process the abuse, and mentally retreats from society around him while socially thriving in it. He had good grades from a good school. People spoke highly of him. He was decently attractive. He was set to have a solid life most of us would look twice at. The time comes, however, and he rejects it. Donates his money and abandons it all. Heads west.

Sure, he makes friends. None get terribly close, however, as Chris is in a spiral of self-exile. He goes west until there is no more west to go. Then he goes north. Then he goes west some more. Finally he reaches true solitude, and in the pursuit, understands and acknowledges that this final thrust of independence could very well kill him, and it starts to. He starts to die. On his death bed, in his last waking thoughts, he has an epiphany.

HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED

Everything he ran towards turned out to be hollow, and the tainted thing he ran from turned out to be the only thing he wanted in the end. Now isn't that fucked up? It's a perfect tragedy. I only wish someone better than the egotistical Krakauer could have been the one to tell the story.

>>21925653
>the egotistical Krakauer
Why do you say this? Is it something you're able to infer from reading his writing?

>>21922505
It's anti-intellectual, but not dumb.

>>21925880
Absolutely. Here's a wonderful story about the naive, hopeful transcendentalist failing in the modern world. How do we feel about that? Do we support him? Chastise him? Maybe both?

Who knows, because Krakauer spends a gee dee third of the book talking about his own adventure climbing a mountain, which feels very removed tonally from McCandless' adventure. I love Chris' story and it had a very real impact on me as a youngin myself, and I think it was presented to the public in a lackluster, inflammatory way.

Also, while im on the topic, which McCandless had a better adventure? Pic related

>>21923690
i never said his death was heroic. his death it the least interesting part of his life. i said he lived heroically; on his own terms, with more freedom, humanity and authenticity than any of u sad domesticated losers will experience

>>21922275
Haven't any of you morons read My Side of the Mountain?

>>21926003
It's fiction. Probably more so than Walden.

>>21926003
I loved that book as a child. It's the first 'chapter book' I ever read I think.

>>21922275
Let's pretend his passion was Nascar driving...

Christopher McCandless sets off, from California in an old car he rebuilt himself (he replaced the fenders and painted it), on a trip to the Daytona 500. He only gets across the state line when he runs out of fuel because he forgot to fill it up. Instead of simply walking to the nearest gas station or flagging down help he decides to push his car over an embankment and set it on fire. He then proceeds to walk on foot to the nearest car lot (which happens to be in Mexico for some reason, mostly because he burned up his map in the car and he's been taking backroads). He finds an old bicycle in a garbage dump and uses that.

He finally gets to the car lot and buys a fixer-upper for $50. Before leaving the car lot he has to change a tire, which he replaces with a solid rubber donut. He buys fuel and heads off to the Daytona 500 again. Only he's heading deeper into Mexico and eventually ends up broken down in front of "Autodromo Internacional de la Jolla" due to no water in the radiator. The engine block has seized up. Luckily, there's a race about to start. Christopher...er "Alexander Superspeeder", who changed his name, pays the $125 entry fee for the race.

Unfortunately, Alexander Superspeeder doesn't have a race car. He does however have an old bicycle still. He uses the bicycle to race. He makes it only 3 laps before he is too tired to steer straight and veers off into a race car and is killed.

Some Jew picks up his story and writes a book about his life and how he followed his dreams. Another Jew makes a movie about it. Armchair racers around the world adore him.

The End.

>>21926003
No not yet

>>21926167
u just described a life that is over 9000 times more exciting and fulfilling than the one u are currently living

>>21925898
That's a gross exaggeration. Out of the entire book, Krakauer spends one 15 page chapter talking about his McCandless-esque experience.

>>21925653
it's not romantic unless you are a bohemian trust fund vagina. the only thing the moron shows is that atheists are dead inside and they have no clue what to do in their life.
And his pathetic death shows also atheist 20 year-old are utterly braindead. At least his death is funny.

>>21927655
Shut up you colossal pussy. Its capital R Romantic. Like relating to Romanticism. You have heard of that, haven't you you fucking retard? He wasn't an Atheist, either. God, I wish I could walk around like you, sharing the IQ of the protagonist from Flowers for Algernon.

>>21927607
You're right. I was exaggerating. It's only 22 pages from a 200 page book. Keep in mind, however, that 14 pages are dedicated to Everett Ruess, or the chapter just before, which has 13 pages dedicated to random bums and vagabonds (one of whom, it's worth noting, is a guy Krakauer met himself and he needs to tell his completely unremarkable story about running into this suicidal hippy). Even the parts about McCandless often dip into Krakauer relating to the boy. I understand why, as the story doesn't have enough information to fill a book, but his musings on the topic never penetrate the surface. Any conversation he does engage in usually ends up as a comparison between the two, which is more idyllic than it ought to be. This leads to a book where you get the sense that the author is really mourning his past self more than he is the person he spent all the time researching, and as I said before, Chris has a great story buried beneath all the self-fellatio Krakauer engages in. It's just a shame, is all. A good writer, hell, even a playwright, could have made the story into an icon for the modern American-- a work with staying power that shows how far the nation has come from it's "intellectual declaration of independence."

>>21927861
It's not a novel, it's non-fiction so entirely appropriate for Krakauer to relate his own experiences. He does it even better in his book about climbing Mt. Everest, which is also recommendable.

Seriously, is there a better writer than Krakauer for this kind of stuff? I can't think of anybody who does it better.

>>21922275
>be narcissistic kid
>run off into wilderness
>eat poison mushrooms and die
The End

>>21928097
Nibba, did you just try to inform me that the book is nonfiction? Obviously he reflects more in HIS book about HIS Everest climb. Here, let's do an exercise. Point to a single passage in Into the Wild in which Krakauers writing is the least bit impressive. Anything that evokes a feeling. There's very little because he's not a great writer. The emotional force of the book comes solely from Chris' adventure. Another writer could have told the story better, and fleshed out the ideas more completely

>>21926315
>u just described a life that is over 9000 times more exciting and fulfilling than the one u are currently living
I dont need my life to be exciting. why do you think that is something to be proud of? im sure anne frank's life was "exciting" in your eyes but I sure as hell wouldnt want to be her

>As anne was shoved into the cattle car with people who look like extended family members she thought to herself "Gee wont anons think my life is exciting when they find my diary! Golly I am glad my life isnt mundane because that would be horrible!"

>>21928585
>I dont need my life to be exciting
That's why you will never be a writer, an artist, an adventurer or will ever do anything worthwhile.

You are destined to consume and die. And that's okay, perfectly okay. But nothing to be proud of.

>>21922275
McCandless was the equivalent to today's redditors who went to go fight for Ukraine. A retarded idealist with no skills to back it up.

>>21922275
He was another trustie who misinterpreted Thoreau and fucking died in the most painful way possible because of it. Rest in piss

>>21928606
>>21928613

I hope you faggots realize that if he didn't die, there wouldn't be a book. Nobody would have heard of him.

He achieved immortality to a far greater extent than any of you are going to.

>>21928622
Who said I want immortality, you narcissistic fucker?

>>21928596
>You are destined to consume and die. And that's okay, perfectly okay. But nothing to be proud of.
someones mad

>>21927861
I actually think that the chapter on Everett Ruess and the chapter talking about those vagabonds are highly valuable to the work. Krakauer's intention by including these stories was to demonstrate that McCandless was not a completely unique phenomenon. You're right that Krakauer often comments on how he relates to McCandless, but with the exception of his chapter, it's always in passing, and on top of this, he even apologizes for doing so. To be honest, I've never understood those who think that Krakauer is a narcissist just because he takes time to reflect on himself. And besides, Krakauer is a skilled writer, and he did make the story into an icon for the modern American. The book has had staying power. Krakauer's book actually fulfills the parameters you've set.

>>21928639
We have different opinions, but you conveniently left out my request for a single evocative paragraph.

>>21928772
Nobody has read the book in like twenty years.

>>21929145
Because its not good, anon

>>21929338
It sold 30 million copies and has been translated into dozens of languages

>>21924103
>>21924167
>>21925880
>>21927655
>>21927861
>>21928772
>replying to tripfags
Shame!

>>21929692
Look at the top 10 songs playing right now on the radio and tell me it's music with a lot of artistic merit

>>21922275
the book is about Krakauer not Chris

>>21929710
I'm here to discuss books. I dont care about anything else

>>21929710
idc

>>21922701
Chris wasnt in "the wilderness" he died within a few hours of a McDonald's and the only reason he died is because he didn't have a map of the area, so he wasn't aware of the tram that would have made the river crossing easy and he didn't know how to actually preserve meat or probably any food.

He went out in nature with zero preparation and simply slowly died of starvation. That is what has happened to many people. If he could've escaped he would have. He's not a hero he's just some dumb guy that constantly got lost anywhere he went, lived like a hobo, constantly got rides and free shit from people, worked shitty wagie jobs for extra cash when he couldn't hack it himself and finally gracelessly expired in a abandoned bus because he over estimated his abilities. Anyone on here idolizing him is lying otherwise they would be in Alaska now eating potatoes and shooting caribou. he's a joke and it's sad so many people seem to think he's some sort of mascot for their desire to go hiking.

I've just started this book, but I'm already enjoying it. I don't think I'm going to analyze it and debate much over the nature of civilization over it. That would be a waste.
I don't know what this genre is called officially, adventure? Journalism-plus-embellishment?
It's a great genre though, and its biggest gifts are not for debates but just for reading and enjoying a good story of a crazy guy.

>>21932681
>Journalism-plus-embellishment?

"New journalism" maybe

>>21932681
I agree. I approached the book in the same way and.found it to be an enjoyable read. I think sometimes people forget that not everything has to be some heavy, deeply meaningful, insightful work in order to have merit. It's a cool story about a sort of weird/interesting young man's adventure. I liked the movie too. The music was very nice.

>>21924084
Krakauer claims at the end of (an updated version of) the book that whatever the kid ate wasn’t toxic, rather it likely had some sort of mold on it. I don’t remember the specifics of his case.

>>21928772
What's the point? As you said, we have different opinions, so it's likely that any paragraph I post won't change your mind. Besides, to weigh a non-fiction book by single paragraphs is foolish.
>>21933249
I know what you are referring to, however that updated theory is actually dated. Research was done which showed that there wasn't sufficient evidence to suggest that the mold was prevalent enough in the area for Chris to have consumed it in deadly amounts. The theory I have been telling about is actually from the most updated version of the book, and Krakauer was actually involved with the lab work and research, which I think is commendable. Whatever people's opinions on him as a writer may be, they can't deny that he is truly invested in what he writes.

>>21933321

But really if you look at his pictures ont he site, he was starving to death. The guy was steadily getting skinnier and skinner, and then by the time he was going to walk out of there, he was too weak to make it and too weak to find food. So literally he starved to death.