Anyone read that book "Into The Wild"

**RBB** · 04-22-2008, 07:15 AM

I heard something about this a while back from friends in Alaska. Even here, we get folks who come up into the woods, who've decided to "live off the land." Most of the time, they are determined to do it their way and won't listen to anyone who's lived here all their life. Most leave after a season or two. Some, like McCandless, end up staying longer. We have at least three I can think of, who've not yet been found.

**Tahyo** · 04-22-2008, 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by RBB

**snip** We have at least three I can think of, who've not yet been found.

I'm pretty sure they ended up being bear poop.

**hermitman** · 04-22-2008, 05:36 PM

I saw the movie but havent read the book. In the movie it showed he had fishing equipment and Alaska is known for GREAT fishing. Did he fish in the book ?

**DOGMAN** · 04-22-2008, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by hermitman

I saw the movie but havent read the book. In the movie it showed he had fishing equipment and Alaska is known for GREAT fishing. Did he fish in the book ?

From my recollection it does not talk about him fishing in the book. True, Alaska is known for tremendous fishing...but like anywhere there is the right time to be at certain places to fish. I don't know if the river by the bus was known for its good fishing or not. It seemed very run-off dependent for its flows, so it could go either way. It seems like there'd be at least some fish in it.

That kind of reminds me of the Lewis and Clark expedition when they were in the Columbia river area...they were in perhaps the worlds greatest Salmon fishery and they chose to eat dogs! (Reports are they couldn't digest the fatty Salmon well). For McCandless that would really be sad to starve to death- if fish were readily available. Good point.

**trax** · 04-22-2008, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by Aurelius95

I think "alone" is worse than dying, but that's just me.

I dunno man, I can get over being alone....

**Rick** · 04-22-2008, 05:52 PM

I doubt he did any fishing in the book. Maybe in the brook. But books are notoriously dry so I doubt any fish would be in there. Besides, once you close the book you'd squish a fish if it was in there.

**trax** · 04-22-2008, 05:57 PM

Originally Posted by RBB

who've decided to "live off the land." Most of the time, they are determined to do it their way and won't listen to anyone who's lived here all their life.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? (We've had our share of numpties) Won't listen to the people who've lived there all their lives. There was a Hudson's Bay trading expedition in the late 18th century that headed out from what's now Churchill on Hudson's Bay across northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories in the winter. They almost all died of scurvy, their Cree guides showed them a remedy and they refused to take it because their white priest told them that if they were to partake in the "heathen's ways" they'd go to hell for it, so they died while theire guides watched on dumbfounded. Almost 300 years later....everyone still wants to be their own expert. God save me from experts, they are right in line with bureaucrats.

**DOGMAN** · 04-22-2008, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by trax

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? (We've had our share of numpties) Won't listen to the people who've lived there all their lives. There was a Hudson's Bay trading expedition in the late 18th century that headed out from what's now Churchill on Hudson's Bay across northern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories in the winter. They almost all died of scurvy, their Cree guides showed them a remedy and they refused to take it because their white priest told them that if they were to partake in the "heathen's ways" they'd go to hell for it, so they died while theire guides watched on dumbfounded. Almost 300 years later....everyone still wants to be their own expert. God save me from experts, they are right in line with bureaucrats.

You are so right here. So, many of us, in our arrogance think that it is better to re-invent the wheel than it is to admit we are not sure what a wheel is, or we don't know how to use it.

Every hunting season I get reminded how macho our culture is when hunters show up at our outpost to be packed into the mountains by horses. Everyone is an expert, "I've been riding all my life" they say when we ask about their level of horsemanship. "Ok, I say...tighten your cinch, and put the bit in and lets get going." They always stand their looking like idiots, and say "Uuhh, can you do it for me this first time, I'm a little rusty- I just need a refresher"....I just laugh and think "Some expert".

Its so much easier to just be honest...but, for some honesty is hard on the ego.

**Sarge47** · 04-22-2008, 07:39 PM

I've posted elsewhere about this guy but let me get a bit "philisophical" if I may.
Chris McCandless, aka "Alexander Supertramp" is now a lot more famous than he ever was when he was alive; that's a fact! It's also a fact that this group, despite their oft-times difference of opinions, usually pulls together when it comes to "Survival". We ARE of a "Survivor's Mentality", which, simply put, means that we want to cling to life, not death. I don't know, or ever will know about Chris other than what I read in the book or see in the movie, but, like all of you, I can learn from what we all think that he should have done and be the better for it.

**JacobSlattery** · 04-23-2008, 12:06 PM

I recently saw the movie. The main character just didn't know how to survive. With no money in an overdeveloped america, he decided to go to ...excuse my language, but ****in Alaska. Its a tail of a frustrated college graduate who left it all behind just to die 2 years later because of his stubborn self rightous mentality and idealism. Surviving isnt hard, you just need mentality of an animal, a human animal. you need to do whatever is nessesary, and if you can't leave society behind completely, then use it when you need to. But don't let your goals and beliefs drive you into slowly killing yourself, thats the moral of the story, for me anyway.

Ive been planning a similar trip the the one who took, but I have no desitination, just getting away from where I am. and training for the situation I plan to be in, fortunatly i've grown up unfortunate enough to know how to live.... not just "survive" but to stay alive.... and live with whatever comes.

**DOGMAN** · 04-23-2008, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by JacobSlattery

fortunatly i've grown up unfortunate enough to know how to live.... not just "survive" but to stay alive.... and live with whatever comes.

There is true wisdom in this statement.

**your_comforting_company** · 11-03-2010, 12:06 AM

A little late to the party on this one, and I couldn't decide what thread it fit with.
As you all know, I don't watch much tv, but the wife talked me into watching "Into the Wild" tonight. I'm glad I sat down and watched it.
How could such a bright young man, seemingly so organized, with a plan so well thought out, really be so dumb?
You don't just decide one day, "I'm gonna grab the first plant book I come across in the convenience store and go live off berries and leaves". No, you spend a few years actually learning and using plants and calling each one by it's proper name, as he said so many times in the movie.
Another thing you don't do, is admit defeat. There was a way to cross the river somewhere. As the camera panned out at the end of the movie, I saw many places where I could have crossed the river. At some point, it's do or die, and he didn't do. Where there is a will, there is a way. If I wanted to get out of there, I would have crossed either further upstream, where certainly there was more shallow water, or used my map to find a road, utility, or some other conduit. When you give up, that's when you become a statistic.

I learned a lot from this movie, and I can honestly say this guy should be nobody's hero. Anyone that thinks they are going to go the way of the Supertramp probably will.. bloated, blue, and cold, and 2 weeks gone.
If you do want to go "Into the Wild", get your **** together FIRST. Do your homework. Do you really think plant knowledge was discovered yesterday? It has taken eons and many deaths to bring this teetering science to what it is today, and even now there is still dispute about some plant relationships, and names!! The thread on Callicarpa americana is a shining example of how a person can take a small bit of information and wrap it with a deceitful shroud of "understanding". Research. Learn. Do. Practice and repeat.

If you intend to survive in the wilderness, you have to be a master of your environment. Nature is brutal and unforgiving. If you measure yourself against her stones, will you break?

"Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand." -Jimi Hendrix

All that said, I'm one who is totally in favor of shedding my shackles and locks, putting down this drudgery and slavery, and being free. But a person cannot be free without knowing HOW to do it. Don't wait until you are headed out the door to start learning. There is no dishonor in learning in a safe environment first. There is dishonor in the kind of blatant suicide this brilliant young man commited. For such a smart guy, he really made some dumb*** decisions.

This is why I don't watch TV. It creates delusions and elaborates the fantasy. It limits a persons ability to think freely and they become molded more by the things that appeal to them. It fools us into thinking things should be a certain way, distorting the reality.

Sorry for the rant.. The movie was entertaining, just not as inspiring as I'd hoped it would be. Was pretty close to calling it a waste of 2 hours of my life. But I did get so sit next to a lovely woman and share a bag of popcorn, so it was worth it.