By Chuck Hinson
Special to the Turnagain Times
It’s hard for me to believe the contents of Chris McCandless’ bus home near Denali Park could be worth enough money to sell on E-bay, but who am I to judge? Of course I’m talking recent Daily News articles about the tragic subject of the book, Into the Wild written by John Krakauer, first published in 1996. It’s been reprinted to coincide with this week’s release of the movie, which was partly filmed in Alaska by Director Sean Penn. Like Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, the story was originally published in Outside Magazine in the early 90’s.
Krakauer did a fine job writing the unusual story of a young man who graduates from Emory University in 1990 and, like his hero Tolstoy, rejects an affluent lifestyle and embraces adversity and the unknown. Early in the book, McCandless gets rid of all his worldly possessions by donating the majority to charity and burning a wad of remaining cash in a symbolic gesture that cements his commitment to living hand-to-mouth. He nicknames himself Alexander Supertramp as he travels throughout the country, meeting people, even keeping in touch for a while; but ultimately he winds up going it alone in the wilds of Alaska.
It’s obvious Krakauer sees McCandless as a misguided innocent, with “…a streak of stubborn idealism.” Throughout the book, Krakauer attempts to understand the motives of the young man. He is drawn to McCandless’ youthful optimism and intensity as he embarks on a kind of subsistence quest in Alaska. The author admits he is an impartial observer of the journals, postcards and other traces of the young traveler’s existence and untimely death. “I was haunted by the particulars of the boy’s starvation and by vague, unsettling parallels between events in his life and those in my own.” Indeed, not only does he attempt to fill in the gaps of what McCandless’ life might have been like before and during the ordeal in Alaska, he interjects some of his own life experiences, citing a rejection of his father and his own privileged life.
Rather than seeing McCandless as stupid or a kook, the author is compassionate. He sites multiple examples of others through the years who embarked on similar misunderstood journeys. He seems to want to show that McCandless was not alone in his quest, and despite bad decisions and suffering, his story is intriguing.
I haven’t seen it yet, but the buzz has been good for the movie. The previews, at least those of the scenery, are spectacular. I suspect Sean Penn found the story, as well as Alaska, immensely appealing. With Penn and Krakauer in his corner, I suppose Alexander Supertramp wasn’t as alone as he may have thought. Still, after the latest headlines and the hoopla of the movie have died down, I wonder if it’s the contents of the bus that are really so valuable, or if it’s the whole idea of self-sufficiency, misguided or not, that resonates with people. My guess is the latter.
Chuck Hinson owns Girdwood Books and News.