Into Thin Air (Jackie Walker)

Title of the Book:  Into Thin Air
Author: Jon Krakauer  # of Pages: 416 Star Rating: ☆☆☆ ☆☆

Entering the “death zone” and breathing only a third of the usual amount of oxygen sounds like a dangerous nightmare to most.  To a select amount of people, it means they are close to completing one of the biggest accomplishments of their life: reaching the summit of Everest.  On May 10, 1996 a tragedy unfolded claiming the lives of eight climbers, making it the deadliest season Everest had seen at that time.

 Jon Krakauer, a journalist on the expedition, gives his own account of what happened when a horrendous storm closed in around them in heartbreaking and eye-opening detail. He was along on the expedition for the purpose of writing an article about the commercialization of Everest, and this is quite an interesting topic explored throughout the book. The personal and thoughtful analysis of every contributing factor, and every stroke of bad luck that lead to the deaths on the mountain make for a moving story. This is definitely a book that builds more and more tension as it progresses, and keeps you interested in what can go wrong next. Krakauer makes his readers aware of everything that goes into an Everest expedition, the deep-seated beliefs surrounding the mountain, and the undeniably real possibility of death on Everest.

The extensive knowledge and facts presented, and elaborated on in footnotes, makes it easy for the reader to understand just how many things can go wrong in mountaineering. This is especially true in attempting to reach a summit of 29,029 feet. The author makes a point of keeping extensive tabs on the time, and specifying when certain events occurred. Not only is this required for an accurate recount of the tragedy, it makes a point of how quickly conditions can make a turn for the worse on the mountain. Many aspects of this story were very much an intriguing, and often alarming, learning experience for me.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good adventure book, and especially someone who enjoys reading the real-life adventures and disasters people experience and overcome. I wouldn’t recommend this to those who become impatient with slowly progressing storylines. Slow or not, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer was a captivating story that provoked a lot of curiosity and thought, and it all takes place on the top of the world.

Title of the Book: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Author: Cheryl Strayed
# of Pages: 315
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review: 

“How wild is was, to let it be,” says Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. It took a long journey for her to come to this conclusion. This journey was filled with countless troubles, not enough money, and one tough hike. Strayed wrote this nonfiction story about her travels on the Pacific Crest Trail, where she backpacked for over three months from New Mexico to Oregon.

Why is she hiking? Does she have experience with backpacking? Did she do this journey completely alone? Was she afraid? These are a few excellent questions that are all definitely answered in Strayed’s novel.

The rawness and honesty in the words Strayed writes are contemplative on not only her own perspective and they don’t only ask questions that revolve around her life. Her tone is always clear and reflective of the past and her present. However, the themes throughout the story expose the reality of women as hikers, traveling alone, and even simply just being a backpacker. As interesting as these subjects might seem on their own, Strayed even ties in stories of her past to explain her motives, hopes, and dreams.

My favorite moments from the book come about as the writer met other characters and shared connections with them. It was eye-opening and encouraging to see the quick bonds they made on the trail, even when they met for the first time.

Although Wild was written by an English major, it was not formally put together until seventeen years after the adventure had taken place. This gives a unique new perspective to the story through Cheryl Strayed’s journals and memories. This also lets the audience see into both her past life, of before and during her time on the trail, and after, even how it felt to go back to it many years later.

Wild is full of hope, determination, and encouragement. No part of the story is romanticized, yet it is filled with excitement. Like Strayed mentions, “I didn’t know where I was going until I got there,” you don’t know where this book is headed or what its intentions are until you read it. For this reason, I must recommend this story for only very mature audiences, and I am pleased to rate it four out of five stars.

Into the Wild: Lea Carroll

Lea Carroll

Title of the Book: Into the Wild

Author: Jon Krakauer

# of pages: 203

Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

Jon Krakauer’s novel explores the adventures of Chris McCandless, which are filled with love and happiness through the people he meets, and experiences he has.  This book started from Krakauer’s news article from The Outsider and then transformed to a piece in which Krakauer adds some of his own narration and connections while also telling the story of McCandless.  Krauker follows Chris’s journeys through the wilderness and recounts the people he meets on the way to create a story that portrays the importance of nature and finding happiness.

            This book in unique because of the way that Krakauer writes it.  He is the narrator and thus he includes many of his own stories, like climbing Devil’s Thumb, but also illustrates Chris’s adventures as if he was there.  This seems that is would be a difficult book to write because Krakauer has pictures and journals to piece together Chris’s life, but he wasn’t there with him in the wilderness.  There is a lot of inference that Krakauer had to do in order to create this novel, which he successfully did.  In the author’s note, Krakauer explains that he includes parts of his own story in an attempt to “throw some oblique light on the enigma of Chris McCandless” (Krakauer 2). 

One of the most memorable quotes in the book is the very last line: “…Chris McCandless was at peace, serene as a monk gone to God” (Krakauer 199).  This describes the last photograph that McCandless took and shows that he was at peace and was happy with the wilderness around him.  Another memorable moment from the novel was in Chapter Nine when Krakauer describes the adventures of other explorers, like Everett Ruess, in an attempt to create parallels with McCandless.  Krauker also describes that monks arriving in Iceland in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. where drawn across storms and oceans because of a “hunger of the spirit” (97) and that “courage…reckless innocence and the urgency of their desire” can be parallels to McCandless and Ruess.  This is a memorable scene in the novel because it shows the hunger for the wilderness that McCandless had and the courage it took for him to follow that hunger. 

This novel is a great book for someone who enjoys the outdoors and can appreciate nature.  I would recommend this novel because it shows the lasting impact that people could have on those that they meet and the romantic qualities of the outdoors.

Into the Wild Review by Morgan Schell

Morgan Schell
Into the Wild Jon Krakauer
203
*****

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a book that takes the reader on a journey through the wilderness of deserts, oceans, and the unforgiving tundra of Alaska; it follows the life and journeys of a young vagabond named Chris McCandless, introducing you to the many different people he meets along the way. Starting with his affluent childhood Chris is always different, maybe a little weird but mostly a kid who has a call to the wild. As he grows up he begins to take more and more adventures that become surprisingly reckless, possibly trying to run away from the lies that his father had built the family on, or the calling he has to be different and to live on his own. 

What makes this book unique is that Chris McCandless has such a wondrous story to follow. It is so enjoyable to read of his follies and his forthcomings, and all through the perspective of the people that he meets along the way. The way that Krakauer writes the book is in an elongated PEA format where he pulls from many different texts, but also from his personal stories, for example his climbing of God’s Thumb. While reading some chapters it was easy to wonder how Krakauer was going to relate if back to Chris but it always did. Another key way that Krakauer grabs the attention of readers is staring every chapter with a quote or an excerpt that is a foreshadowing in what the chapter holds. “It may, after all, be a bad habit of creative talents to invest themselves in pathological extremes that yield remarkable insights but no durable way of life for those who cannot translate their psychic wounds into significant art or thought.” Theodore Rosak “In the Search of the Miraculous”. 

It’s not easy to forget some of the characters and people that are portrayed in Chris’ life, one of the best parts of the book is when Chris meets an old man by the name of Franz who becomes a friend and father figure for him. The impact he makes on the old man life is one that is incredible to even get a glimpse of. 
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting read based on the life of a very interesting man and his story. People who are looking to relate with and to ride along with the ebbs and flows of Chris’ life and the lives of the people that he meets would be perfect candidates to read Into the Wild. 

Into The Wild

Into The Wild: Jon Krakauer: 224: Star Rating: ☆☆
Into the wild is a book about 2 men, Krakauer and McCandless, each on the same adventure at different time. This book was okay, but was kind of a hard read. This book had very challenging words, and was kind of hard to follow with the switching between the 2 stories. I did not find the book all that interesting, and would much like to have chosen a different book. This book was pretty dull, I would have liked more adventure in story story. I gave this book this rating mostly because of how dull it seemed, maybe if it had more of a flare, it would have been better.

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

Title of the Book: 90 Minutes in Heaven
Author: Don Piper
# of Pages: 256
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

On his long drive home from work one day, priest Don Piper is struck by a semi truck and flung from his vehicle. Not being able to recall this happening, his story begins with him standing in a bright white florescent room with his long deceased grandfather. As he becomes a little more aware of his surroundings, he is told by his grandfather the he had been in a terrible car accident and that he was in fact in Heaven. Starstruck and confused, Don is faced with the new realization that this is all very real. Stepping towards the pearly gates and into God's warm and loving arms, Don is very suddenly woken up to wailing sirens in the back of an ambulance.

With the thoughts of seeing his grandfather and the knowledge that the story he had told him was true, he knew without a doubt that he had just spent over 90 minutes in heaven. Coming to this realization, he is brought into the hospital and told that he will most likely be handicapped for the rest of his life. Finding all of this out at once, as you can imagine, is a lot to take in and is very hard for Don to wrap his head around. Why would God not want him in heaven? Why would he send him back to earth knowing that he is to be disabled?

Depression overwhelms Don as he realizes the amount of pain and recovery time it will take it to feel at least okay again. Deciding that since he is bed ridden anyway, Don begins to write a very detailed and uplifting book about his journey. Coming across many people who he never knew needed his help, he is finally aware of his new purpose. Don sets off to tell his story and offer his positive advice about, not only the accident, but about believing in and asking God for his help and guidance in the hardest of times.

There will always be controversy as to whether there actually is a God or if there is anything after death, but we will never truly know until we are faced with a situation like Don Piper went through. Whether it's a brief moment in heaven to be sent back down to earth for a bigger purpose, or if it is actually your time to go, all we have now is the amazing and inspiring stories that are brought to us from people like Don.

In my most honest opinion, this was definitely a challenging and involved read. Don has a way of pulling the reader in and it 100% hooked me in and made me want to keep reading until the very last page. I found it hard to put this book down as it was a read that really hit close to home. If you are looking for a book to maybe help you through hard times or even one to really get you thinking, this is a great reminder to always cherish and be thankful for what you have.

Title of the Book:A Child Called "It"
 Author: Dave Pelzer
 # of Pages: 172
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Review:
Dave Pelzer begins telling "A Child Called "It" in the eyes of a little boy. He was born into a family who didn't really care about him. He is going through life miserable. His mother had thought abuse was the best way for him to get through life. She had began by starving him. He was unable to eat which really got to him. She would have a family dinner, and let him sit and listen to them all eat. When they were finished, he was given a time limit to get the dishes done, and if he had failed to get them done in time, his mother would take matters into her own hands. This book has very clear images as you read. The way the author describes these horrible events really gets you thinking about them.
This book was heart breaking to read, because the discipline was getting worse and worse. He would start to believe that he was going to die. He would do anything in his power to show his mother that she wouldn't hurt him as bad as she thought. I had gotten to the point where he was fighting for his life. There was a ton of different physical abuse being used, as well as verbal and mental.
This book is very eye opening, and I do recommend this book to anyone. It gives you a clear understanding of how severe child abuse can be.

Title of the Book: Infidel Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali# of Pages:350 Star Rating: ☆☆☆ ☆☆

 Infidel: a non-believer , not a Muslim.This single word title is at the heart of this book. Growing up Muslim, Ali learned you embrace Islam or you are an Infidel with all of its consequences. Ali takes the reader on her life’s journey from North Africa to Holland to America. Having survived war, oppression, extreme poverty, and persecution, Ali maintains an optimism that is breathtaking . She shows no resentment or ill feelings towards the people in her life who have wronged her;instead she tries very hard to understand the why of their behavior. At the root of Ali's discontent as a Muslim female is this statement: “ Because I was born a woman, I could never become an adult. I would always be a minor, my decisions made for me. “ As an adult she makes it her mission to free Muslim women from the tyranny of oppression that she herself experienced in childhood and young adulthood. She had no idea of the serious ramifications this would evoke in her life and all those who cared about her.

For two thirds of this book, Ali writes in a very detailed non-emotional manner. She describes her childhood matter a factly, even when horrific events happen. Her familial love shines throughout the book as does her loyalty to her clan. This book does not whitewash growing up a Muslim in North Africa . To put myself in her shoes- not literally-she did not own shoes as a child- for the first time I understand what extreme poverty feels like. The last third of the book chronicles her life as a young adult isolated and alone in a strange country. As she experienced life in Holland as a young adult, she began to write in an emotional manner, perhaps because of what challenges she encountered in this country when she found her voice for Muslim women’s rights.Her stark realization that she alone could not bring freedom to the Muslim women of the world caused the entirety of her pent up emotions bottled up since childhood to percolate and explode outward. Cast out of Holland, she seeks a new life.The reader is left hanging at the end hungry for the next chapter of her life in a new country.

This book is an uncomfortable read for those who do not wish to step into the culture of this Muslim child/woman's shoes. This book is filled with events that oppress Muslim women and worse.It is written with integrity and full disclosure of the author's failures as she perceives them. What strikes me most about this author is her unending love for her family and her Muslim clan even in the face of hostility. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wishes to experience choosing love of family and friends when seemingly insurmountable odds are against them.

Title of the Book: Into The Wild
 Author: John Krakauer
215 # of Pages: Star Rating: ☆☆☆ ☆

Get ready to immerse yourself in one of the most thrilling and heart wrenching books you will read. Once you pick this one up you will not want to put it down! Meet Chris McCandless, a young man who is not afraid to leave everything behind for his once in a lifetime, life journey. As you immerse yourself in this book, you will feel as if you are walking with this young man as he crosses the country to find his own answers to life itself. From the East coast to the West coast you will not be able to stop reading as Chris meets strangers in what could have resulted in lifelong friendships. Chris leaves it all behind. Every materialistic thing he ever had was given away or left behind so he could find his answers along his soon to be journey.  His journey took place by car, by canoe and by foot. Mile to mile you will soon find out why some would call Chris a maniac and a idiot and why some would call him smart and brave, decide for yourself. No plans, no technology to travel with, just a man and his bare essentials. Nothing will ever be the same as Chris leaves.



      This book is unlike any other I have read. Because this book is a higher level read, it will make you question some of your own moral values and push your thinking to a whole new level. Jon Krakauer makes the book an enjoyable to read because he makes you feel as though you walk with Chris step by step on his journey. Jon's writing style is unique because of the way the story is told and also because of his word choice and attention to detail when writing this non fiction literature.  His through investigation into the subject left no rock unturned.
      Once Chris leaves his lavish modern lifestyle behind, his resolve to make this journey is put to the test.  Chris is very intelligent, but was he smart?  He leaves to take out on his own, no one is there to tell him he can't.  Chris is challenged in the Arizona desert, along the coast of California, and it is all up to him mentally and physically to journey into the Alaskan wilderness. Chris will tell why things went array in his life by clues he left and why this journey was something he had to do. What impact do the people he meets along the way have on him?  That is a part of the unfolding of this literary nonfiction novel.
     I give this book four stars because of the way the story is told and would recommend  it to anyone to read. It doesn't just make you reflect on the book alone, but on life outside of the book. It makes you grateful for every single item and thing you have been given in life. This book will be either very personal for you or it will give you insight on what life should be about. Perhaps, how you can strive to make changes to your life every day. As you connect with Chris, he might even change your day to day thinking as well. Although this book wasn't my usual style because of  my logical thinking process, is it does make me have a insight into why some people could potentially do some of the things they do. It also makes me wonder when you walk into the wild with minimum equipment and no contact with the outside world, who would provide safety or help if anything went wrong, would you survive Into the Wild?
         

Title of the Book: Into the Wild

 Author: Jon Krakauer
# of Pages: 224
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drop everything and adventure out in the wild by yourself with barely anything to survive? Have you ever wondered if there was even crazy enough people to drop everything to adventure in the wild by them self? The book Into the Wild,  by Jon Krakauer is a story about a young man named Nick McCandless who leaves everything behind to hitchhike to Alaska. On his journey he has a bunch of stops, travels around the west coast of the United States, and meets a bunch of people that all inspired him. Nick left his family behind and donated the rest of the money he had left of from college to a charity and then set off on his journey. He did not want to take a plane or have any money with him because that would beat the purpose of leaving all the materialistic things behind.

What makes this book so unique from any other read is it makes you think about what you have in life, if you would be able to leave it behind, and most importantly makes you think about if you have what it takes to adventure on into the wild. In today’s society it can be really hard just to give up everything especially technology, so this book really makes you think if you had to do this would you survive it. The author Jon Krakauer’s writing style is not difficult to read, it actually is very easy and smooth to understand. What I liked the most about his writing techniques is he incorporated life events from his younger years to compare to the Nick’s journey to Alaska. These events really help to better understand Nick’ situation in a smaller sense of an adventure.

This book may have not been my style, but I definitely will not forget about the great messages it had. It makes me thankful for everything I have today, and it makes me really appreciate the people who love to go on adventures with nothing but a few items just to forget about the world for a while. Some people that came across Nick on his journey would talk negatively about him, but I disagree with them because Nick was just a guy that wanted in brace the world we have and no be so caught up in all the material things we have in life. This book was enjoyable, and I do recommend it but only if you are into adventures. It is also good to keep in mind that this is a story about a not so ordinary guy who just wants a break from the ordinary which is my favorite idea of this book. The best part about this book is the fact it makes you realize and appreciate everything you have today.

Title of the Book: A Long Way Home: A Memoir
Author: Saroo Brierley
# of Pages: 273
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Review:

Only five years old, lost and alone in one of the most populated countries in the world, surviving on the streets with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Life for many children in India is quite different than those in western civilizations. This young child would be left alone to look after his baby sister for hours, sometimes even days at a time, without adequate food or water. Becoming lost in the major, overpopulated, polluted city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) devastatingly, wasn’t uncommon among children in India which made it all the harder to find help. Saroo Brierley shares his experiences as well as what brought him back home nearly a quarter of a century later in his touching novel A Long Way Home: A Memoir.

All Saroo wanted was to learn more about the life of his older, often absent, brother, whom he looked up to, but finally convincing Guddu to bring him along to the train station where he worked changed Saroo’s life forever. After waking up from a quick nap on the platform, Saroo couldn’t find Guddu anywhere. He searched around the station and eventually on a train hoping to find him there. Before he knew it, the train took off and Saroo was trapped inside the carriage being hauled off to an unknown destination which ended up being Calcutta. Both the good of humankind and not-so-good sides are highlighted, like the homeless man who saved Saroo from drowning, and the chilling railway worker who had shady motives. With little language skills and a loss of trust, Saroo struggled to connect with anybody to ask for help. This memoir follows the journey of a petit five year old boy, as well as his adult self, trying to find what many called a lost cause - home.

A Long Way Home doesn’t conform to most memoirs. It offers the reader an interesting perspective that would otherwise go unthought of. Reading the viewpoint of a lost five year old boy is mentally challenging because you want to help him, but it is also extremely alluring. His story gives the voiceless a voice and inspires others to not give up and to believe in themselves despite what people say. Brierley was told that “finding [his] family is like finding a needle in a haystack”, but he didn’t give up because he knew “the needle was there” (TODAY.com). Brierley’s writing style allows the reader to connect with his story despite the other worldliness to it. I would, without a doubt, recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a new perspective on another culture, or simply wants to be inspired by this incredible journey of hope and persistence.

"'Lion' Inspiration Saroo Brierley Went through 'hell on Earth' before Reuniting with His Mother."   TODAY.com. N.p., 26 Feb. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017.

Title of the Book: Into the Wild Author: Jon Krakauer 297 of Pages: Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Around this time, April, in 1992, a man by the name of Alex McCandless was found dead in the Alaskan wilderness. “Into the Wild” is his story- told by a stranger. Jon Krakauer took on the challenge of learning everything he could about this strange man to gain a better understanding of what might have drawn McCandless into the wilderness where he eventually passed away. Although Krakauer didn’t know who Alex McCandless was, he did have a lot in common with him. They both had some sort of family problems that stuck with them into adulthood, they both loved the wilderness, and they both liked to take risks. In a way, Krakauer was able to empathise with McCandless and understood how he felt.

Since this book was written after McCandless’ death by a man who never knew him, it is hard to know exactly what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. Fortunately, it was written by a very dedicated man who put much time and effort into telling McCandless’ story in an authentic way. McCandless did have a journal which contributed greatly when putting the story together, but aside from that, the book is filled with interviews of people who knew McCandless. However, this isn’t just a boring book filled with interviews and journal entries. Instead, it is as if Krakauer followed McCandless’ footsteps, experienced the exact things he did, and in a way, became McCandless. Throughout the book, you forget that McCandless is dead because it feels as though you are on the journey with him. It is filled with vivid details and descriptions of the people who knew McCandless, the places he went, and the things he did. This book draws you and forces you to feel the things McCandless and Krakauer felt.

Jon Krakauer has written many books in the past, including his journey up Mount Everest, where he witnessed the death of five men. This, along with his love for the wilderness makes him a great choice for the writer of this book. Krakauer did a great job at keeping his opinions to himself when writing the parts of McCandless. Because of him, the story of McCandless was clear and detailed. Everything worked together perfectly and nothing seemed off or confusing.

One of the most memorable part of the book was when Krakauer described McCandless’ journey in Alaska. It was the moment that everything was leading up to. It talked about the trial and triumphs of his time all alone in the alaskan wilderness. It was the most memorable because of the emotions I felt. I felt his pain when he was hurting and I was filled with joy when he overcame his troubles. It made me forget that he was gone.

I would recommend this book to everyone. No matter who reads this, they will get something out of it. It gives insight into a whole nother way of living and the challenges that come with it. It tells a story of a man who was determined to reach his goal. It teaches us about determination, motivation, and trusting yourself.  

Title of the Book: Eat, Pray, Love   (Example Entry)
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
# of Pages: 352 

Star Rating:  ☆☆☆ (I made it through it and enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite.)

Review:

Elizabeth Gilbert begins Eat, Pray, Love by describing herself sobbing in the bathroom in the middle of the night.  She feels trapped by her life: an unhappy marriage, a giant house she doesn't want, and a whole soul full of regrets.  Her solution becomes a year traveling the world.  She plans to spend four months in Italy, learning how to enjoy life again (especially eating!).  Then, she wants to move to an Ashram in India and learn how to worship with her guru.  Finally, she plans to wrap up the year with four months in Indonesia where she will learn to find balance.  This book is the chronicle of her journey.

On its surface, the premise of Eat, Pray, Love is fascinating.  The author wants to learn to live again through travel.  It's an idea I can definitely get behind!  Travel has an amazing ability to refresh the soul while also expanding our worldview.  And this author's perspective is wonderful.  Especially in the first section of the book (Eat), her voice is endearing and hilarious.  As she shares her adventures in Rome including a new friend named Luca Spaghetti (really!) and several death-defying rides on motorbikes, you could feel her coming alive again and being open to the world.  There were moments when I laughed out loud at her exploits.

Where I found the book lacking was in the sections written from India and from Indonesia.  In India, the author tries to seek God through a mishmash of several different belief systems.  She seems particularly taken with meditation and denial of the self.  While her pursuit of God was noble, this whole section seemed a bit meandering.  The author does finally experience what she describes as worship but the process involved hours of painful meditation and one memorable night allowing herself to be stung by mosquitoes for hours.  It was hard for me to relate.  While the section from Indonesia regained some of the momentum of the book, it never embraced the charm found in the first 100 pages as the author explores Rome.  (But perhaps I'm just fixated on the gelato and pasta!)

Even so, most readers will enjoy this book.  It's a combination of memoir and travel log and that's always a delightful way to open yourself up to the world.  If nothing else, read about Gilbert's adventures in Rome and then enjoy a gelato!  (And perhaps some deep breathing.)

example provided by Ms. Kipp