I finally saw Into the Wild this past weekend. Short thoughts: Loved it. Two thumbs up.
For those who don't know, Into the Wild is the movie adaptation (by the great Sean Penn) of the 1996 non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer about the adventures of Christopher McCandless. On the first page of the book, you find out that Chris will starve to death. Oh. Odd start.
This is one of my favorite books, certainly influenced by when/where I read it. My friend Pete Macias, a fellow Chung'Ang professor and want-to-be-professional traveller, gave me this book before I took off for a trip through S.E. Asia. I read this book while travelling some pretty remote places in Indonesia. The Alaskan wild and the Indonesian rain forest can't be much more opposite, yet the suffocating wilderness of both made me feel quite connected to the story.
I can't quite put words to it, but I felt a great bond with this young traveller looking for something more tangible than the suburban life he knew. He was so idealistic, naive and foolish that it killed him. I don't like to think of myself in those terms, but I did see similarities. Unless I'm moving away, I often feel cramped. As Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Landlocked Blues) says, "The world’s got me dizzy again. You think after 22 years I’d be used to the spin. And it only feels worse when I stay in one place, so I’m always pacing around or walking away." And here I am, in Korea.
Watching the movie brought back memories of the book, that trip, and what I feel is an innate desire to know the earth and lose the nonsense that too often surrounds me. The book isn't depressing, but rather reflective. And watching the movie made me reflect. I recommend the movie, recommend the book even more.
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