My 1st four hours are 35 minutes from being over – only eight more to go. I’m being banished to the firepod for the last eight. I figured it would happen but I’m still not happy about it.
I read the book “Into the Wild” today figuring I’d go see the movie. When I read the book years ago, I admired the kid for wanting to get back to nature. I was young and still full of piss and vinegar.
Now I read it and think what a moron he was for thinking he could go live in the wilds with little knowledge and fewer supplies. A little research into the area he was going to could have saved his life.
Buoyed by early success in finding food, he grew complacent and over confident in his ability to meet any challenge head on. Had he done any recon missions into the area around him when he felt good, he would have found a ranger station six miles from his campsite. Rather, he had tunnel-vision on leaving the way he came in – over a 20 mile hike – that he was too weak to make.
Yes, I feel sorry that he starved to death – it had to be a horrendous way to go – but I feel more sorry for his family and the way he treated them.
I may still go to the movie for the scenery but I think they’ll romanticize what this kid did and there is nothing romantic about it. He refused to heed advice of others more experienced then himself and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Yes, his choice but that doesn’t make him a hero or a legend. The book is full of others who tried the same thing and failed just as miserably.
