Their Quotes, His Story

As you read the book Into the Wild, you will see italicized paragraphs at the very beginning of each chapter. These excerpts are from Chris McCandless’s books that he brought along with him to Alaska.  Some of those excerpts were also letters from post card he would send to people that he met along his journey. They were highlighted parts, or on pieces of papers found in the bus. Some of the authors of those were Jack London (his favorite), Leo Tolstoy, and Paul Shepard. These three authors were and still are very well known authors.

Jack London wrote many terrific novels, including White Fang, his most popular (in my opinion), The Call of the Wild, The Sea-Wolf, To Build a Fire, and many, many more books and short stories. A lot of his books are related to wolves and cold Alaskan weather. Does that sound familiar to anyone? Any ways, Krakauer wrote this quote into his book, on page 9 at the beginning of chapter two, my favorite lines in the quote were lines 5-10. This line is about how the weather is so cold and unforgiving, but even how relentless it seems, the author can still a glimpse of happiness amongst all that sadness, a glimpse of laughter. When Chris was out in the Alaskan wilderness, running short on food, unable to find any game to hunt, or even the inability to stay warm, he could have heard this, soft hint of sorrowful laughter in the air.

The author Leo Tolstoy was also another famous author who was quoted in Into the Wild. From his novel Family Happiness. Among his many other novels, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Death of Ivan Ilych, and etc., Family Happiness was one of the ones that got his name out there. When he wrote, he wrote with such relation that anyone with a problem could somehow make his life similar to their without much force. My favorite lines in this particular quote had to have been lines 3 and 4. Chris would have 100% agreed with this quote. And I know he did because he highlighted this paragraph in the book. That is the whole reason why Chris left his life behind, because he had so much energy stuck, trapped inside of him that he just had to get out, get out of that house, that town, and that life.

            The last author I am going to talk about today is Paul Shepard. He wrote the books Nature and Madness, Trace of an Omnivore, and Man in the Landscape. The book Man in the Landscape was the book where Krakaur took the quote out of. In my opinion, the lines 3-11 are the best lines in this little excerpts from the book. They are also what I think Chris would like this little excerpt as well. He would agree that the sky is a majestic place and when in the desert, it will intertwine with the land.

            I also have a favorite quote, this quote is from one of my favorite songs, “If You’re Going Through Hell” by Rodney Atkins. I really like this song. It sometimes will give me the strength to keep on going in my shows, even though I have a bad ride or even a bad show. I think Chris would understand my quote, I think he would “get it”. He had to basically go through hell up there in Alaska, but he fought it out till the end, or at least that’s what it seems like. He would understand that even you may be going through a rough patch, if you keep on going, you eventually will make it through.