These two books and the movie are worth spending time on esp for those who:
a) have volatile family relations (esp with parents)
b) struggle to keep relationships and marriages together
c) long to be ‘free’ from (suffocating?) social structures and obligations, or just those who simply…
d) dream of adventure “into the wild”
It all began with Krakauer’s book which is now required reading in American schools. The book details the odyssey (and tragic death) of Chris McCandles who basically ghosted his family after graduating from college, spent about 4 years travelling around the West coast of USA, then tracked and lived 4 months alone in the Alaskan outback before dying of starvation slash poisoning (the final chapter of “Into the Wild” details Krakauer’s investigation into the cause of McCandles’ death).
I gotta say there’s something about Krakauer’s writing which spews authenticity, rawness, etc. I love his no-holds-barred approach to research and writing. Krakauer has also personally come face to face with death whilst climbing the Devil’s Thumb (some bad-ass mountain in Alaska), an adventure he took on as a way of both challenging himself and dealing with the trauma of his r’ship with his dad.
Anyway, the #1 reason McCandles took off was to escape the hellhole which was his parents. This fact was only obliquely mentioned in “Into the Wild” — it was Chris’ sister, Carine, who spilled the beans in “The Wild Truth”.
TLDR: Walt and Billie McCandles (Chris and Carine’s parents) were ego-maniacal control freaks slash basket-cases living in a world of denial and rage, hurting everyone around them.
Carine’s book — “The Wild Truth” — is basically a memoir expressing the pain of growing in a family where her dad had an affair with her mum whilst still being married to his first wife (who, in fact, was pregnant throughout the affair). The fact that Walt and Billie DID behave like responsible parents at times (they certainly raised their kids well) only adds to the ambiguity and pain (I suppose?).
“The Wild Truth” is well-written and/but extremely tough to read at times because she sometimes get reeeeally direct and honest with reporting some conversations with her parents. As if things weren’t bad enough, she herself went through three divorces.
It’s also in Carine’s book that the film by Sean Penn is discussed; how Penn approached her, the growing friendships with the cast and crew, the disagreements over certain parts of the film, etc.
My recommendation is read Krakauer’s book first, then “Wild Truth”, then watch the movie (and tell me about it bcos I’ve only gone about 15 minutes in as at today).
