Monday, April 25, 2016

The Wild Truth

The Wild Truth
By Carine McCandless
HarperOne, 2014. 277 pages. Nonfiction.

Chris McCandless was found dead in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992 after having traveled around the country for 2 years without contact with his family. His story was well documented in both the film and book entitled Into the Wild. In this book, Chris’ sister Carine shines light on the reasons Chris might have ventured out into the wild in the first place, as she recounts the physical and emotional abuse and pain of their childhood in Virginia. Carine McCandless uses letters and interactions with her brother to inform her opinion and come to conclusions about what might have led him to venture out and stop all contact with his parents.

The most interesting parts of the book include memories with Chris and the research involved in uncovering his story, but even that is a bit sparse. If you have not read Into the Wild, I would highly recommend picking it up, and certainly before starting this book. Not a lot of Chris’ story is recounted in depth, as it seems the author assumed the reader would already be familiar. This account does fill in some holes, but is largely about Carine’s journey, both with and without her brother.

RC

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