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[quote=domergurl;10193298]Yea, Sean Penn did a fabulous job directing and I loved Eddie Vedders soundtrack. The impact of the film didn't hit me until the final frame showing the real Chris McAndless photo of him smiling against the bus.
Did anyone see the Iconoclasts episode on Sundance Channel with Sean Penn & John Krakauer? They went back to the bus. It was creepy and very sad.[/quote
I was watching the documentary The Grizzly Man on Animal Planet about a month ago and it reminded me of this movie.
Wow, now that guy was really out there, but again, his life to live as he saw fit, too bad his girlfriend was there.
We are insignificant in the plan of mother nature.
In the movie, McCandless also revealed a equally important bit of wisdom when he told Hal Holbrook, who was stuck in neutral after his wife died (he would sit at the kitchen table day after day looking out the window over the Salton Sea, completely alone & isolated) that the only way he was going to break free from his doldrum & get his life back in gear was to - "Shock the System".
He said to Hal Holbrook, You have to shock the system, its the only way, or you'll die at the kitchen window staring blankly over the Salton Sea.
For many of us who have been stuck in neutral or an unfavorable situation, Chris McCandless gave us a way out - We have to have the courage to "Shock our system" & and trust going in a completely new direction.
Life is too rich & too short to sit at the kitchen table & stare blankly over the Salton Sea of our current life.
That was quite a long thread!
I must admit I had heard of the book quite some time ago but never got around to reading it. I am glad at my age now that I at least watched the movie alone so I could stay in my own head about it.
I am a bit prejudiced in the fact I often deal with mentally ill people. IMO he was not, maybe naive to the world, unprepared but he was on his journey, however it turned out.
That was quite a long thread!
I must admit I had heard of the book quite some time ago but never got around to reading it. I am glad at my age now that I at least watched the movie alone so I could stay in my own head about it.
I am a bit prejudiced in the fact I often deal with mentally ill people. IMO he was not, maybe naive to the world, unprepared but he was on his journey, however it turned out.
Well I've got the book, seven, but I must say I haven't finished reading it. It's not really "readable" or should I say, it doesn't grab me like the movie does. I know it's Krakauer and I'm supposed to be all excited at his brilliance but I have tried several times to read it now and I always give up after a few chapters. I'm sure a lot of people love the book, it just doesn't speak to me in the same way the movie does.
I think he was idealistic, like most of us are at a young age and it's unfortunate that his idealism got him into a situation where he needed more common sense than he'd managed to accumulate.
I admire him for having principles and sticking with them and let's face it, he could just as easily have survived and become part of the establishment making a full career out of his experiences, like so many people do.
I don't think he was mentally ill at all. Actually I think a lot of what he believed was really quite sound, thought provoking and intelligent. It's just unfortunate that his risk didn't pay off.
I devoured the book; I literally began and finished it in one airplane ride (well, it *was* Florida to California.)
I liked Krakauer's crisp writing style as well as his look at other wanderers and risk-takers--including himself.
It was good to get some background information on McCandless, though I am not sure I buy Krakauer's mold theory.
I devoured the book; I literally began and finished it in one airplane ride (well, it *was* Florida to California.)
I liked Krakauer's crisp writing style as well as his look at other wanderers and risk-takers--including himself.
It was good to get some background information on McCandless, though I am not sure I buy Krakauer's mold theory.
Yeah, I know I'm in a minority when it comes to Krakauer BWP.
I just can't seem to get into it. Keep picking it up and putting in down again. Then again I'm not a fan of Catcher in the Rye either so maybe it's a cultural thing?
Yeah, I know I'm in a minority when it comes to Krakauer BWP.
I just can't seem to get into it. Keep picking it up and putting in down again. Then again I'm not a fan of Catcher in the Rye either so maybe it's a cultural thing?
You're Aussie, right? It's okay, you don't have to like Krakauer!
Actually I think there is a whole camp of folks who don't.
I really don't think it's a cultural thing anyway, neither of my kids liked Catcher much, and that young man's story was quite different from that of McCandless.
You're Aussie, right? It's okay, you don't have to like Krakauer!
Actually I think there is a whole camp of folks who don't.
I really don't think it's a cultural thing anyway, neither of my kids liked Catcher much, and that young man's story was quite different from that of McCandless.
Yeah, I know they're very different but there seemed, for me, a lack of identifying with either book. It's difficult to define and I guess I put it down to cultural differences because so many of my American friends rave about both books and yet so much is lost on me. There are some fabulous American authors, who I love, but with both those books I felt shut out or not on the same page or something. Like I'd entered a secret club or something and I didn't belong.
I guess it mystifies me because when people talk about books in such glowing terms, when I can see that they're passionate about them, that the author has had a profound impact on them, when it doesn't happen that way for me I don't understand it. So I find it difficult to accept that perhaps I don't like Salinger or Krakauer when I know so many do and not in small ways either. Add to that the fact that I absolutely adore Sean Penn's interpretation of Krakauer's book....well you can see how it could be confusing, yes?
Oh and yes, I'm Aussie.
It's interesting that your kids didn't like Catcher either, though. Now I don't feel so much like I've got my face pressed up to the glass.
Just a side note,
We tend to praise risk takers who succeed, denigrate the ones who don't.
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so maybe it's a cultural thing? 
