Comments on: A Wild Controversy http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/ The blog for Outdoorzy.com! Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:04:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Paul Ritchings http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-18612 Paul Ritchings Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:18:13 +0000 http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-18612 I've just seen the Sean Penn film of this story. Of course it was "suicidal", or rather reckless. He couldn't take having been lied to about his origins and I think he was trying to uproot himself and start afresh. Trouble is you can't. And underneath recklessness is anger, grief. He was a lost child. I’ve just seen the Sean Penn film of this story.

Of course it was “suicidal”, or rather reckless. He couldn’t take having been lied to about his origins and I think he was trying to uproot himself and start afresh. Trouble is you can’t.

And underneath recklessness is anger, grief. He was a lost child.

]]> By: tom http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-14033 tom Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:10:54 +0000 http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-14033 My reading of Krakauer's original article in Outside was that he was mostly a victim of bad luck. He avoided crossing a raging river and waited for it to recede -- that shows and elemental respect for nature -- but he got sick and couldn't hunt/forage for food because he was too weak. Krakauer theorized he ate a poisonous root similar to an edible potato, but that's only an educated guess. The world's best climbers fall off cliffs and die; avalanches kill premiere alpinists. My reading of Krakauer’s original article in Outside was that he was mostly a victim of bad luck.

He avoided crossing a raging river and waited for it to recede — that shows and elemental respect for nature — but he got sick and couldn’t hunt/forage for food because he was too weak. Krakauer theorized he ate a poisonous root similar to an edible potato, but that’s only an educated guess.

The world’s best climbers fall off cliffs and die; avalanches kill premiere alpinists.

]]> By: Wade http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-13979 Wade Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:51:29 +0000 http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-13979 Good point Bill. I think ultimately the book speaks to two different truths. 1. A good jaunt across the country or the globe can open a persons eyes wider than they ever imagined. 2. Disrespecting nature can be the worst mistake you'll ever make, and the last. Good point Bill. I think ultimately the book speaks to two different truths.
1. A good jaunt across the country or the globe can open a persons eyes wider than they ever imagined.
2. Disrespecting nature can be the worst mistake you’ll ever make, and the last.

]]> By: Bill Cody http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-13950 Bill Cody Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:22:22 +0000 http://blog.outdoorzy.com/2007/09/24/a-wild-controversy/#comment-13950 First off, it was an Alaskan summer that he couldn't make it through. And there I think is the rub. You see, there were supplies up there nearby and bridges to get out. But, since McCandless refused to get a map of the area he didn't know that those items for survival were there just for the taking. Many of his supporters have said that he would not have wanted to know that supplies and help were easily attainable nearby, that the whole point of his adventure was surviving the unkown. But, that's the probalem many of us who grew up out west have with his story. Going into the wild unprepared is not only stupid and suicidal, it shows a certain lack of respect for the very forces of nature he insisted he wanted to get in touch with. First off, it was an Alaskan summer that he couldn’t make it through. And there I think is the rub. You see, there were supplies up there nearby and bridges to get out. But, since McCandless refused to get a map of the area he didn’t know that those items for survival were there just for the taking.

Many of his supporters have said that he would not have wanted to know that supplies and help were easily attainable nearby, that the whole point of his adventure was surviving the unkown. But, that’s the probalem many of us who grew up out west have with his story. Going into the wild unprepared is not only stupid and suicidal, it shows a certain lack of respect for the very forces of nature he insisted he wanted to get in touch with.

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