The Wild Truth
By Carine McCandless
It took a lot of courage to write this book. I am sure it brought back a lot of painful memories. It was well-written and I hope more people read The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless.
After reading this book, the reader gets deeper insights into why Chris McCandless chose to sever all ties with his family and wander into the wilderness of Alaska. You don’t have to survive a firefight in the jungles of Vietnam or the deserts of Iraq to suffer from trauma. You can experience trauma in your own family. Chris McCandless had had enough physical and emotional abuse for one lifetime, left family and friends behind and drifted. His life was short, but he lived life to the fullest. Chris McCandless had an undefeatable spirit.
Not all who wander are lost.
Hebrews 11: 37-38: “. . . they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
[Several years ago I was hitchhiking in western South Dakota and this lady picked me. She told me that she and her boyfriend had picked up Chris McCandless while he was hitchhiking through South Dakota in the early 1990s. She said that he went by a different name.]
The Boston Globe
Carine McCandless and the Hidden Story Behind “Into the Wild”
The Road 
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I hadn’t heard of this fellow until just last week. A friend recommended the movie to me, Into The Wild. I’m wondering…was there any indication that Chris McCandless knew the Lord? I don’t know much about him, and haven’t yet read the book or watched the movie.
I don’t know if Chris was a Christian, but he definitely believed in God. Having just read The Wild Truth, Chris and Carine went to church on Sundays with their family.
The book Into the Wild and the movie are very good. I really liked Chris McCandless’ spirit. He was reckless.
“Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness.”
–Oswald Chambers
Thank you, Tim. I would like to either watch the movie, or read the book. Traveling mercies, brother!
After reading The Wild Truth, I discovered that there are more similarities between Chris McCandless’ life and my life than I had previously thought. The Lord told me to read this book, so I’m glad I did.
If people have read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, then they really need to read The Wild Truth.
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Have you read The Way of the Pilgrim? You would probably like it
No, I have never read The Way of the Pilgrim. I just looked it up on Wikipedia; it looks very good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_a_Pilgrim
Pilgrimsmap:
A very inspiring short story that you might like to read is “Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy:
http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2896/
This is a comment I left on the video “Into The Wild Documentary – Return to the Wild”:
“People don’t just leave their parents permanently for no reason. No doubt, Chris McCandless went through a lot of abuse from his parents over many years. I remember I was hitchhiking in Nevada and this older man picked me up. He was really dejected. He said that his son never communicates with him, never visits him. I just listened to him. I wanted to ask him, “Did you treat your son like dirt?” Trauma happens on battlefields and in homes. People just want to get away from the source of their pain.
“I have often wondered what Chris McCandless would have done had he survived his ordeal in Alaska. My guess he would have hitchhiked back to the Lower 48, got a job and then write a manuscript about his adventures on the road, the people he met and his time in Alaska. The book would have been similar to Henry David Thoreau’s WALDEN.
“I think we all agree that he was very inexperienced and not well-prepared to live in the wilds of Alaska. He probably should have camped out somewhere in Montana first–maybe 30 miles from the nearest town in case he had to hitchhike to town for some supplies. If he successfully lived for three or four months in Montana, then he could have gone on to Alaska and do the same thing there. I think most people liked his reckless spirit. But his reckless spirit tragically was driven by much pain.
“I still believe that Chris McCandless lived more in those two years on the road than most people live in a lifetime.”