One of my favorite books is Into the Wild, by John Krakauer. I am sure many of you have enjoyed it as well, but for those that may not have read it yet, here is a summary courtesy of Wikisummaries:
"Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. Was Christopher McCandless a heroic adventurer or a naive idealist, a rebellious 1990s Thoreau or another lost American son, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature?
Each strand of his journey is woven into Sean Penn's screen adaptation of Jon Krakauer's acclaimed bestseller, Into the Wild, which is as much about the insatiable yearning for family, home and connection as it is the search for truth and happiness.
McCandless' quest took him from the wheat fields of South Dakota to a renegade trip down the Colorado River to the non-conformists' refuge of Slab City, California, and beyond. Along the way, he encountered a series of colorful characters at the very edges of American society who shaped his understanding of life and whose lives he, in turn, changed. In the end, he tested himself by heading alone into the wilds of the great North, where everything he had seen and learned and felt came to a head in ways he never could have expected"
When I first heard that they were making it into a film I thought it was going to turn out to be a nightmare. All to often, great books just don't translate into great films, so I wasn't looking forward to seeing what would remain of a Into the Wild after it had been re-written into a Hollywood screenplay.
To my surprise it has received rave reviews and not to say that good reviews mean all that much, but if nothing else, it has peaked my curiosity. It came out on DVD last week, so maybe I will be stopping by Blockbuster on the way home. Why the hell not?
I will let you know what I think of it.
Although years...and years and...(you get the idea).... years away, Tanyia and I have been looking at our options for retirement. I would like to have some property in the Algonquin area where I could put a small cabin to use as a base camp for my trips. It would have no electricity or plumbing, but would have a wood stove, be completely winterized and able to sleep 6. There are lots of options, but I found this article from the National Post that gives a great overview of some of the options available for a simple shelter, many I had never heard of before. Check it out!
