Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book I've seen on countless "must-read" or "favorites" book lists. I've had this on my shelf for quite a while and when I recently saw in the news that the now famous bus where the protagonist Chris McCandless died in the Alaskan wilderness in the early 90's was removed due to being a dangerous location where others have made treks to see because of the book’s fame. I finally decided it was time to pull it off the shelf. I was glad I did.

It is the story of the retracing and trying to understand Alex McCandless and his journey across America after shunning his family and then civilization he lived upon land living upon edges of the society he scoffed at. I couldn't help draw a similarity to Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" which was about a journey across America on the edge of society that also caught people’s imagination.

After finishing college Alex pretty much left everything behind. Donated his $25K his parents gave him and packed up his beat-up Datsun and hit the road. He had often done this in the past but this time he had next to nothing pulling him back, not even family. He spent the next two years floating between society and loner. He eventually abandoned the car after it was flooded by a flash flood and hitchhiked, walked, and even used a canoe for a bit. He would connect with certain people along the way often making a big connection with them in even a short amount of time. They were often left curious and puzzled about how this intelligent, well-read, and hard-working young man was traveling like this.

He eventually ends up in Alaska for the adventure he’d been working up to. He set out and “into the wild” as were his last words he sent to an acquaintance. Tragically four months later he would be found starved to death in an abandoned bus which had been his base. The story is a retracing of his steps, as much as possible, and a deeper goal of trying to figure out his motivation and why he did this.

His journey seemed to have elements of past literary classics like “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac’s journey across the western states of America and also Robert Pirsig’s “The Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenace” for the same reason(I believe Alex McCandless was found with this book). Another that came to mind was Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger as the book has strong elements of a coming of age story and disenchantment with society in general.

There is also a strong element of a father-son conflict, even though Alex left everyone behind his relationship with his Dad seemed to be the lynchpin of some underlying resentment of past family matters. Alex’s closest relationship seemed to be with his sister(much like Holden Caulfield in Cather in the Rye mentioned previously) but even she was left in the dark as to his whereabouts.
Alex was not without his faults either. He seemed to have a stronger desire to do things on his own, or at least figure things out on his own. He did well in school and had a strong motivation to figure stuff out but as soon as someone offered help or tried to help him excel further he would shun or just ignore them. This trait would come back to haunt him later.

The book is well written and will stay with you long after you finish it. I can see a bit clearer why this was such a talked-about book. I’ll be hanging on to this one and will probably reread it in the future. Did Chris McCandless ever find what he was looking for? We may never know for sure.


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Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden

Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose by Joe Biden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A year in the life of Joe Biden. It cover's not only his personal life but is interwoven with his job as Vice President. He still manages to do his job meanwhile his son, Beau Biden, battles cancer that doesn't have a good prognosis, to begin with. Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop for that stuff. He deals with the crisis in Ukraine and the middle east. Back home there is a church shooting and police are gunned down in New York City.

Unfortunately, Beau Biden loses his battle with cancer and he is heartbroken. This coincides with the 2016(pretty much starts in 2015) campaign season ramping up. As much as he knows people are understanding of his personal loss pressure mounts for him to decide to run for President which his prospects looked excellent to be the next President. As we all know he eventually decided not to. The book goes more into why he didn't.

The book gives us a picture of what Joe is like and is heartwarming without being overwhelmingly sugar-coated like a Hallmark movie. It also shows in his job he can be tough when needed. In contrast, he can show empathy and decency when called for. With a deluge of books about the current President, this may give you a glimpse of what could be.

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WATCH: Joe Biden’s full speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention

1776 by David McCullough

1776 by David McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I listened to this on Audible but I had read it before. A large part of it was that I love listening to David McCullough talk about history, I could listen to him for hours(which I did in this case). I'll just do a quick summary of the book here.

In short this is the first year and half of George Washington's taking command of the American forces in mid 1775 in Boston in which British forces are surrounded by the American forces. and ends in early January 1777 after Washington exceeds expectations and defeats Hessian's at Trenton, New Jersey and the British at Princeton, New Jersey. These were relatively small engagements but served as morale boost for the American's in general and solidified Washington's leadership(and perhaps his mythical status in American history). It also forced the British(and mercenary Hessian's) to take the Continental Army seriously.

We also meet a variety of people of the revolutionary period. We meet his two most trusted General's Henry Knox and Nathaniel Greene whom would serve Washington for the duration of the war. It was Knox's idea and follow thru to get the the artillery pieces at Fort Ticonderoga and trek them all the way to Boston which helped brake the siege. We also meet future Presidents John Adams and James Monroe(who served in Washington's Army). We also meet another founding father who was a young Artillery Captain, Alexander Hamilton(who's popularity has exploded in recent years).

The book only gives a passing glance to political goings on elsewhere outside of Washington's military actions. For anything leading up to the Declaration of Independence in July 1776(which unsurprising is probably what people first think of when you say 1776) you'd have to go elsewhere like David McCullough's epic biography of John Adams. This is pretty much a military history of George Washington during this time period.

David McCullough's storytelling is masterful and I highly recommend the audio version. I've read other military books and they can be dry and overly serious without much context, this is none of that. His descriptions are colorful and we get to know more about the people involved which point out the good and the bad of each side in this case(yes Washington had his faults). For those wishing to read about the American Revolution I'd certainly put this on the essential reading list.

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Enduring Vietnam by James Edwards Wright

Enduring Vietnam: An American Generation and Its War by James Edward Wright
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was born in the midst of the American War in Vietnam and it was over by the time I became aware of it. I had uncles that were there, one seriously wounded. The war itself wasn't if at all, discussed very much. In my reading the past year or so I've taken an interest in exploring this tumultuous event in our country's history. I've read many viewpoints from military and political narratives. I've also read personal accounts of the boots on the ground from the patrols to the large scale battles that went on. This one though seemed to blend those together to give an overall picture of the war not only overseas but how it was experienced on the home front without being politically charged one way or the other.

One particularly moving moment was how the government was unprepared to notify families of soldiers who were wounded or killed, especially early in the war. The movie "We Were Soldiers" shows this too where taxi drivers dispatched with telegrams to give to family's telegrams of their loss. As you can imagine that didn't go over well. It was later changed that a member of the military and usually a local clergy member wound do it. Even then it was a harrowing experience not only for family members but those tasked with notifying usually didn't last long doing it as it was an emotionally draining experience. I have an 18-year-old son and couldn't imagine hearing that kind of news myself.

The book came closer to my personal quest in finding something about the Vietnam War to sort of paint a before and after picture about how it affected attitudes and society in general. It seems it started with high ideals with a sense of duty and obligation. What seemed to happen during the course of the conflict was those ideals seemed to drain away when the war, which didn't have clearly defined goals, dragged on and on and on. It wasn't a more traditional war of territorial goals but became a war of attrition and patience in which the opposition had more of.

It is an excellent book about this era and can be a good starting point to go deeper into a given area as it covers a lot of subjects and viewpoints that could be booked on their own. Anyone looking for a deeper understanding of this historic period should put this on their reading list.

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