9 Books Chris McCandless Took on His Journey ― Into The Wild

Chris McCandless was a young man who was deeply intrigued by an itinerant lifestyle and hence wanted to get away from the conventional one.

After completing his graduation, McCandless broke free from the establishment and went on carving his own path.

To begin with, he destroyed all his worldly documents, donated his savings, emancipated from his family, and embarked on his journey across North America. It was a journey that in his words involved,

“No Phone, No Pool, No Pets, No Cigarettes. Ultimate Freedom.”

McCandless took very limited things with him on his journey, most of which were books.

In the words of Jon Krakauer, the author of the book Into the Wild, a biography of Chris McCandless

When McCandless headed into the Alaskan bush, he had a fake-fur parka, a rifle slung over one shoulder, a ten-pound bag of long-grained rice, two sandwiches and a bag of corn chips…the heaviest item…was his library.

— Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

The following passage was found highlighted in the book Family Happiness found with Chris McCandless’s Remains

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by HappinessDhaba | Jasmeet💥 (@happinessdhaba)

“I wanted movement, not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love. I feel in myself a superabundance of energy which found no outlet in our quiet life.”

― Leo Tolstoy

With this, I think I’ve successfully highlighted McCandless’s love for books.

Let’s check out the books Chris McCandless took on his journey Into The Wild.

Books Chris McCandless Took on His Journey Into The Wild!

1. Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton was a Harvard Medical School graduate who wrote books instead of practising medicine. His medical background is very much evident in almost all his books including The Terminal Man wherein he gives detailed accounts of medical procedures.

The Terminal Man is a thrilling story of Harry Benson, a man suffering from intense seizures. Benson is taken to a hospital for a “stage three” procedure, in which a computer will be implanted in him. This computer is expected to calm Benson’s seizures.

The book is about the grave danger of technology falling into the wrong hands.

Do you know that the Jurassic Park movies were based on books by Michael Crichton?

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

2. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

How is one to make sense of the end of one’s life, of one’s relationships, projects, and dreams, of one’s very existence?

In The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy directs attention to the human impulse to search for meaning in the face of mortality.

It can also be seen as a lesson on making sense of death through living rightly. The definition of “Living Rightly” though will require another meaningless blog post of 1000 odd words.

Coming back, throughout the book, Tolstoy makes clear that preparation for death begins with a proper attitude toward life.

There is a significant change in the protagonist’s attitude towards life brought about by pain and the prospect of death. And this shift transforms his emotions from sheer terror to utter joy.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

3. Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour

Education of a Wandering Man is a memoir of Louis L’Amour’s lifelong love affair with learning ― from books, from wondering, and from some remarkable men and women ― that shaped him as a storyteller and as a man.

It mixes authentic drama that forms human life. In the author’s words, this is a story of a one-of-a-kind life lived to the fullest ― a life that inspired the books.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

4. Taras Bulba by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

This is the story of Taras Bulba, an old Ukrainian Cossack and his two sons, Andriy and Ostapas as they set out on a journey to Southern Ukraine to join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland.

A romanticized historical novel, “Taras Bulba” is full of adventure and perhaps that is why McCandless carried this one with him.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

5. Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy

What’s a person supposed to do when their defining experience suddenly ceases holding the meaning it used to?

Family Happiness by Leo Tolstoy is about a 17-year-old girl, Masha and her troubled marriage to her much older husband Sergey Mikhaylych. The two of them live a happy newlywed life, but soon Masha gets restless and wants to move to a big city.

When they move, Masha gets active socially, but Sergei prefers to stick to his business.Over time, the two of them drift apart and Masha realizes that her childhood dreams of “wild delight” isn’t turning into a reality.

Aren’t you amazed at Chris McCandless’s choice of books for his journey? So many of them talk about the peripherality of human existence.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

6. Walden: Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

In the copy of Walden: Life in the Woods found with McCandless’s remains, the word TRUTH was found written next to the following words,

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” — Thoreau, Walden

Henry David Thoreau’s literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and “Yankee” love of practical detail.

Thoreau was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time imploring one to discover life’s true essential needs.

Thoreau’s words must have strongly resonated with McCandless.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

7. O Jerusalem! by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins

O Jerusalem! by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins is a towering testament to the events surrounding the creation of the state of Israel. It’s a hard-hitting tale of faith and violence, of betrayal and indomitable courage.

It’s an unbiased product of five years of intensive research and thousands of interviews. It highlights striking contrast between shattered hopes and fierce pride as the Arabs, Jews, and British compete to control Jerusalem.

This book is perhaps the best on the topic to have a foundational, unbiased understanding of the conflicts clouding modern Israel and the middle east.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

8. Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

People imagined that it was out of date to follow their own moral sense, that they must all sing in chorus, and live by other people’s notions, notions that were being crammed down everybody’s throats.

Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak was perhaps the last book McCandless read. Dr Zhivago is about change, transformation, upheaval and survival. It’s one of the greatest love stories you will read.

Taking place in Russia during the midst of the revolution, it follows physician and poet Yuri Zhivago as he wrestles with the new order and is torn by his love for two women.

In addition to love, the book catalogues the atrocities and the progressions of a political system that seeks to destroy the individual in the name of saving the masses and at the same time, it catalogues the struggle of an individual to reconcile the ideals of his heart with the realities of a Marxist society.

This was the book in which McCandless wrote those famous words, “Happiness Only Real When Shared” close to where Pasternak expressed the need to find one’s purpose.

Grab your copy Here ― Amazon.in | Amazon.com

9. Tanaina Plantlore/Dena’ina K’et’una: An Ethnobotany of the Dena’ina Indians of Southcentral Alaska by Priscilla Russell Kari

If you have watched the movie Into the Wild, you might remember that scene in which McCandless was seen flipping pages of a book and realizing that he’d accidentally eaten poisonous wild potato seeds.

This mistake of his is believed to be the reason behind his death and NOT HIS BREAKING AWAY FROM ESTABLISHMENTS.

The last words have been intentionally written in bold to express disagreement with some of my American readers who are mysteriously angry at a blog post I wrote, 7 Powerful Life Lessons from Into The Wild

That’s a Wrap!!