Title: Wild
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Genre: Non-fiction, memoir
Synopsis: Following her mother's death, a divorce, and a short stint of drugs and random hook-ups, Cheryl Strayed decides to hike over a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone and with no hiking experience.
Review: I know I'm a few years late to this book as it was published in 2012, but I am glad that I finally took the time to read it. I actually picked up a hard copy of this in a used bookstore a couple years ago and can I just take the time to say how much I miss holding an actual book in my hands? 95% of the time I read books on my Kindle but I honestly think that reading the actual book made the experience that much better. Anyway, back to the review. I really enjoyed this book, but it definitely seems to be a love-or-hate type of novel. Really, the story mainly just involves her walking countless miles, meeting the occasional person or animal, and finding peace with her mother's death. It isn't the most exciting novel and she can certainly come across as self-absorbed at times (not to mention, hiking a gruelling trail with no prior hiking experience and minimal research is pretty careless), but I still enjoyed it. I'm a sucker for memoirs and also anything to do with setting up camp as it takes me back to my childhood and Little House on the Prairie (is there an adult version of those books?).
Rating: 4/5
Other Musings:
- I never wanted to hike until I read this book and now I cannot wait for summer so I can go hiking (and camping).
- I read the entire book thinking it was the "Pacific Coast Trail", not the "Pacific Crest Trail". I'm actually pretty embarrassed to admit that.
- I watched the movie last night and I didn't really enjoy it. The plot made for a good book because of the detail and the author's thoughts and feelings but it did not translate well to a movie.
- I actually enjoy the author's writing style so I will definitely check out some of her other books.
Did you read this book or any others by Cheryl Strayed? Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts?
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Oh man! I completely forgot about my Goodreads account! I still read quite frequently, I should start updating it again! This may be a book I would like reading as well.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book! And I had similar reactions to your Musings #1, #2 & #4. (I still need to watch the movie.)
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