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I just finished Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail for my winter grad class and I LOVED it. Plus it just came out as a movie featuring Reese Witherspoon, so I will definitely have to see it!
The story begins on a somber note with the death of Strayed’s mother. A woman she initially writes about with almost saintly narration, but reveals her few weaknesses and moments of humanity as well. Among my favorite: “She was optimistic and serene, except a few times when she lost her temper and spanked us with a wooden spoon. Or the one time when she screamed F#CK and broke down crying because we wouldn’t clean our room” (14).
As her mother goes through the medical steps that often come before death, Strayed realizes at 21 that she was going to be alone. “I almost choked to death on what I knew before I knew. I was going to live the rest of my life without my mother” (11). The sorrow that she is thrown into after that death brought years of dangerous, self-loathing living that her estranged husband tries to save her from. On a whim she picks up a book about the Pacific Crest Trail, and ultimately decides that her salvation is in those mountains.
Besides a few trips to REI to buy stuff, she begins her journey virtually unprepared, with a backpack she can barely lift. “I’d set out to hike the trail so that I could reflect upon my life, to think about everything that had broken me and make myself whole again. But the truth was, at least so far, I was consumed only with my most immediate and physical suffering” (84). While her body was hard at work, her mind finally had the luxury of resting. Perhaps for the first time since her mother’s death. A couple days before she made that statement, she made the realization: “Every part of my body hurt. Except my heart” (70).
Throughout the memoir there are touches of an existential theme. When her boot goes cascading down the rocky cliff, she has the feeling that someone was playing a joke on her. “But no one laughed. No one would. The universe, I’d learned, was never, ever kidding. It would take whatever it wanted and it would never give it back” (209). Many of the animals she met on the trail were happy enough to part ways with her, especially the deer and the fox, who both seemed to ignore her very existence, seeing her as blended into the landscape. And as much as she had enjoyed becoming one with the nature around her, I think being ignored made her long to be seen. Then, when she loses her Vietnam War bracelet and tries to think of a positive symbol for its disappearance, she comes up dry: “The universe had simply taken it into its hungry, ruthless maw” (238).
But I think the strongest theme of all in this story is the very opposite of existentialism – a mother’s love. “‘I’ve given you everything,’ she insisted again and again in her last days… She did. She’d come at us with maximum maternal velocity. She hadn’t held back a thing, not a single lick of her love. ‘I’ll always be with you, no matter what,’ she said” (268). As Strayed nears the end of her journey, she kneels at a river after crossing it. “Where is my mother? I wondered, I’d carried her so long, staggering beneath her weight. On the other side of the river, I let myself think. And something inside of me released” (306). This reminded me of the River Styx of Greek mythology, which separates the world of the living from the afterlife. By going on her journey, Strayed confronts her own wide range of emotions about her mother, and finally releases her to be at peace.
Ultimately it’s her mother’s love blended with her love/hate relationship with the universe and nature in general, that heals her. She finishes her quest with the feeling of wholeness for perhaps the first time in her life. She comes to terms with the unknowable about this world and her place in it all. “It was my life—like all lives, mysterious and irrevocable and sacred. So very close, so very present, so very belonging to me. How wild it was, to let it be” (311).
Here’s the movie preview!
Have you ever been hiking? Are you going to see the movie?
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As a thru-hiker myself, I had a rather different take on Cheryl Strayed’s story.
http://www.donthikelikewild.org/
What was your take? I just really liked the story for what it was – her personal experience (and good writing), not necessarily a precise description of proper hiking technique or procedures.
This book and movie look so good! I would love this! I am going to look into getting it!
I can’t wait to see the movie! Might be awhile though, it looks like it’s only opening in select theaters in certain cities right now :(
Such a lovely book and a wonderful review, I have never said this before but I would very much love to read this book than watch the movie. Apart from Jane austen, all books which have been made into movies lose the true essence of this book and I am worried this movie might too, so i will settle for the book.
I agree that stories often lose a little something when they are turned into movies, but I just like to think of the movie as an alternate story :)
This sounds like a great book, I love the sound of the plot. It’s always great when a character goes through a journey in a book, whether it be physically or mentally. It’s always lovely for them to learn an important life lesson too because it really gets the reader thinking. Thanks for the recommendation.
i want to watch this movie too. I really enjoyed reading this and even though I have never considered hiking the entire pct.. She made me think I could do it. I mean I’m better geared up than she is.. But somehow her stubbornness and will got her through it.
Oh that’s awesome! I would be about as prepared as she was as far as knowledge and experience… however I would definitely have gotten in good shape before heading out.
haha i meant we have all the right gear.. lightweight gear. i don’t know if i could actually physically and mentally do this though.
I am probably going to have a not-so-popular opinion, but I’m pretty risk adverse, and while the book is well-written and a good/easy read, I was pretty much screaming “Go back to civilization!” the entire time in my head. I mean, she was not prepared for this at all. Irked me a bit. I know I’m in the minority though and that wasn’t really the point ;)
Haha that’s a totally fair opinion! I guess I wasn’t too worried about her since I knew she was alive and well to write her memoir :) I’m pretty sure the first time I encountered a rattlesnake, bear, or mountain lion tracks I would have catching the first bus out of there!
I just saw Reese Witherspoon on Fallon promoting this movie! I had no idea it was this book until it ws this cover! I don’t know that I’ll get out to the theaters to see this one, however I’ll definitively put it on my to Red Box list!
That’s awesome! Yeah, ever since I started the book I’ve been seeing promos and stuff on twitter and Facebook. Good timing to read the book I guess!
I had never heard of it, but after reading this I think I would definitely love to read this book. I may even check out the movie, although I really prefer to immerse myself in a book. It sounds like such a moving story, the kind I could really get sucked into. You’ve written a lovely and engaging review by the way!
Thank you! I like reading books before the movie too :)
I’ve been hiking before, but nothing like what the book describes. I love nature and seeing all of the greenery, trees, plants, water, and animals. I want to see this movie because I heard that Witherspoon does a very good job bringing the character to life.
I’m the same way, I’ve done some hiking but never overnight and definitely nothing like she does in the book! Maybe that’s why it’s so fun to read because it’s nothing I would ever do.
I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this yet. I love to read and watch movies (my favorite things to do) so I plan to read the book and see the movie. Thanks so much for sharing. Reese Witherspoon is an amazing actress so I know she won’t disappoint.
I didn’t know it was coming out as a movie until after I already started the book! Love finding movie versions of my fave books.
I’m not a book reader so I guess I’ll wait for the movie. Reese witherspoon has looked so mature now. Very different from her past roles. I hope she portays the book character right.
I agree, she’s not the same girl she was in Legally Blonde :) I’m really looking forward to the movie… it’s still not out in Germany yet :(
I don’t read books often but I might just have to read this one! It looks like such a wonderful and interesting book. The picture you have in the post is beautiful, I love the winter background scene. I didn’t know a movie was coming out as well, will definitely keep an eye out for that soon!
I went through a long phase where I didn’t read any books at all. I think it just takes the right book at the right time to get me back into it again!
I really enjoyed this story and hope that the movie does it justice – I’m often disappointed when seeing the movie based on a book I’ve loved so I’m crossing my fingers!
I wanna read, it sounds so beautiful and I love Reese too!
She’s a great actress! I hope you get a chance to read the book :)
Hi Jamie —
I saw the movie version of “Wild” yesterday and really enjoyed it, although the book was more meaningful to me and is something I want to read again down the road. I think you’ll enjoy the movie too, especially the beautiful cinematography, mostly of Oregon and the Mojave Desert. BTW, Cheryl Strayed appears briefly in the very first scene, and the ending credits show numerous photos of her as a young woman.
— Deb
Hi Deb!
I’m really glad you liked it! I’m looking forward do seeing it, hopefully soon. What classes are you taking this semester?
Hi Jamie —
Sorry for the delay in responding — I’m taking ENG 655, The Novel and Its Traditions, which is focused on reading Gothic literature, including Jane Eyre and Frankenstein. I’m liking it better than I thought I would.
What are your courses?
I’m taking the graduate research class ENG 685. The whole semester to study a single novel and all the criticism written about it – pretty fun so far. I’m doing Anna Karenina.
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while and your review makes it even more enticing. Im so glad I found your blog, it’s great to read other travel-loving family’s adventure!
Likewise! I really enjoyed Wild and recently bought the movie! Thanks for stopping by :)