Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by thebooknerdscorner
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
5.0
One woman's spontaneous decision to hike one of America's longest trails leads to many crazy situations, life lessons learned, and the overwhelming kindness of strangers.
Me and Ms. Strayed have really been on a journey together these last couple of months. Every night before I head to bed, I read a little bit more of Strayed's memoir, meaning I consumed "Wild" in small doses and it had much time to sink into my brain. I really enjoyed my time alongside Cheryl as she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), despite the long list of poor decisions that she made.
Where does one even start. . . Part of me finds it hard to believe that this book actually happened. How can a person be so unprepared for something and honestly not have it entirely blow up in her face? Yes, many things went wrong, mostly involving money shortages, lost boxes, too small boots, and a few run ins with crazy people, but for the most part, Cheryl hiked the PCT with minimal difficulties for someone who knew absolutely nothing about hiking and neglected to open any of her guidebooks before arriving in California at the start of the trail. Due to the fact that she was mostly clueless, this added to the humor of the book. There were many things that she did that were downright stupid that I found really funny. It always made me feel bad when she was suffering, but man, some of the choices she made were so illogical that one can't help but crack a smile.
I think one of the coolest things about this book, is seeing the kindness of strangers on the trail. Yes, I'm sure that Cheryl embellished many of the interactions and some of the relationships she had probably felt stronger than they actually were in real life, but it is still awesome to read about complete strangers who were willing to give her rides, share their food, let her stay with them, or even give her gifts from their own limited supplies. Human generosity is an amazing thing, and it was great to see it alive and well in this memoir.
Since it took me so long to finish this book, many parts of it are already blurred in my mind. However, there are many scenes that stick with me. The scene with the llama and the little boy named Kyle who sang her a song was absolutely adorable. The incident with Lady the horse has me slightly traumatized (here's to hoping that the memory will eventually fade). The moment where she throws her boot off the mountain is very cinematic and is painted in my mind's eye. I still find it so funny that she carried that one condom with her on almost the entire trail. And boy was I proud of her when she finally let it go. The complicated relationship she has with her mother's ghost is hauntingly beautiful, even if most of the decisions she made due to the loss of her mother were very questionable.
This book may seem unlikely, silly, or downright stupid, but I'm glad that Cheryl went through a series of events that led to healing her heart, despite the illogical nature of many of the incidents. I know that "Wild" has reached many people since its release, and I'm glad to hear that she has reconnected with a ton of the people she met on the trail. It is very rare that you do something like hiking the PCT and getting to reconnect with the people that you met there due to the fact you published a book about it. What a unique situation that has helped many people for the better.
Overall, reading "Wild" was quite the ride. My heart was touched, I sympathized with Cheryl's struggles, and laughed at her illogical decisions. Though many moments seem fairly edited, I'm glad that Cheryl was willing to share her experiences on the PCT to the general populace. I know her story has touched many people's hearts as it did mine.
Me and Ms. Strayed have really been on a journey together these last couple of months. Every night before I head to bed, I read a little bit more of Strayed's memoir, meaning I consumed "Wild" in small doses and it had much time to sink into my brain. I really enjoyed my time alongside Cheryl as she hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), despite the long list of poor decisions that she made.
Where does one even start. . . Part of me finds it hard to believe that this book actually happened. How can a person be so unprepared for something and honestly not have it entirely blow up in her face? Yes, many things went wrong, mostly involving money shortages, lost boxes, too small boots, and a few run ins with crazy people, but for the most part, Cheryl hiked the PCT with minimal difficulties for someone who knew absolutely nothing about hiking and neglected to open any of her guidebooks before arriving in California at the start of the trail. Due to the fact that she was mostly clueless, this added to the humor of the book. There were many things that she did that were downright stupid that I found really funny. It always made me feel bad when she was suffering, but man, some of the choices she made were so illogical that one can't help but crack a smile.
I think one of the coolest things about this book, is seeing the kindness of strangers on the trail. Yes, I'm sure that Cheryl embellished many of the interactions and some of the relationships she had probably felt stronger than they actually were in real life, but it is still awesome to read about complete strangers who were willing to give her rides, share their food, let her stay with them, or even give her gifts from their own limited supplies. Human generosity is an amazing thing, and it was great to see it alive and well in this memoir.
Since it took me so long to finish this book, many parts of it are already blurred in my mind. However, there are many scenes that stick with me. The scene with the llama and the little boy named Kyle who sang her a song was absolutely adorable. The incident with Lady the horse has me slightly traumatized (here's to hoping that the memory will eventually fade). The moment where she throws her boot off the mountain is very cinematic and is painted in my mind's eye. I still find it so funny that she carried that one condom with her on almost the entire trail. And boy was I proud of her when she finally let it go. The complicated relationship she has with her mother's ghost is hauntingly beautiful, even if most of the decisions she made due to the loss of her mother were very questionable.
This book may seem unlikely, silly, or downright stupid, but I'm glad that Cheryl went through a series of events that led to healing her heart, despite the illogical nature of many of the incidents. I know that "Wild" has reached many people since its release, and I'm glad to hear that she has reconnected with a ton of the people she met on the trail. It is very rare that you do something like hiking the PCT and getting to reconnect with the people that you met there due to the fact you published a book about it. What a unique situation that has helped many people for the better.
Overall, reading "Wild" was quite the ride. My heart was touched, I sympathized with Cheryl's struggles, and laughed at her illogical decisions. Though many moments seem fairly edited, I'm glad that Cheryl was willing to share her experiences on the PCT to the general populace. I know her story has touched many people's hearts as it did mine.