Two in a row, another book I was not super crazy about. I think overall people will enjoy it more than I did so I will recommend it, but I think it was a bit lost on me.
Wild is a biography by Cheryl Strayed that tells the story of her life as she embarks on a long wilderness trek of the Pacific Crest Trail, the hiking trail that runs from Mexico to Canada. Cheryl was an average girl with a bit south of average upbringing but nothing that stands out as tragic or negligent. When her mother contracts cancer and dies in rapid succession, her life begins an epic downward spiral that leaves her with track marks, an appointment at the abortion clinic and wondering who she is and whether it's possible she can regain herself.
She viewed the multiple month long trek across the PCT as an escape and her way to find the parts of herself that were so obviously missing. Her quest to the trail began when she saw a guide book next to a check out counter at REI. This trail is known for being ruthless at times and unforgiving always. She decides to go for it, buying all the equipment and making arrangements for re-supply check points along the way. She puts everything she has into the trip and leaves everything she knows behind. The trail not only tests Cheryl's physical will but her mental strength to continue hiking through 6 lost toe nails, blisters the size of golf balls, and several close encounters with bears, rattlers, and foxes. She hikes double digit miles almost everyday, showers every couple weeks at best, and is in a state of perpetual hunger. Her knowledge of survival and hiking is not up the par, she makes mistakes that bring her frighteningly close to several devastating follies that it would have made me nervous had I not obviously known she survived the to write about them.
I have been in less modest conditions than most people on my two trips to Central America but what Cheryl describes is inconceivable to me and I could not have done it. The level of discomfort and pain that she endured is enough to prove her inherent strength of will and it truly honorable.
At the end of her three month journey she covered over 1,100 miles of unrelenting wild and has forever changed not only her body but her mind and spirit as well. Hers is a life altered by a deep rooted desire to prove things to herself and to the world that she felt abandoned by. It was to her a necessary test to show herself that she was capable of even the most difficult of tasks and that she could come out on the other side with a new perspective, a new vision, a new purpose.
Overall, this book for me was just okay but there were several moments that had me in tears. I could feel her anger, her frustration and her pain so profoundly I took it as my own. The whole book may have connected that way for me if I had any experience with hiking or could relate to her stories on other levels but I was outside my general field of experiences. She described what it was like to be in the wilderness and enduring the elements but I could not place them in a meaningful way alongside my own life experiences.
Others will possibly take away more from this book than I did so I will recommend it. There is a lesson to be learned for everyone somewhere within the pages of another life. Through the course of my readings I think I am starting to understand that I do not have to make all the mistakes or have all the glory myself, I can learn from others through their ups and downs and make myself a better person along the way. The story of Cheryl Strayed had moments for me where I could release some pressure and realize I don't have to live in the wilderness for three motnhs to come to terms with things in my life, I only need to listen, learn and accept the teachable moments as they come.
3 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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