Author: Cheryl Strayed
This is my second book of the year (2012) that is centered around the main character going on a long hike with little (Wild) or no preparation (An unlikely pilgrimage). One of the big attractions of a long hike is that there is lots of time for soul-searching and reminiscing about the past and Cheryl does plenty of that in this book, as she tells her tail of a poor and neglected childhood and early adult years.
Cheryl grew up in rural Minnesota and was brought up by her mother Bobbi, who had a great influence on her. When her mother died of lung cancer at an early age of 45, Cheryl was devastated. She lost all purpose in life, experimented with drugs, had no qualms in having affairs and eventually separated from her husband. During this time she chanced upon a guidebook for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that spans all of the Western States in the US and before long she was saving up and planning for this hike of a lifetime. It involved hiking 1100 miles in the wilderness, carrying all the supplies she would need for the journey on her back. Add to this the fact that Cheryl had never hiked anything significant before it is an understatement to say that she was ill-prepared for the trip. To make matters worse, she was a young attractive girl, traveling alone and far far away from any civilization.
As with most things in life, her lack of knowing the dangers and hardships of the journey, helped her in achieving what most of us can only read about. It's a great book about the indomitable human spirit and the courage that propels us forward against all odds. It is great to see how Cheryl was not only successful in her quest, but how it also changed her perspective on life and allowed her to raise a nice family of her own.
The books is well written, is a pleasure to to read and comes across as honest and straight from the heart. My one complaint is that there is no detail on her life after the hike, and we are left to connect the dots in concluding that it changed her life for the better,
This is my second book of the year (2012) that is centered around the main character going on a long hike with little (Wild) or no preparation (An unlikely pilgrimage). One of the big attractions of a long hike is that there is lots of time for soul-searching and reminiscing about the past and Cheryl does plenty of that in this book, as she tells her tail of a poor and neglected childhood and early adult years.
Cheryl grew up in rural Minnesota and was brought up by her mother Bobbi, who had a great influence on her. When her mother died of lung cancer at an early age of 45, Cheryl was devastated. She lost all purpose in life, experimented with drugs, had no qualms in having affairs and eventually separated from her husband. During this time she chanced upon a guidebook for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail that spans all of the Western States in the US and before long she was saving up and planning for this hike of a lifetime. It involved hiking 1100 miles in the wilderness, carrying all the supplies she would need for the journey on her back. Add to this the fact that Cheryl had never hiked anything significant before it is an understatement to say that she was ill-prepared for the trip. To make matters worse, she was a young attractive girl, traveling alone and far far away from any civilization.
As with most things in life, her lack of knowing the dangers and hardships of the journey, helped her in achieving what most of us can only read about. It's a great book about the indomitable human spirit and the courage that propels us forward against all odds. It is great to see how Cheryl was not only successful in her quest, but how it also changed her perspective on life and allowed her to raise a nice family of her own.
The books is well written, is a pleasure to to read and comes across as honest and straight from the heart. My one complaint is that there is no detail on her life after the hike, and we are left to connect the dots in concluding that it changed her life for the better,
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