Author: Cheryl Strayed
Type: Paperback
Read: 3rd May - 6th May
Rating: 5/5
Published: 1st January 2014 by Atlantic Books (UK)
At 26, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family disbanded and her marriage crumbled. With nothing to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to walk 1,100 miles of the west coast of America - from the Mojave Desert, through California and Oregon, and into Washington State - and to do it alone. She had no experience of long-distance hiking and the journey was nothing more than a line on a map. But it held a promise - a promise of piecing together a life that lay in ruins at her feet.
The cover of this book, the version with Reese Witherspoon on was one of the reasons i brought it. I'm not big on film adaptions whatsoever but then if you look at the original cover for this book, a simple boot, it doesn't shout to be read. Although this one doesn't either, the difference of the two covers is great.
I also need to say, I don't like or can't really read autobiographies as such. Or in this version, a book detailing someones journey. They're usually so me me me that i find it too much. But i read this one, pretty quickly because it's different.
I'm not sure how i can even begin to describe this book. I went into it, not really having a clue about it, except a girl decided to walk a trail. I never knew the PCT existed nor how long it was. But reading Cheryl's journey was inspiring. Who in the right mind would decide to backpack across a crazy number of miles, thousands really, on their own? No-one and especially someone with so little experience. I really felt drawn to Cheryl.
All her moments of up and down, the struggle to even walk a few miles the first couple of days because of her boots. Then the struggles of running out of water, money and bumping into a couple of mean people. I wouldn't have been able to do it? This shown what an amazing strenght Cheryl had deep within. Even running into bears, wolves and other animals never put her off. Hiking across snow ridden mountains, hitchiking across the parts she wasn't able to cross, all of these proved how brave she truely is.
There were some amazing people she had met throughtout the trip, some reoccuring and others just a fleeting moment, and these people, i respected just as much, for each of them wanted to prove to themselves, they could hike this trail.
Although Cheryl set out on this hike to figure stuff out, i think she found out so much more, even what she wasn't expecting to find. The trip changed her more than she could ever realise it would. I wish i could be as brave to hike something like that, the views and general at-one with nature, as described by Cheryl sound like they are really worth it.
I'm not doing this book justice what-so-ever. There is much more to it. I finished it and then felt lost. I didn't know how to explain how something like 'Wild' felt. It's something to dream about, it makes you realise, there is more to the world than for some of us, a concret jungle. More to the world than cars, work, money. Nature has a way of allowing you to forget stuff like that and just enjoy the beauty this earth has to offer you.
I love the fact the US has these national parks and hiking trails and that it's the norm to go to such places. Read this book. You won't regret it. Cheryl really is an insperation.
Go get it from: Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones
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