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“Into the Wild�� is undoubtedly one of my favorite books I have ever read. In short, it is the story of Chris McCandless and his excursion “into the wild.�� Chris leaves all material possessions behind and travels west from his routine life in suburbia. During his journey he believes he has found complete fulfillment and contentment from a life of no (or minimal) human contact. During his journey he reads many books and begins to discover a lot about himself, eventually coming to the conclusion that “happiness is nothing if not shared with others.�� While the story itself was rather compelling, the controversy brought about by Chris McCandless’s story is truly great. In reading this story one is easily troubled by how much of a hypocrite Chris is, as he comes to many radical conclusions among his journey, none of which leading to forgiveness of his father. Chris’s downfall is also rather controversial, as he journeyed into the Alaskan wilderness massively under-prepared. This can be perceived as naïve, overly ambitious, or just plain stupid. The author, however, leads all of these conclusions to the reader. The book had some interesting input from the author, recalling a time in his life where he took some excursions into nature as well. I also read the book right before going on my annual family trip to Montana, which made me incredibly excited about my vacation. I also felt like my experiences of wilderness and nature in Montana helped me to relate to McCandless�� vast appreciation of the true beauty in nature. Incredibly settings of nature, as McCandless said, allow one to become “face to face with pure reality.�� I agree with this wholeheartedly.