Review of Into the Wild (2007) by Christinet. — 05 Nov 2007
I understand Sean Penn was not on a fact-finding mission, but the numerous discrepancies with the book (okay, maybe the book was wrong) make me question his motives. To wit: Chris abandoned his car because it would not start after a flash flood.
When park rangers (not people out searching for wild flowers) found it, it started after being jumped and ran for years. Chris traveled the lower Colorado River, not the rapids, in a canoe, not a kayak.
The couple he later met in the Grand Canyon were German, not Dutch (or Danish; I forget what the movie said), and I doubt they were such giggling twits. He got lost in a maze of irrigation ditches and would never have reached the ocean had not Mexican hunting guides carried him and his canoe in their truck.
He abandoned the canoe; it did not blow away. He was never beaten up by a railroad guard. When the manager at McDonald's asked him to wear socks, he wore socks. "Ron Franz" (pseudonym) did not hit the bottle after his family was killed; he mentored young Asian people and sent two through medical school.
Chris almost certainly knew the difference between wild potato and the poisonous sweet pea; his notes say his decline is the "fault of pot. seed." Moldy potato seeds can be poisonous.
This review of Into the Wild (2007) was written by Christinet. on 05 Nov 2007.
Into the Wild has generally received very positive reviews.
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