Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found Paperback – 3 Aug. 2023

Heart-breaking, emotional, raw, determined, completely inspiring uplifting venture of bravery during the amazing venture and escape (from the crazy world) within the PCT Pacific Crest Trial. Deep honest memoir, epic & moving, extraordinary, amazing & inspiring are words from many others who have read Cheryl Strayed's Wild Book. The readers who criticised the book/story seem to have missed the point of the story as a whole.

I purchases this book after watching a colleague continually trying to read it in every spare minute over the course of a shift and I was definitely not disappointed. The story follows the path of a young adventurous who sets out on one of the longest hiking trails in America all on her own. It is a story about the wild and finding yourself out there as well as about courage and redemption lost and found with a smattering of recollections thrown in. It made me wanna dig out my pack and head outdoors and I am still thinking about a trip even a couple months later.The best thing about it though, is how it is written. You will relate to the character because she is flawed and her inner voice and outer dialogue reflect that of a real person - which you just gotta love. My only disappointment was that I wanted more in the end - I didn't feel her journey was over and I wanted to see where she ended up.If you are looking for something unusual try this one - it's well outwith my normal genres but is one of the best books I've read in a long time.

It looks like two clear camps for those who journey through this book, a bit like Marmite, people either love it or they struggle with it. Well, its a big YES from me, I love Wild. It has been my favourite book this year, and I thought I had read quite a few books already that would not be beaten. I loved the quality of the writing, the honest approach and the unfolding of what for most people would have been a nightmare of a 1100 mile walk along most of the Pacific Crest Trial (PCT), at a nightmare point in life.This is not a journey undertaken by a walking fanatic or expert, in fact the author had never done a walk like this before. It was undertaken by the narrator, Cheryl Strayed, as a way of trying to stop her life unravelling after the death of her mother from cancer, the remains of her family falling apart, despite her best efforts, and her marriage that should have been a success, failing because of her promiscuity and her falling into heavy drug taking. The solution taken without too much thought, was to walk the challenging long distance American Pacific Crest Trail!The theme of the book is how the journey acted as a way of coping with grief for the death of her mother, her crumbling relationships and her inability to forgive herself for her shortcomings, and for the guilt she felt for all that was happening in her life. The description of the walk, and the way she was so unprepared for it, physically and mentally are incredible. It is an amazing story, and I enjoyed it as a metaphor for the journey through life, and the people you meet along the way who help you to your goals, and often appear at just the right time. The story has lived with me for quite a while; the film, which we saw within days of finishing the book, was superficial and missed many of the messages, although the landscapes were fantastic and Reese Witherspoon was perfect as Cheryl Strayed. The extras on the Blu-ray DVD, including the feature on Cheryl Strayed herself, also helped to appreciate the story. Do give this book a chance in your life; I am sure you will be Wild about it too.

Absolutely loved this book. The author is so honest about herself, it is refreshing. Well written.

Strangely enough I never heard of the film before I downloaded this book. I was irresistably drawn to it by the incredible quote about the Universe never joking etc which I read elsewhere. It conjured up an incredible tale of a woman pitched against the unforgiving elements in a struggle for survival and the lost boot incident which inspires the quote which opens the book-reinforced my belief that this would be a 'Touching the Void' or 'Into Thin Air' type story of survival against the odds.Cheryl starts out lugging a huge pack half her body weight, with ill fitting boots, completely alone on the trail woman pitted against the elements etc. Despite the discomfort she is determined to persevere. I settled down to enjoy the story. Imagine how deflated I felt when I few miles on our heroine makes a detour to civilisation (for some reason that escapes me) catches a lift and stays overnight with some kind people. This forms a pattern for the rest of the book - she is forever hitching rides, catching buses, so much so that I started to wonder how much hiking she had actually done.Within the context of the story the boot incident actually turns out to be pretty insignificant - like most of the apparent 'threats' the heroine faces. The Universe turns out to be pretty forgiving after all and a remedy is just round the corner. Worst of all by the time I got to the boot incident I was dubious as to whether or not it really happened - as I was about so much of the book. On the plus side Strayed can write but I started to tune out after a while as not a lot happens - any threat is quickly nullified - eg Cheryl is constantly hearing rattlesnakes just in the nick of time, stepping round them etc etc. As for the snippets of wisdom she dispenses - if this book isn't 'Touching the Void' it's not 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance either - you might as well google inspirational quotes on the internet. I've already forgotten whatever lesson I was supposed to have learned from it. As a travelogue it also falls down as there is not really much detailed description of the beautiful scenery and wildlife she encountered along the way. I'd rather read stories of people who actually faced the odds and survived rather than this contrived tale - much of which I feel has been supplied by the author's imagination, given the fact that all this actually happened in the 90s and she presumably is writing the whole thing from memory. I haven't seen the film but I guess they must have spiced the narrative up a bit or else there would be a danger of people falling asleep during the screening.I actually gave up on this about 3/4s of the way through - as I could predict more or less what would happen - Cheryl would run into more hikers who would be amazed at 1) her pack 2) her feet 3) the fact she was a woman alone, Cheryl would flirt with any male she meets more like a breathless teenager that a divorced woman of 26 (She seems unaware of the fact that it's actually quite common for any reasonably attractive young woman to attract some attention from the opposite sex not proof of her unique gorgeousness).On the whole I thought this was an overrated book - on the plus side it did inspire me to walk to work - though I gave up and got the bus after about half a mile :)