Wild (C. Strayed)

I hated this book.

I am grateful to my friend Leah who suggested it as a book that "everyone else had read except me." But now I know why she, too, didn't like it.

I can only imagine that Strayed hoped to follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Gilbert and create a book that tells a story of losing oneself and finding it again in the most unlikely places. But Gilbert she is not. Even the changing of her name to "Strayed" (because she has strayed from one place to the next) is trite and absurd. She is foolish, careless, hurtful, and cruel. She has no philosophical awakening along the lines of Chris McCandless as she journeys up the Pacific Crest Trail. Instead, she is forever blaming outside forces for her misfortune, obsessed with men and sex, and is more pitiful than empathetic. 

I'm sure there are countless people who will find this review abrasive and singleminded. To you I say, to each his own. Each of us is filled with demons that make life appear unlivable and filled with great tragedy. But is one's ability to cope and find light that leads to the happy ending. That path is never easy. For Strayed, she learns no lessons in the end other than "its over." Which is exactly what I felt when I closed the book for good.