I wanted to stop reading this book more than a few times over the last few weeks.
It's the story of Cheryl Strayed, who hiked over 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail without much planning or purpose (in the beginning). The writing was decent but the author drove me crazy with all the selfish & reckless behavior and entitlement. She whined a lot and most of the problems were self-inflicted. Go figure!
After seeing Wild
Overall, I was glad to finish the book, but I can't say I recommend it. I admire her courage and strength because there's no way I could've done it the same way myself, but she complained too much for my taste. I do like the way the story ended, and felt she redeemed herself in the end. It wasn't horrible per say, but it was very easy to put down and pick up other books. lol
My notes...
*I giggled when Stray referred to her younger brother as "irresponsible" and as "hard to reach" Umm, that's you, boo! lol Who goes on a 1,100 mile solo hike without testing their equipment and with no hiking experience? *shaking my head*
*The kindness of strangers is prevalent in this book and it warmed my heart over and over again. I had the feeling a lot of it was due to Stray's pretty face, and this was confirmed by other hikers on the trail later in the book. I didn't really care though, because I enjoyed reading the stories.
*Stray was very candid about her drug use, horny thoughts, and random sexcapades. She even took a huge roll of condoms on the trail with her. Who does that? lol I'm no prude, so I was happy to get the details *shaking my head* lol
*I teared up more than once when Stray talked about her mother. How much she loved her, how much she hated her for leaving (dying), and her journey to healing (somewhat) from her death.
2 of the best quotes...
When an attorney marveled at the idea of Stray hiking the trail and blamed his job for never doing it himself, Stray told him, "You could. You should. Believe me, if I can so this, anyone can."
While hitchhiking, a lady gave her opinion on hiking the trail solo
"...I think it's neat you do what you want. Not enough chicks do that, if you ask me-just tell society and their expectations to go fuck themselves. If more women did that, we'd be better off."
