I picked this book u, when it first came out. Then some life stuff happened, and I figured it might be boring anyway. I read all the time, so I guess I just chose to read something else, or didn't have time.
I have been a stay at home mom for a while now and have started to read things again that didn't involve babies or parenting. I had planned to read a ton of ghost stories for Halloween, and wound up getting through One!That took me over a month after Halloween. Anyway, I used to have a wine and book club, but no one ever read the book, and it became about just drinking, and gossiping, which is awesome, but sometimes you really want to discuss the book you read.
I live less than 5 min. from our local library, and they have a book club, so I decided to utilize it, and read the book. They were reading Wild. I showed up to the meeting, just barely finishing the book, the day before, with my 5 month old in tow.
The majority of this group was made up of retirees, possibly at least 20 years older than me. I would almost bet I was the younger person there, besides my five month old.
I must say, I really loved this book. I love the writing, and could relate to the writer's feelings in some parts of the book, like I was right there with her. I was ready to gush about all the things I loved about it, but I really think now that I have attended this meeting, age has so much to do with how much you like books.
A lot of the older ladies in the group though that the author was super self-centered. They said she was so self-absorbed, and ill prepared. She messes up her life with drugs and reckless sex. She gets special treatment, because she was pretty and 26 years old. They had their doubts she was even truthful about the whole book.
I defended her saying that her bravery and honesty really touched me. To me this is a story about loss and pain. She could have given up, but she didn't. She pressed on. She finished the trail by herself. I felt like she encompassed and made the reader feel her emotions as she was hungry, lonely, sore, her pack was way too heavy, and her feet were bleeding. I was blown away by her courage. I would never take on an adventure of this measure by myself, so it was good to live vicariously through her and feel her hardships. I've never lost a parent, but I have no idea how I would deal with such an ordeal, and Cheryl used the Pacific Crest Trail to face her demons and work through her issues with her mother's death.
The only criticism I have is that I'm really not sure what she realized by the end of the book...What was so different about her? I feel she rushed the ending and didn't really summarize what she had learned. Maybe that was supposed to be a read between the lines sort of thing. I didn't get it. She did say she had learned to love again, and now had children, but I really wanted to learn how she became a better person, and she never really thoroughly explained that.
Did you read the book? What were your thoughts? I'm really anxious to watch the movie now!
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