Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Review

Title: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
Author: Cheryl Strayed
Number of Pages: 311
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Review:

In Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, the figurative human struggle of climbing a mountain of emotion becomes literal. The story follows one woman's monumental journey along the Pacific Crest Trail and everything leading up to it. Cheryl Strayed is a force to be reckoned with. As she conquers over 1,100 miles of tough mountain terrain, she simultaneously sifts through her extensive emotional baggage. Not only is she lugging along a crazy big backpack (appropriately named Monster), she’s carrying the recent passing of her mother, a broken family, an unfortunate divorce, and a heavy drug addiction on her back as well. She embarks on a journey like no other; one full of challenging peaks, steep slopes, and magnificent discoveries.


Strayed puts a unique spin on the classic memoir. She shares her triumphs and struggles with the reader as if they were an old friend. She's trying to understand her own story as she tells it to her readers. Strayed refers back to her childhood often, making youth one of the overlying themes of the book. Self-rediscovery, grief, persistence and the healing powers of nature are also very prominent themes throughout Strayed’s inspiring story. Her journey along the Pacific Crest Trail is one of great challenge and reward. By the end of the book, the reader will feel as if they've known Strayed for much longer than 311 pages.


The tone of Wild ranges from sarcastic to wholesome to vengeful, and that’s part of what makes the story so compelling. The vulnerability of her tone contributes to her appeal. Strayed writes her story as if she’s composing a letter to a long-lost loved one. One might describe her voice as explicit or foreboding because of her relatively carefree use of curse words. But because she isn't afraid to say exactly what she means, she gets comfortable with her readers and they receive the experience of a lifetime in return. Her storytelling is raw and unforgiving (in the best way possible). The reader will stay engaged throughout the entire book because Strayed greets them the same way she greets her insanely heavy backpack— as an old friend.


The instant you open the book, Strayed captures your attention. The prologue contains an anecdote from her journey that recalls the instant she lost her boot over a cliff in California. Right off the bat, the reader knows they’re sitting down to a wild five-course meal seasoned with dashes of perseverance. This memoir is not void of breathtaking and heartstopping moments. It seems there’s something waiting around every bend. Strayed describes a night setting up one of her isolated campsites along the trail near the end of her journey. She feels like she’s being watched, and upon turning around, she spots two sets of glowing green eyes gazing at her from inside a bush. The scene feels like it’s straight out of a movie, and it greatly enhances the sobering facts of Strayed’s situation— she’s hiking a mentally and physically challenging trail in the middle of the Pacific West wilderness with little to no money and nothing to defend herself with but a Swiss Army Knife and "the world's loudest whistle." One of the most memorable moments for me was when Strayed finally reached the Bridge of the Gods, where she ended her hike. The final chapter hit me like a freight train— I couldn't believe it was over. Without spoiling it, I will say that in Cheryl’s story, everything truly happens for a reason, and there are no coincidences.


If you’re looking for a page-turning memoir that you simply can’t put down, Wild is for you. Having no knowledge of or experience with hiking or backpacking will not affect your understanding of the book. Because Strayed began her journey as a complete rookie, it feels as if you’re learning the ropes of long-distance hiking together. That being said, an experienced hiker/backpacker will enjoy this memoir just as much. At times, it's hard to read (for a multitude of different reasons) but if you stay committed to it, it will pay off in the end. In my opinion, everyone from every walk of life will benefit from reading Strayed's memoir because we can all learn something different from her story. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone willing to journey through extensive heartache in order to reach the ultimate life lesson: how wild it truly is to let life be.