Wild: From Lost to Found on The Pacific Crest Trail Book Review

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

                                                                                   Review:

The book, Wild: From Lost to Found On The Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed, is a memoir that captures the physical and emotional challenges of a young woman struggling to find herself within nature. Cheryl Strayed’s memoir is written in a way that makes readers cry, laugh, and wonder, all while keeping them intrigued by a twisting tail of an exhausting physical and mental climb.

In the summer of 1995, Cheryl Strayed decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail completely alone. Strayed’s story begins recounting her memories as a child, her mother’s death, her addiction to heroin, and the unhealthy habits she had developed with men- a series of struggles that lead her to this treacherous backpacking trip. The way she describes the death of her mother made me yearn for the company of my own family. Her explanation of her confused, yet loving relationship with her ex-husband Paul made me want to hold on to the ones I hold dearest to my heart. Strayed’s writing pulled up emotions within me, that I didn’t even know were there. This journey is not only one for Strayed, but for the reader as well. As Strayed’s backpacking trip got tougher, it seemed that her physical and mental strength did as well. It’s unique in the sense that her mental struggles somehow perfectly correlate to her literal physical exhaustion. Strayed describes times where her entire body was sore and throbbing, her feet and hands were blistered, how much she wanted to give up, and as the reader, I could feel myself rooting for her as she continued her trek through the wilderness.

Wild is a book about heartbreak, confusion, and basically sprinting up an escalator that is going down 100 miles per hour. Strayed shares her emotions in such a way, that you can feel your own deep, hidden emotions flowing within. She does an excellent job of using this spontaneous backpacking trip to describe the demons that she has faced and the mistakes she has made. Strayed uses raw and honest word choice that is unlike other books I have read in the past. I believe that the story she shares has something for just about everyone, whether you are a young adult or 102, we all have something to learn from Cheryl Strayed. I would recommend this story for anyone prepared for an adventure throughout a young woman’s life, full of adventure, pain, but luckily a whole lot of hope.