Wild

I'm still not very far in the book, Wild. It began to talk about the first leg of the trail which is the Mojave Desert.

When I was reading how Cheryl was blindside about the conditions she would have to hike, it reminded me when my brother went hiking in New Mexico.

He went with about 8 other people and they hike 90 miles in 10 days. They prepared for months. Hiking more each day and carrying more weight in preparation. All of their equipment was strapped to their backs during the hike. A good 40+ pounds.

I thought that was crazy. Cheryl was hiking by herself with no training at all. It's hard to believe that she could lift her gear. This shows if you have the right inspiration and determination you can do anything.

Dealing with Grief

How do you deal with your grief? Do you stuff your face with ice cream? (Which is a very good option) Maybe you close the door on the world?

Or how about hiking more than 1,000 miles? Yeah, I didn't think so... Cheryl Strayed did just that. No, Cheryl is not a made up character in a book. She is the author of the autobiography, Wild.

 Wild is about Cheryl's journey of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I think its "wild" that a person with no experience would hike 1,000 miles. Alone.

Cheryl is driven by the grief of losing her mom. Losing someone can make you do crazy things, but I would argue that it's a little more than that. I believe that Cheryl is having a battle within herself. This is evident when Cheryl writes, "I've been so many things already. A loving wife and an adulteress. A beloved daughter... An ambitious overachiever and aspiring writer... I'd become a high school cheerleader and homecoming queen and then I went off to college and became a left-wing feminist campus radical" (Strayed 5). Cheryl doesn't know where she belongs. I believe the death of her mom triggers Cheryl to go on this aberrant journey to find herself.

This is very hard for me to wrap my head around. My inner battles consist of trying to figure out what to eat. I also have never lost someone extremely close to me. So, what I'm trying to say is I don't know how someone would come up with this idea, let alone do it. I guess if you have the right motivation you can do anything. This is why my parents often bribe me with things, like food.

 I'm not very far in this book, but I think Cheryl will have more inner battles. I also predict there will be times where she feels like giving up. Personally, I would yell, "I'm out of here! Peace!" after the first couple miles. This is why this story is so miraculous. How could someone do this? Maybe you could if you had a larger group of people with you to lean on. But, Alone? Count me out...

Wild is becoming a movie, unfortunately there is not trailer out yet, but I did find the book trailer. Check it out below:

P.S. Reese Witherspoon will play Cheryl in the movie. I can't wait because Reese is an amazing actress! :)

Review of "This I Believe"

So, I finally finished This I Believe! Keep reading for my thoughts on the book. :)

Overall, I really liked this book!!!! It's hard to criticize this book as a whole, since there is a new author and new concept every chapter. I thought I would share what some authors did really well and what others lacked.

I really liked the approach Jason Sheehan took in his chapter, There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Barbecue. His whole chapter is about barbecue. Yes, barbecue. Sheehan literally wrote, "I believe in barbecue" (217). You must think he is out of his mind, but I think it's genius. It grabs your attention because you want to know why he believes in barbecue of all things.

Frederic Reamer uses a different technique to draw readers in. He uses a personal story (like our creative non-fiction) and appeals to our emotions. Reamer's opening two sentences are, "Last Tuesday morning I stared across the table at a woman with severe scars lining her otherwise gentle face. Her raging husband carved those scars and sliced off her ear when she told him she wanted a divorce" (188). The reader instantly feels sorry for the woman and develops anger towards the husband.

While some authors had attention grabbing introductions, others lacked that. Mark Shields starts his chapter by saying, "I believe in politics" (220). He has already lost half of our attentions. The rest of the chapter couldn't sustain my attention either. Shields does not include a personal story and just talks about the skills of politicians.... Yawn.

I would recommend this book to people who would give it a chance. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who is younger than 14. I hope some of you will give it a try!