Friday, March 5, 2010

March 5th

"Do you think it was a good idea to add the chapters about Walt (Chris’ father) and Krakauer as individuals? What did it do for you for your views of the novel? Did anything change your opinion or did it support what you already thought? Why?"

I thought it was a very smart idea to add the chapters about Walt and Krakauer as individuals. I thought it did two good things for the novel. First, the chapter about Krakauer gave him a bit of credibility as the writer of the book, the idea that he thought somewhat like Chris, I think, made it easier for him to describe and understand what Chris was doing. Secondly, the chapter about Walt made it easier, I thought, for the reader to understand where Chris was coming from. When I read that chapter, it helped me understand a little why Chris was so angry with his parents. Without this chapter, the reader would never have had any insight on why Chris was so angry. These chapters supported my opinions, they made it easier to understand the book as a whole too.

2 comments:

  1. I agree that these were very helpful chapters for Krakauer's credibility as the author for the book. I think the most important thing was that, no longer was he just a good investigator. Turns out he's also a really experienced outdoorsman, and, what's more is that he had some similar developmental experiences as Chris, especially regarding his father.

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  2. That's a good point about where Chris' anger against his parents comes from. It gives the reader an idea of why he would run away from home in the first place. I believe the fact that Krakauer included the chapter about himself not only gave him credibility but it also let the reader know how much he actually knew about being in the wild by yourself.

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