Wild

A book/movie review of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

I was really sick this Friday-Sunday. I am still honestly not completely up to snuff as you will. Due to having a ton of time on the couch I finished reading Wild and even watched the movie which was  on HBO. As many people in my life know my husband and I got into day hiking last year. I bought myself a great pair of Keen hiking boots and off we went into the woods. Something about roaming in the wilderness is therapeutic. It is just the smell of pine and the sound of animals that soothes one's soul. Therefore reading this book touched a part of my soul that I could totally relate to.

The Book-

The book follows the story of Cheryl Strayed and how she is much like a stray. She has limited contact with her remaining family member's and struggles to find herself and not drown in the sorrow of losing a close loved one. She almost on a whim decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with no hiking experience what so ever. The way that Strayed writes is captivating she draws you in with her detailed description of pain in her soul and on her body and she struggles through this extremely long hike. Her resilience and ability to handle all of her problems really was amazing. As someone that hikes I respect this woman as I could never do what she did or could I? That is the best part of this book it motivates you to strive to do somethings in your life that maybe you would not do. I highly recommend this book.

The Movie-

Meh was my final reaction. Reese Witherspoon plays a good Cheryl she physically matches what I image her to look like. The depth of the characters is lacking though. I am not expecting them to cram all of this book into this 2 hour movie but none of the characters are developed at all. It is more the story of struggle for Cheryl and the movie does not touch on how the people on the trail helped shape her journey at all. The did not even mention Doug who was a big part of her journey in the book and they barely showed the "three young bucks".  This is to be expected from a movie adaptation though and overall of you never read the book you may still love this movie. It will at least sum up her journey in a neat little package for you to enjoy.





I love reading and I hope to talk you all into reading more books in the future.

Until next time, happy trails~
XoXo Emily