A walk on the wild side

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ild is a memoir about a woman’s decision to hike over 1,000 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail by herself.  At the age of 26 and at rock bottom, Cheryl Strayed decides to that the best way to confront her past is to go on a very long walk – a three month one, to be precise.

Subtitled “A Journey From Lost to Found”, it is immediately clear this is more than just a book about walking: Strayed takes the reader on an epic journey through her experience of death, divorce, a series of failed jobs and heroin addiction, all of which lead to her hiking the trail. Her decision to literally step into the woods alone, with next to no hiking experience, is presented as both incredibly brave and f
oolhardy, something which she admits.

Strayed takes the reader on an epic journey through her experience of death, divorce, a series of failed jobs and heroine addiction

Strayed does not attempt to romanticise the walk, and so we experience the demands of undertaking such a physically challenging journey, with vivid descriptions of the injuries she acquires along the way.  This, coupled with her age and inexperience, ensures the book is a gripping read and that we can easily empathise with Strayed’s epic journey.

The book constantly moves between the past and present, with Strayed’s traumatic past being carefully woven into her physical journey. It seems to be the act of walking that allows her to come to terms with her past.

This is a genuinely inspirational read

I won’t spoil it for you, but the very last line of the book left me in tears.  This is a genuinely inspirational read – I would say it is impossible to read this book without feeling inspired in some way. Perhaps the most important thing to take away is that if you step out of your comfort zone, amazing things can happen.

Having read it three times, Wild has become one of my all-time-favourite books.  Even if you’re not a big fan of travel writing or memoirs, I would recommend this book to anyone, purely for the sense of determination which propels the story forward.

Ultimately, however, the book shows there is something wild in all of us, and only when we take a leap of faith do we discover what it is.

[Image credits: Header (David Lee/Flickr), Image 1 (drollgirl/Flickr)