I think that giving away the ending at the beginning was a good choice for this book. I would usually ditch a book if I was told the ending through the narrator or a person it wouldn't matter because I get the feeling that all my anticipation is for nothing. However, in this particular story knowing that Chris was found dead in the back of a bus seems to make me want to know why. Why did he die? Why was he in the bus? Why was he even in Alaska? Krakauer made a good decision by putting that Chris McCandless had died on his journey in the author's note. I think that because it is nonfiction it could persuade many not to read it and even I didn't want to know anything about it, yet when I found out that he had died it put a small amount of interest in me to help me read through the book.
S.O.S I NEED YOUR HELP. I AM INJURED, NEAR DEATH, AND TOO WEAK TO HIKE OUT OF HERE. I AM ALL ALONE, THIS IS NO JOKE. IN THE NAME OF GOD, PLEASE REMAIN TO SAVE ME. I AM OUT COLLECTING BERRIES CLOSE BY AND SHALL RETURN THIS EVENING. THANK YOU, CHRIS MCCANDLESS, AUGUST? (page 12).
This note found on the bus confused me because I knew that the people who found the body were the same who read the note. What i wanted to know was, why would the note be on the door when he had returned? If I wrote a note and left it on my door as I was leaving I would take it off when I returned because I wouldn't need it, but maybe he was just trying to catch someone's attention while he was asleep. I don't think it is possible to understand his logic.
I agree with you when you said that usually you'd ditch a book if it's ending was at the beginning. I questioned it a lot too! I like your thinking over all on the blog!
ReplyDeleteI like what you had to say about the beginning too! It makes us question everything that happened to him.
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