Spawn's dad Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 http://www.wweek.com/wwire/?p=8347 Jon Krakauer gained fame for his Everest disaster chronicle Into Thin Air, but to my mind his best book was published a year earlier. Into the Wild is a haunting story of human obsession and an implacable environment: similar in mood to Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man, but more profound and a whole lot sadder. Which is why the trailer for Sean Penn's movie adaptation of Into the Wild is so strange. This is a triumphant trailer, a hopeful trailer, a trailer about discovering yourself. (The book was about discovering yourself likely to be dead.) But hey, at least there's Vince Vaughn and a Sam Beam song. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I loved that book. I bought it for everyone I knew. I don't know that I want to see a dolled up movie about it. In fact Krakauer's books have been some of my favorite reads over the last 20 years or so. I might have to read Into The Wild again this summer. Edit: It looks beautiful, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I've said this before but Into the Wild is one of those books that pops into my head from time to time, seemingly out of nowhere. Certain "scenes" I've conjured and stored in my memory from it reveal themselves at unusual times. I read the book about five years ago, too, and only once. It's apparently a very memorable read for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 He's a very powerful writer and I have never been able to put my finger on why exactly. I get scenes popping up in my head from all of his books. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 kind of looks like they morphed a dark tale about an kid who didn't know his ass from his elbow into a hopeful tale of idealism. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I read Under the Banner of Heaven a few months ago and it was a good read, as well. He does have a knack for the writing thing, for sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 kind of looks like they morphed a dark tale about an kid who didn't know his ass from his elbow into a hopeful tale of idealism.What I was afraid of... Hollywood. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 The execs may have thought it hard to get people to pay money to see a movie about a delusional hippie starving himself to death. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhh4321 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I read Under the Banner of Heaven a few months ago and it was a good read, as well. He does have a knack for the writing thing, for sure. what a great (and saddening) book...dont know how i feel about an into the wild movie though Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Under The Banner Of Heaven was published in 2003. Anyone know what he is working on? Does he still write for Outside? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 nah. he's too famous for them now. I haven't heard hide nor hair of him. though for his sake I hope this flick is better than the everest one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reni Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Sean Penn directed the movie - so maybe the actual film will actually be true to the book. I can think of a gazillion trailers that don't represent the movies they advertise at all.....it's so easy to spin those things to make it appeal to the most people possible, which is the goal ultimately. And the thing is - the guy was a total idealist. I knew people just like him - and hell, half of them now live on a commune in Alaska. So, I can see why part of the movie would reflect this. There are people out there who hate him and people out there who do idolize him. There are classes taught on this guy! I love reading the debates online...... I loved the book and will see the movie. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 IIRC, the book -essentially about the movements and thoughts of the young man who purposefully removed himself from society- has one character in it. We get to know him through his diaries. Krakauer did a nice job of shaping the guy through the diaries. Seems like a tough angle to convey in a movie, though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 nah. he's too famous for them now. I haven't heard hide nor hair of him. though for his sake I hope this flick is better than the everest one.Yeah, he doesn't seem the kind of guy that hangs out in the upper eschelons of the public literary world. I hope he is knee deep in the natural world somewhere, finding another story to tell. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jhh4321 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 though for his sake I hope this flick is better than the everest one. if you are talking about the Everest IMAX...i thought it was great Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 That was a documentary by David Breashear. I'm talking about the soap opera-esque made for tv movie with the same name as Krakauer's book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 He may have been an idealist, sure. Was he ever in Boy Scouts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Reni Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I never said he wasn't stupid Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dixiecupdrinker Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Under The Banner Of Heaven was published in 2003. Anyone know what he is working on? Does he still write for Outside? He probably had to go into hiding from the LDS and the crazy fundamentalists he pissed off, ala Salomon Rushdie. dcd Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 His books have not been without controversy. Anatoli Boukree, one of the guides on the expedition and Yoichi Shimatsu, a film maker both refuted parts of Into Thin Air. I continue to be amazed that after Under The Banner Of Heaven was published that the fundamentalist RLDS church didn't get smited. I still have bad dreams about that book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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