Chi
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
At 15, I read a book called Into the Wild that changed my life in subtle but ultimately profound ways. It chronicles the true story of a young man who, disillusioned with what he perceived as a hypocritical, materialistic society, burned all his money and walked alone into the wild. When I first read Into the Wild, it sounded like a manual for living. Now, with a few more years of wisdom behind me, I've realised that humans are not that simple. If anything, I think that McCandless' story illuminated the complicated nature of life and living. He was one man searching for the right way to live when there really isn’t any ‘right’ way at all.
Off-hand Things I’ve Said That McCandless Has Actually Lived:
- Fuck the Man
- Fuck capitalism
- Money is evil
- Live minimally
- Live off the fatta the lan' (DO IT FOR LENNIE SMALL)
McCandless
took personal integrity to its logical extreme, which fascinated me. Just as
Holden Caulfield railed against ‘phoniness’, McCandless’ thing was hypocrisy.
He couldn’t abide hypocrisy, especially in his own parents, and this was a
crime for which they were judged and punished much more harshly than they ever
deserved. I think now that McCandless’ definition of hypocrisy is what other
people call compromise. McCandless himself was forced to compromise throughout
his journey, working at McDonald’s for a while to rustle up some funds before
continuing on his great quest. In the most telling moment of the story, he had
an epiphany, scribbling ‘Happiness Only Real When Shared’ in the margins of a
Tolstoy as he lay alone in an abandoned bus in the backwoods of Alaska. Going
solo like McCandless did and rejecting society is romantic, but it’s fiction.
It’s romantic fiction because love and companionship are at the core of the
human experience. McCandless was a natural at that – he had a big heart and
made a lasting impression on those he met on the road – but he pushed away intimacy
in search of purity.
McCandless made mistakes. That he was a real person who perished too soon is a tragedy. But in the end, it was his idealism that impressed me (and other fans of the book) the most. In a world where many of our thoughts and actions are driven by unconscious acceptance of the status quo, it’s refreshing when somebody takes a step back, analyses their lifestyle and bravely decides to follow their heart. What I admire about ‘crazy’ Chris McCandless is his drive to live a pure life as closely aligned as possible with his personal values. It was this book that helped me unearth the values I hold, on which I try to base all of actions today as a 21-year-old human bean.
McCandless made mistakes. That he was a real person who perished too soon is a tragedy. But in the end, it was his idealism that impressed me (and other fans of the book) the most. In a world where many of our thoughts and actions are driven by unconscious acceptance of the status quo, it’s refreshing when somebody takes a step back, analyses their lifestyle and bravely decides to follow their heart. What I admire about ‘crazy’ Chris McCandless is his drive to live a pure life as closely aligned as possible with his personal values. It was this book that helped me unearth the values I hold, on which I try to base all of actions today as a 21-year-old human bean.
Elena
Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
I find it
difficult to pinpoint a single book. As a child, I was always so jealous of my
older sister because she knew how to read and I didn’t. When I finally learned
to read by myself, I began devouring the Aussie
Nibbles books at lunch, steadily working my way up to Aussie Bites and finally to Chomps.
But I still wasn’t satisfied.
And then,
Harry Potter entered my life. I was in Year 1 or 2 when my sister started to
read them aloud to me. It was a daily event for which she would prepare in
advance, perfecting dramatic pauses and refining character voices. At the time,
the Goblet of Fire was the most
recent instalment. I still remember the moment it dawned on me that Voldemort
was truly back – coldness entered my heart and I had to remind myself that it
was just a book.
But it
wasn’t just a book. It was an entire world, rich with character and colour.
Turning the pages was like stepping into my second home. Rowling’s prose grew
to be so familiar to me that it was like listening to an old friend in my head.
The first few times I read the series I loved it for the humour, characters and
the fantasy. By the time the Deathly
Hallows came out, I was 11, and I began to see the connections between
Harry Potter and the outside world. The shrill reporting of the Daily Prophet was echoed in the Courier Mail. The ostracisation of Remus
Lupin upon the discovery of his werewolf status was linked to real-world
bullying and bigotry. As I re-read the series in high school I had great fun
linking Voldemort’s aspirations to Hitler’s in my modern history class. Each
time I read the series, I’ll notice a new jab at our current political and
social welfare systems effortlessly stitched into the seams of its magical
world.
These
books began my true love of reading, which in turn led me to perform well in
English at school and discover other great books. Life without Harry would most
definitely have been a lesser one. An
honourable mention has to go to Looking
For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta – protagonist Josephine Alibrandi is a
17-year-old Italian-Australian living in Melbourne, and her voice perfectly
captured my conflicting pride and angst (oh, so much angst) of growing up as a
migrant in Australia. If I were to make a Horcrux out of a book it would be
this one.
The Bible
When I was
going through my roughest time I listened to a song by Taya Smith called Gracious Tempest. Before she started
singing, she read out a passage from the Bible – Psalms 116 – which reads,
I love the
Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because
he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The
cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I
called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord
is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord
protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return
to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you,
Lord, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
9 that I
may walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
I started
crying on the bus – I was so thankful that God had stayed with me the entire
time. Even the best of our friends can't understand what we're going through, even
when they're right there witnessing all of it. But this doesn't mean that our
individual struggles aren’t legitimate. Likewise, faith is incomprehensible, because
it's different for everyone. A boy forgiving his drunkard of a father, or a
girl forgiving her cheating boyfriend, or a mother forgiving her rapist child –
none of it's logical, but love and faith isn't about logic. And yes, there are
absolutely horrible things in the Old Testament before Jesus comes; but you
can’t pick out how violent the father was to his son, or how badly the
boyfriend cheated the girl, or how deceitful the child was to his mother and
say that’s the whole story. God allowed the Old Testament to be maintained
throughout history to serve as a backdrop of what faith is: salvation through
the forgiveness of Christ.
I guess,
to be concise, the Bible taught me that God gives to the undeserving. And when
you know that you've received forgiveness and the opportunity to start a new
life, you just can't live the same way ever again. There have
been many verses, but this was the first one that was personal. At first it all
sounds like it's about someone else out there in the world … until you realise
you've always been and always will be included in the story.
Kobi
Zigzag Street by Nick Earls
I have a very short attention span. If things are going to change my life, they better get to it within the first three pages. That said, Zigzag Street isn’t a particularly fast-moving story. It isn’t even a particularly moving story. There is just something a little too relatable about Richard Derrington, a twenty-something year old corporate lawyer who is feeling crap after being dumped by his long-term girlfriend, and his relentless parade of dysfunction. I first read Zigzag Street in high school when I still had braces and didn’t really know what being dumped felt like. I have since re-read the book a number of times. A particularly poignant re-read occurred when I moved back to Melbourne after being dumped by a long-term partner; I was suddenly Rick. Earls lets us into Rick’s post-relationship head in present tense, first person, which is a huge asset in being able to relate to the lead character. Zigzag Street has been my escape to Brisbane during times of homesickness and self doubt. On my bookshelf, it serves as a neat reminder that I’m not the only sub-par adult out there.
Kobi
Zigzag Street by Nick Earls
I have a very short attention span. If things are going to change my life, they better get to it within the first three pages. That said, Zigzag Street isn’t a particularly fast-moving story. It isn’t even a particularly moving story. There is just something a little too relatable about Richard Derrington, a twenty-something year old corporate lawyer who is feeling crap after being dumped by his long-term girlfriend, and his relentless parade of dysfunction. I first read Zigzag Street in high school when I still had braces and didn’t really know what being dumped felt like. I have since re-read the book a number of times. A particularly poignant re-read occurred when I moved back to Melbourne after being dumped by a long-term partner; I was suddenly Rick. Earls lets us into Rick’s post-relationship head in present tense, first person, which is a huge asset in being able to relate to the lead character. Zigzag Street has been my escape to Brisbane during times of homesickness and self doubt. On my bookshelf, it serves as a neat reminder that I’m not the only sub-par adult out there.
