Brief Summary
Wild is a memoir about Cheryl Strayed’s journey on the Pacific Crest Trail. Following her mother’s death and the fallout of her marriage, Strayed walked more than 1,000 miles of the trail by herself at the age of 26, and documents the experience in vivid detail.
My Review
If I could describe Cheryl Strayed in one word it would be conflicted. When I first started reading Wild, I would’ve selected the word brave.
You have to be brave to carry a monstrous pack on your back and hike into the woods for days and days on end alone. You have to be brave to continue hiking after encountering a long horn bull, a bear and a handful of rattlesnakes. You have to be brave to hitchhike with strangers. Or you have to feel like you have nothing to lose.
Memoirs are usually pretty hit or miss for me. I rarely find a memoir that is a real “page turner” and, while I wouldn’t consider Wild extremely riveting, it held my attention. I had a hard time identifying with Cheryl Strayed, and found her decisions confusing at times, though I felt for her since her life was obviously filled with a lot of pain.
Her descriptions of the wilderness painted a beautiful picture. When she was overcome by the heat and the weight of her backpack, I felt it, too. When she was nervous about hopping into a car with strangers, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Strayed captured her journey in a way that made me feel like I was there.
During the first half of the book, I found myself hanging onto the hope that as I continued to read Wild, Cheryl would work through her emotions and the issues she was facing in her life. She wanted to change and I wanted her to change. As I kept reading, I found myself admiring Cheryl for going so far out of her comfort zone in an effort to make a serious change in her life. I admired her for being self aware enough to know that a change was necessary.
Some of my favorite parts of Cheryl’s journey occurred when she met new people on the trail. Learning more about the other hikers and the people who set out to accomplish something so difficult and challenging intrigued me and captivated me.
Wild was different than any other book I’ve read and one that made me look inside myself as I joined Cheryl on her tremendous hike. I’m not sure I’d highly recommend it, but for those who may be going through an emotional or complicated time and feel like a change might be necessary, reading Wild might just motivate you to do something, believe in yourself and step out of your comfort zone.
Blogger Link Up
You can find additional reviews of Wild on the following blogs:
- After Dinner Dance
- Love, Laugh, Laurie!
- Peace, Love and Oats
- Health Inspirations
- Chelsea Eats Treats
- Daydreams & Shoestrings
- Pieces of Jess
- Beanie Bumbles
- A Better Life with Burgers
Discussion Questions
- Did you find Cheryl likeable? Why or why not?
- What stories within Wild did you most enjoy? Cheryl’s interactions with fellow hikers? The stories from her past? The time she spent alone?
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