Saturday, 6 September 2008

Into the Wild...again

...further to the earlier post, I've just been listening to Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild soundtrack, preview it here ,and feel I've got to see this movie again, and must read the book.

I don't think I've ever heard or seen a more perfect marriage of mood and music than this combination...the movie is unforgettable, and Vedder's voice and lyrics seem to be a clear snapshot of the soul of the man they represent.

For a great overview see this article from The Mens Journal, and from Wikipedia...

On August 12, McCandless wrote what are assumed to be his final words in his journal: "Beautiful Blueberries." He tore the final page from Louis L'Amour's memoir, Education of a Wandering Man, which contains an excerpt from a Robinson Jeffers poem titled "Wise Men in Their Bad Hours":

Death's a fierce meadowlark: but to die having made
Something more equal to centuries
Than muscle and bone, is mostly to shed weakness.
The mountains are dead stone, the people
Admire or hate their stature, their insolent quietness,
The mountains are not softened or troubled
And a few dead men's thoughts have the same temper.

On the other side of the page, McCandless added, "I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE AND MAY GOD BLESS ALL!"

His body was found in his sleeping bag inside the bus, weighing an estimated sixty-seven pounds. He had been dead for more than two weeks. His official cause of death was starvation caused by consuming a poisonous plant that causes the stomach and digestive system to shut down.

Christopher J. McCandless... now forever young...
Born February 12, 1968
Southern California, USA
Died August 18, 1992 (aged 24)
Stampede Trail, Alaska, USA
Parents Walt and Billie McCandless

See the movie, see the movie...

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