Since I teach this book in a college literature class, I believe it belongs there and will try to explain why. First and foremost, it is part of a literary tradition that goes back to Hesiod's Works and Days from 700 BCE that celebrates the simple life. For centuries, people have longed to get away from the corrupting influence of civilization, to return to a perceived purer state. This is especially a strain in American literature, in which Europeans saw the potential and the innocence in a (to them) new, untamed continent.
The well-read Alex McCandless self-consciously models himself to some extent on Thoreau, who "fronted" the "essentials" of life in a cabin at Walden Park. McCandless also studied and was influenced by Tolstoy's writings on the simple life of the Russian peasants. His journey, leaning into a literary tradition, brings this genre of writing into the modern day.
The novel brings debatable issues into the classroom as well: Did McCandless go too far? Was he a hero or a fool?
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