When last I ventured into these waters I was reading, with some trepidation, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I've finished it now, and although it deals with tragic death, it is not nearly as depressing as I anticipated. Indeed, it provides a kind of solace regarding death that most people don't express. I am now glad that I read it through. It points out that people are complicated animals with hungers that are quite different from the animal world, and yet are just as vulnerable and blind to potential consequences. It addresses hubris, and idealism, zeal, and how the grandest of plans with the most pure of motivations can be brought down by the most mundane events. It also made me focus on putting meaning back into my life, something that reading is not always a catalyst for. I am now off to read more of Supercapitalism by Robert B. Reich. My mind is already churning.
