Into the Wild: Chapters 8–13

by Jon Krakauer
Nonfiction writer Jon Krakauer retraces the steps of Christopher McCandless, a young man who gave up his material possessions and met a tragic end in the wilds of Alaska.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–13, Chapter 14–Epilogue

Here is a link to our lists for Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
    McCandless is, finally, just a pale 20th-century burlesque of London's protagonist, who freezes because he ignores advice and commits big-time hubris).
  2. asceticism
    rigorous self-denial and active self-restraint
    McCandless's contrived asceticism and a pseudoliterary stance compound rather than reduce the fault.
  3. histrionic
    overly dramatic or emotional
    McCandless's postcards, notes, and journals ... read like the work of an above average, somewhat histrionic high school kid.
  4. recondite
    difficult to understand
    In mid-winter a field biologist discovered all his belongings — two rifles, camping gear, a diary filled with incoherent ranting about truth and beauty and recondite ecological theory.
  5. bravado
    a swaggering show of courage
    He could be extremely responsible, but he had a tendency to wing it sometimes, to act impulsively, to get by on bravado and style.
  6. posthumously
    after death
    “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure,” he confessed to his diary, significant portions of which were published posthumously in a five-part story by Kris Capps in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.
  7. callow
    young and inexperienced
    Ruess was, in the words of Wallace Stegner, "a callow romantic, an adolescent esthete, an atavistic wanderer of the wastelands"
  8. atavistic
    characteristic of a throwback
    Ruess was, in the words of Wallace Stegner, "a callow romantic, an adolescent esthete, an atavistic wanderer of the wastelands."
  9. picaresque
    (of fiction) involving clever rogues or adventurers
    When Edward Abbey was writing The Monkey Wrench Gang, his picaresque novel about eco-terrorism in the canyon country, his pal Ken Sleight was said to have inspired the character Seldom Seen Smith.
  10. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    According to members of the extended family, his moods can be dark and mercurial, although they say his famous temper has lost much of its volatility in recent years.
  11. trajectory
    a progression or course of events, actions, or developments
    It is impossible to know what murky convergence of chromosomal matter, parent-child dynamics, and alignment of the cosmos was responsible, but Christopher Johnson McCandless came into the world with unusual gifts and a will not easily deflected from its trajectory.
  12. panache
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    Indeed, in a goofy video Chris made in college, he can be heard belting out "Summers by the sea/Sailboats in Capri” with impressive panache, crooning like a professional lounge singer.
  13. demeaning
    causing someone to lose status or the respect of others
    When Walt and Billie suggested that he needed a college degree to attain a fulfilling career, Chris answered that careers were demeaning “twentieth-century inventions," more of a liability than an asset, and that he would do fine without one, thank you.
  14. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
    Whenever Walt McCandless, in his stern fashion, would dispense a fatherly admonishment to Chris, Carine, or their half siblings, Chris would fixate on his father’s own less than sterling behavior many years earlier and silently denounce him as a sanctimonious hypocrite.
  15. lambaste
    censure severely or angrily
    He lampooned Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden, called for the resignation of Attorney General Edwin Meese, lambasted Bible-thumpers of the Christian right, urged vigilance against the Soviet threat, castigated the Japanese for hunting whales, and defended Jesse Jackson as a viable presidential candidate.
Created on Mon Oct 06 20:18:56 EDT 2014 (updated Mon Jul 07 11:39:27 EDT 2025)

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