Wild by Cheryl Strayed
LLBC Rating: 5/10
Book Synopsis: A memoir of author Cheryl Strayed's solo journey along the Pacific Coast Trail, Wild is a retelling of the physical and emotional toll that this hike had on her body and mind.
Though the story was meant to come off as powerful and liberating, it fell flat. The focus quickly changed directions from the freedom it seems a woman should feel in a time like this, to a reference to how much she missed sex at least once on every page. We commend Ms. Strayed for her journey as a hike like this on your own is certainly nothing to sweep under the rug, but we felt the retelling could have been kept more focused on the ways she overcame her emotional troubles on such a difficult trip.
OUTING:
Nevertheless, we commemorated our time spent reading this book by taking an afternoon hike ourselves. Our club took a trip to the Blandford Nature Center in Grand Rapids. We walked the trail and took in the beautiful fall day while journaling and writing about the sights. This experience was an effort to put ourselves into the authors shoes, or boots, to hopefully understand her journey on a slightly more literal level.
THE FINAL MEETING:
Although we felt disconnected from the author in many ways, one of the ways we could relate to her is through her relationship with her mother. We used this as an opportunity to reflect on our relationships with our own mothers by writing and sharing letters. Though this first month of book club was not as great as we had planned, we hope to redeem ourselves with another month of the theme hiking/outdoors.
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