Saturday, September 18, 2010

The Last American Man

What are your thoughts on The Last American Man thus far? Write about anything that strikes you. Some ideas: Gilbert's writing style, Eustace Conway in relation to Chris McCandless, the concept of the "last American man." What passages stick with you?




8 comments:

  1. I am a lot more enthralled in this book than I was for Into The Wild. I like how Gilbert goes deep into Eustace Conway’s life, but not so much that she only focuses on his past. She delves into his innermost thoughts as well as the thoughts of those significant characters that he meets on his journey, and she write the book as though everything is happening as we are reading it. I like this a lot better than the way Jon Krakauer perceived Chris McCandless’s story, because when I was reading Into The Wild I got the sense that the story was more focused on his (Jon’s) point of view, his thoughts, and his experiences rather than those of Chris McCandless. While Gilbert does have her own input in her story, she tries to write the book as if she isn’t there at all, whereas Krakauer wants to make it evident that he is the one narrating the story. Another thing that really strikes me is how different Eustace and Chris are in comparison to one another. While they are both more or less doing the same thing, they ultimately want different things out of their experiences. Eustace wants to teach the world how to live his lifestyle, but he doesn’t necessarily judge those who prefer the materialistic lifestyle. He is more than happy to share his experiences and his knowledge with others, and answers all the questions that he is asked, whereas Chris McCandless seems more focused on being alone. He doesn’t want to have to waste time teaching others how to live the same life he is trying to lead, and gets irritated rather quickly because he doesn’t think that anybody could ever understand what it is he is trying to do.

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  3. I think that Eustace is a much more likable character than McCandless, and he is much more kind and open to ideas of other people. The author talks about how he would listen to people and give his opinions, but he would never dismiss people and deem their ideas unimportant. When I read about Eustace's background and his family life, I respected him even more; mainly on the grounds that he still had so much compassion and humanity despite his relationship with his father. I didn't really understand why McCandless was so cold in Into the Wild, he had such a loving family and I never understood why he rarely appreciated their love. I was especially intrigued by Eustace's relationship with Donna. He came across as being so mature and intelligent, yet he considered himself " too immature" for marriage. The relationship with Donna also identified some of the flaws in Eustace's character. The author mentions, "His perfectionism didn't stop with himself," and how Eustace sometimes expected too much of people. The whole book praises Eustace as being a kind and gentle man, and when Gilbert mentions him as being "irritated" like a regular human I realized that while reading the book I had placed Eustace on a moral plane above regular people. I realized that while reading the book I had begun to view Eustace as almost better than conventional people because of his unconventional lifestyle.

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  4. So far, The Last American Man has been nothing short of enthralling. Aspects ranging from Eustace Conway’s bold personality to his compelling actions make the story both unique and captivating. For a reason I cannot pinpoint, I find this story to be much more interesting than Jon Krakauer’s Into The Wild. Perhaps this is because I believe Eustace to be much more down to earth and realistic than Chris McCandless. I agree with Johnny in terms of Eustace being more open to other’s ideas than Chris McCandless was. He seems to care what others have to say, though he has his own ideas set fairly straight. Eustace Conway’s idea of people living in boxes was especially unique. For lack of a better word, the quote “clicked” with me. It explained how 90% of American’s live their lives the same every day, and barely ever leave their “boxes” to explore the true natural world around us. I read it outloud later to several friends who proceeded to laugh and joke about how the quote made no sense at all. I feel that I have come to so many realizations about both the ignorance of people today and the environment in general just by reading the quotes from Eustace. I look forward to continuing this book, unlike Into The Wild, which I found to be a much slower and tedious read.

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  5. After reading the Last American Man so far I have been quite pleased with the style and openeness that Conway's personality gives to the reader. I htink that Conway is the ultimate in having a unique personality and clearly catches all readers by surprise. I have gotten a vibe thus far that in comparrison McCandless's adventure, Conway leads a much more spirited journey and more optimistic outlook. Unlike Into the Wild, I think that the smaller journeys and events will be what ultimately defines the novel. I think that the author has done a great job so far of portraying the details his life, his dreams, his lessons, his shortcomings, and his family relationships with easy humor and profundity. Finnally, unlike Into The Wild, I have gotten a sense that the author is attempting to do more than simply outline the biography of one man's life, but rather is trying to examine America’s changing landscape and lifestyle and how people's fantasy and the wilderness connect all the above.

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  6. The Last American Man has so far been, for me, a much more realistic story to grasp compared with Into the Wild. Eustace Conway has thus far appeared to be drastically more real, as his personality is such that most people can relate to. When people read Into the Wild and witness a character purge twenty-five thousand dollars, cease communication with his family, and then venture into the Alaskan wilderness with no experience, they soon may come to the realization that Chris might not be the truest of personalities. However, in the Last American Man, Eustace practically grew up in the wilderness. At an early age he was already killing squirrels and making fires. So when personality and past history cohesively bond, it makes for a more enjoyable and most importantly REAL character. To me, it almost seems like Into the Wild is a fictional dramatization of Eustace Conway. Making the real seem unreal only in the hopes of selling more books. This obviously is not the case, however, one could make a strong argument.

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  7. The Last American man has been a great read so far and I have enjoyed reading about all aspects of Eustace Conway's life. The author has really portrayed him nicely, but so far I feel that the book has not gone in-depth in any of his journeys or adventures yet. That being said, I like Into the Wild better mainly because Chris's story as a whole was engaging throughout the whole book. I find Gibert often times writing pages about some aspect of Eustace's life, they are still interesting but not as engaging. Comparing Conway to McCandless, they both have similar visions, but Conway is much more qualififed making it easier to make sense of his story rather than Chris's unexpected voyage. Both characters are very interesting and I am excited to dive in to the rest of Conway's life.

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  8. I consider this profile of Eustace Conway to take ideas about the exploration of the wild and what one finds about oneself one step further. Eustace, unlike McCandless, is born a woodsman, a man of the forest. His criticism of society mirrors McCandless in many ways, however Eustace has a prefound respect for the awesome power of nature in physical, spiritual, and reflective forums. It's funny because as I read some of Eustace's views on nature and his struggle with the institutionalized world I find so much commonality with Eustace's thought process. For example, the passage on page 55 really speaks to me, the sheer truthfullness and serene beauty of the forest is eaxactly how I think about the forest and it was really cool to read a documentation of my own thoughts by someone with the "forest cred", if you will, of Eusctace Conway. Eustace says that the forest, "there is only truth to be found- no lies, no sham, no illusions, no hypocrisy. Just a truthful place, where all beings are governed by a set of perfect laws that have never changed and never will." I can count the number of times in which I have read a book, and while reading it stopped and made connections between my own life and what I deem important, and meaningful so directly and profoundly with the either an author, or in the case of "The Last American Man" with the subject of the profile. I can count this book as one of that small handful.

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