The open road, the freedom afforded by a life of wandering, is much celebrated in every art form. Literature is full of tales of the lure of wandering, either in non-fiction form or in the creations of Swift, Shakespeare, Twain or Jack London In music, the Bruce Springsteen song Further On (Up the Road) perfectly evokes both the uncertainty and the excitement afforded to the traveller.

I have recently finished the book Into the Wild by John Krakaur, the film version of which is playing in cinemas at present (and is certainly worth seeing). Into the Wild tells the story of Chris McCandless who gave up every trapping of civilisation in order to retreat to the wilds of Alaska and live off the land.

In theory, Chris McCandless had everything going for him; a close relationship with his sister (if not his parents), financial security and a keen intellect which was propelling him fairly effortlessly towards whatever career path he desired. However, the more solid the pillars of his life became, the more he felt bound to break free and leave it all behind. The actual catalyst for McCandless's departure may be explained by the revelation that for the early years of his life his father was continuing to have a relationship with a former wife. Morally repulsed, McCandless's reaction was to wipe out his own entire previous existence.

Krakaur paints a vivid picture of what life was like for the first two years of McCandless's adventure. Both the book, and to an extent the film, point to his capability for self-sufficiency and total retreat but also to his capacity for engagement with those strangers he met. This is a recurring irony in the Chris McCandless story.

When his death comes, he is actually not as far away from civilisation as he thinks. An up to date map would have pointed out a number of escape routes close by. All the more heart-breaking is the fact that it is just at this point that he has realised that it is within his desires to live among people again.

Comparisons with Cormac McCarthy's The Road come to mind when reading Into the Wild. Unlike McCandless, McCarthy's man is condemned by some cataclysmic event to take to the road with his son. Death stalks them at every turn. Palid greys, duns and blacks are the colours of their surroundings. However, what is important in The Road is not the physical state of the father and son nor their surroundings but rather their own inner strength and the strength of human bonds.

McCarthy's strongest message is that to have any hope of peace. the inner landscape must be more fertile than physical surroundings, selflessness must be a stronger impulse than regard for oneself. Despite its terror-filled vistas, this is what ultimately renders The Road an epic and Into the Wild a cautionary tale.