Into Thin Air

Rating:
Summary: This was a great book!
Review: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is a good story about the infamous May 10th, 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. The main character, Jon Krakauer (also the author), is a writer for Outside magazine who agrees to go on an Everest expedition and write an article about his experiences. Although he has had limited climbing experience, Jon finds that there are many others on the mountain with far less. His expedition of around a dozen people spends the first two months acclimating to the thin air of Everest. They go on some minor climbs and get much closer as a team as they are forced to rely on each other in this harsh environment.
Rob Beck, the leader of the expedition, is a notorious guide who has led teams to the summit of Everest since the early 1990's. He plans May 10th as the summit day. That morning the climbers begin departing at 11:30 for the summit. Right from the start things aren't going exactly as planned. Many climbers get late starts and are slow going. It is dangerous to be on the summit of Everest late in the afternoon as many things can happen including avalanches. Just as a group of climbers is nearing the summit, storm clouds begin rolling in. Because they have paid about $65,000 to be a part of the expedition, many climbers don't want to turn back. Shortly after reaching the summit, the storm hits them. It is unknown exactly what happened, but they are eventually trapped at about 25,000 feet up. They are forced to spend the night at subzero temperatures without supplemental oxygen and because everyone else on the mountain is exhausted from the climb, they are not rescued. Many die including Rob Hall and several other guides. Jon and others escaped with minor frostbite or no injuries because they left the summit so early.
There are many characters in this story that Jon encounters in his two and a half months on Everest. He does a great job explaining their characteristics and his feelings about them. They are all plausible, of course, because they are real people. It is sad, though, because you feel like you know them so well, and then all of a sudden they are killed. It is such a tragedy that at times you have to remember that it really happened.
The author did a great job with his accuracy in depicting the event. He said that it was tough because everything was such a blur for him and many other climbers. After calling many climbers, he still didn't have an accurate picture of the events because so many of the stories contradicted each other. The last few chapters were crammed with action as many climbers struggled to survive. I would have given this book four stars if it wasn't so slow going for the first half of the book. I know that it is non fiction and that they had to spend the first two months training, but it seems like the author still could have made it a little more exciting.
Although there isn't really a main theme to this story, the reader can learn many important messages that apply to everyday life as much as climbing Mt. Everest. The first is to never let your judgment be clouded by a craze to accomplish something. Many climbers didn't think when they saw storm clouds rolling in. They went on to the top because of the money they had paid and because of Rob Hall's reputation as a guide. Also, communication is vital in accomplishing something as a group. Everyone who died that day on the mountain was unsure of some element of that day. Whether they were waiting for someone who was already down, or unsure of the weather, or unaware of a stash of oxygen canisters nearby, their lives could have possibly been saved had they been told these things. Lastly, there is no substitute for preparation. Many climbers in the expedition didn't really belong there because of their lack of experience and skills. It was said for many years that Rob Hall could get anyone up the mountain who had the money. This did not prove to be the case on May 10th, 1996 as eight climbers accompanied by Rob and two other guides had their lives tragically ended on Mt. Everest.

Rating:
Summary: You won't put this one down!!!!!!!!!
Review: I fell in love with this one!!! I'm not into mountain climbing at all but you definately need not be to enjoy this book. The courage and excitement shown here is emense!! Buy this book. You will not be disappointed....I guarantee it!!

Rating:
Summary: Page Turner
Review: I could not put it down. Very well written. A must
read.
Kenton S.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading
Review: This book was extremely captivating from start to finish. I typically stretch out reading a book over a week, but this was so good I read it all in the first day. If you are interested in Mt. Everest and its climbers this is the book.

Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air -- Great Book!!
Review: Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, was a great book. It is an informative first hand account of what happened on Mount Everest. This was the first book of Jon's that I have ever read. The men in this book were CRAZY!! All of them were interested in the extreme sport of climbing. Rob Hall, an experienced climber and guide, asks Jon to come on his 1996 expedition. Krakauer gladly accepts, it has been a child hood dream of his that lasted all his life and hopes to fulfill his dream of climbing to "The Top Of The World," the peak of Mount Everest. Jon gives information about Mount Everest's past to fill us in on how dangerous of a climb that it really is. Everest was and still is the hardest mountain to summit, and these men did it. Krakauer depicts the peril and adventure of his journey up Everest, all of the crevasses, the cliffs, and extremely high altitudes in which it is almost impossible to breathe. Jon tells all about the disaster on Everest and the friends he lost. Jon knew nine men and women that died. Jon describes, in depth, the adventurous journey up Everest to it's summit at an amazing 29,028 above sea level. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that likes action and adventure. Krakauer gets you into the book, he allows you to put yourself in his place, this makes the book twice as fun to read. I would recommend this to anyone that is around my age or just likes extreme action and adventure. Krakauer's writing is so in depth that you can almost imagine yourself in his place, experiencing the things that he does. He writes to hook you in and keep you hooked, YOU REALLY GET "INTO THIN AIR!"

Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air Entertaining and Informative
Review: Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's personal account of the 1996 Everest disaster in which twelve people died. Jon, a writer for Outside Magazine, is asked to join an Everest expedition and write and article about the commercialization of Everest. Climbing Everest has always been his dream and he accepts the assignment immediatly.
When Jon and the rest of his team reach base camp in early April, they begin the slow process of acclimatizing to the high altitude of the area. This takes almost a month. While acclimatizing, Jon learns a great deal about his teammates.
Nearly a month after first setting foot at Everest's base camp, Jon and the rest of his team set off for their summit bid of the 29,028 foot peak. At 12:00 A.M. on May 10th, Jon's team makes the final push for Everest's summit. Jon is one of the first people to reach the summit that day. Looking down from it, he sees ominous clouds approaching the mountain. By the time Jon gets back to Camp IV, the upper mountain is engulfed in a violent storm and many climbers are trapped high on the mountain. In all five climbers, including two very experienced guides, die in the storm. The total death toll for the climbing season is twelve, one of the highest in Everest's history.
I would defiantly recommend Into Thin Air to everyone. It's well-written, entertaining, and informative. Not only do you have a great time reading it, but you also learn a lot about Mt. Everest. This book is very engrossing and you will most likely find yourself not wanting to put it down; I know that I didn't want to.

Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: Jon Krakauer uses imagery in a remarkable way. From th racing beats of his heart's mighty battle, to the wheezing puffs for needed but non-existent oxygen. The fight that was faced was perfectly spelled out. As the story read on, a reader could find him or herself in a place so near to Mt. Everest, that the frigid mountain air was on the brink of their lips, freezing in one breathe, the depths of their lungs. The author also give the mountain personification to a certain extent. The mountain is perceived by the reader as a living, breathing demon. A creature who set out to cause disaster and distruction. Along with personification, krakauer uses Regionalism to add to the effect of his life-changing story. The harsh realistic conditions that surround Mt. Everest lead the reader to enter into Krakauer's mind, and somewhat feel what this man once went through. This very detailed book should be read aloud in every country, all languages, stationed on one's night stand, or simply held in a category all its own. The author Jon Krakauer tells a riveting story that shall never be forgotten.

Rating:
Summary: Mega-suspense and a very stressful read...
Review: This was the first book that I read by Jon Krakauer, the second was Into the Wild - I know that I read them out of order. I don't really know much about mountain climbing, and probably never will. This book gave me a great peek inside of this extreme sport. These guys are really crazy, they love testing the limits of human ability versus the creative landscape that God has given us. This book is really good, and kept me on the edge of my seat, as I don't think I put this book down from the time I opened the front cover until I closed that back cover. Kudos, and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Educational Book and Exciting
Review: Into Thin Air is a very good book about what it is like in Mt. Everest. Though I wouldn't recommend it to all readers because it is a very complicated book and it has a long beginning. It is very well written and full of facts. I rate it 3 stars because it is not as action packed as I was looking for but it is a very good and interesting book about Jon Krakaur's climb/

Rating:
Summary: Not fair
Review: This is a very enetertaining book, but it does not give credits to the real hero, Anatoli Boukreev. He was the one who saved lives, not Krakauer. I recommend Anatoli's own book, "The Climb", to be read instead of this one.