Into Thin Air

Rating:
Summary: Krakauer Delivers Magic
Review: Ranking high on the list of literary favorites, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer captivates the reader's attention from the moment it opens until it closes. The powerful imagery and strong emotional content of this book makes reading enjoyable and addictive. Krakauer, writer for Outside magazine, was sponsored by Outside to take a trip to Everest in exchange for a story about his experiences. He went under the supervision of New Zealand expedition leader Rob Hall. Upon return, Krakauer sat down to write a book accounting the tragic and heroic events that took place on Everest in 1996. The experiences that Jon and the twenty six members of his team went through made for a fiction-like story. The hardships described as the different groups climbing the mountain endured a harsh sub-zero storm at 30,000 feet breathing bottled oxygen, are breathtaking and apprehensively involving. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of this book was it's way of making the reader seem as if he were right next to Hall on an icy ridge, bracing for another wind storm. Krakauer's ability to describe scenery and a character's actions in relationship to the setting create a lucid picture in the reader's mind. Despite this book's appeal to the hard-core "outdoors" type of people, I believe that reading would be enjoyable to anyone because the book recalls a hardship endured by many rather than just a wilderness experience. Everybody can relate to some of the emotions felt during this trip on some level. Not only do the expeditioners go through personal hardships but the process of having to make critical decisions for the benefit of the group. There were situations in which individuals literally had to decide if it was someone else's life or theirs. Although this book was powerfully written, the recollection of Krakauer's summitting experience leaves the reader with somewhat of and empty feeling. "... but now that I was here,

actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn't summon the energy to care... I hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours. The only food I'd been able to force down over the preceding three days was a bowl of Ramen soup and a handful of peanut M&Ms. Weeks of violent coughing had left me with two separated ribs that made ordinary breathing an excruciating trial..." Despite the clear but painfully factual writing, the reader finds themselves wishing things would have

turned out better for the expeditioners. The Spring of 1996 season ended with thirteen people dead and many injured beyond reasonable mobility. Into Thin Air is a tragic, yet wonderful book. Kraukauer's Into the Wild is similar to this book in many ways. Once again, Krakauer stayed with non-fiction. They both involve the reader in an fascinating, yet depressing ride along with a group of characters that everyone can relate to in some way. I'd definitely give Into Thin Air a

strong recommendation to anyone. You don't have to enjoy exclusively non-fiction to have a good time reading this book. It's a fascinating and inspiring story.

Rating:
Summary: A Thriller That Kept Me Up All Night Flipping Pages
Review: Shivering, frostbitten, and stupefied you trudge through a strong hurricane 29,000 feet above sea level. You are blind in one eye and your sight in the other is limited to a meter or two. Your brain has been deprived of oxygen for six hours. The wind chill makes it feel like 100 degrees below zero. If you don't make it back to camp soon, you will surely die! This cannot even begin to describe the conditions that existed atop Mt. Everest in May 1996. Twelve people died as the result of a fierce hurricane near Everest's South Summit. Jon Krakauer relives his experience as a client of respected guide Rob Hall in the epic novel Into Thin Air. Krakauer, a journalist from Seattle who works for Outside Magazine, is swept off his feet by a phone call that gives him a chance to realize his childhood dream, climbing Mt. Everest. Along with Rob Hall, a famous and respected guide, he and seven clients strive to reach the summit. Among his fellow climbers are Beck Weathers, a U.S. doctor, Doug Hansen, also from the U.S., Yasuko Namba of Japan, Stuart Hutchinson of Canada, Frank Fishbeck of Hong Kong, Lou Kasiscke another American, and John Taske of Australia. Accompanying Hall, as assistant guides are Mike Groom, from Australia and Andy Harris from New Zealand and several climbing sherpas, or helpers. The adventure starts at Lobuje where the team spends a couple of nights before heading to Base Camp. Lobuje is a disgusting area at the foot of Mt. Everest where feces is piled high. The heroes then ascend to Base Camp where Hall instructs them on how to train their bodies to adapt to the thin air. After many ascents and descents to various altitudes, Adventure Consultants, Rob Hall's company name, is ready to begin another successful year of putting clients onto Everest's summit. Hall is not the only group climbing though. Mountain Madness led by rival Scott Fischer is also attempting to put eight clients at the top of the world. After a few complications occur, assigned days are given out to ascend to Everest's summit so that the mountain is not crowded. Both Hall and Fischer are scheduled to climb on May 10th, supposedly the best weather on Everest all year falls on this day. Hall tells his group that if they don't reach the peak by 2:00 PM, they will turn around. However, the oxygen must be more thin than usual this year and the last client of Hall, Doug Hansen, doesn't reach the top until 4:15 PM. To make matters worse, storm clouds coat the sky and wind speeds are starting to pick up. If you want to discover the aftermath of this disaster, I highly encourage you to read this book. This personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster in May 1996 was very heart breaking and depressing. I thought the book was very well written and I enjoyed the fact that he put the perspectives of so many people into this book. If you are looking for an edge of your seat thriller that will weigh your heart down and leave you choked up for the lives of the individuals you get to know so well, I recommend this novel, Into Thin Air.

Rating:
Summary: everest- following a dream or an obsession
Review: Many of the reviewers have already used words which I would use in describing the story, riveting, compelling,intriguing,true life adventure....yada yada yada. Journalist and mountaineer Jon Krakauer was commissioned by Outside magazine to write a story about the commercially guided trips to Mt. Everest. Krakauer provides insight into the mountaineers psyche and explains why he has always wanted to climb Everest. The average person would like to follow their dreams to have that once in a lifetime opportunity. Dreams quickly become obsessions. The person who chooses Everest as their dream is poised on the precipice of obsession. It is a taxing mistress, claiming money, family, breath and lives.

Krakauer describes the many paths which lead to the "goddess". He respectfully introduces the reader to the many individuals who visited Everest that May. The reader grows to appreciate and care for many individuals some who sadly did not survive.

Krakauer's narrative leaves room for the readers own view, which makes the book all the more compelling. I am glad I read this book. Mountain climbing is not something I would ever do or even consider, but I have learned a deep respect for those who choose this as their particular dream.

Rating:
Summary: Feel Like You're There!
Review: Krakauer does a great job of bringing the reader into the story. I have never mountain climbed in my life, but really felt that I could relate to and understand the challenges this crew faced during their disastrous trip.

Krakauer also does a nice job of filling in the story with some mountain climbing history. This helps the reader understand some of the motivation behind these brave souls' need to climb that mountain. Even if you are not an outdoors enthusiast, you will have a hard time putting this book down.

Rating:
Summary: A deeply moving book
Review: I stumbled across this book when my sister brought it home. Before the disaster, one of the men who died on the mountain had visited her school and they had written him letters at base camp. I started reading the book, not really knowing what drama this book contained. I couldn't put it down until I was done and I found myself in tears several times. When you hear about a disaster like this, it is always sad, but when one of the people involved in something terrible is someone from your community, it is depressing. The book was wonderfully written, Krakauer makes you feel like you are on the mountain with them and you are personally experiencing the heartbreaking losses. If you know someone that has perished on Everest, you have to read this book. If you don't know anyone who has, you still must read this book, you will be amazed by what they went through.

Rating:
Summary: A very descriptive, very real story
Review: This book is very discriptive including every fine detail that had an impact on the big picture. When I had finished reading it I felt like I had been on everest myself because I had learned so much about it.

Rating:
Summary: An unbelievable book for all ages.
Review: I am a 14 year old teenager who isn't your typical "bookworm." As a matter of fact I sat down with this book for a project just expecting to breeze through and write a simple report. I had no idea what I was about to read. Throughout the entire epic tale Jon Krakauer writes his thrilling experience of climbing Mt. Everest. This was a book I just couldn't put down. I know you all hear this one often, but I truly did feel like I was climbing along with him. I gasped I laughed and cried throughout the book. The climax is full of suspense and you feel releived after it is over. For anyone who loves adventure books of the outdoors, if you are 14 or 94. This is an unbelievable book.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Read
Review: I found "Into Thin Air" to be a completely enjoyable and enlightening book. Mountain climbing is not a topic that ever interested me, so if a friend had not recommended this book to me, I never would have read it.

Like so many others, I found myself completely into this book once I started reading. The characters, the circumstances, and the predicaments all become very real. The author tells a story of actual people facing life and death situations, and the decisions they make are the difference between living and dying.

Rating:
Summary: Just read it!
Review: This was a very well-written book. I wouldn't advise Jon Krakauer to write a novel, because his voice is fairly dull and he does not seem like the type of man that you would have fun hanging out with. The subject of the book, however, easily overpowers his semi-weak voice. It is very exciting and hard to put down once you get into it about 50 pages. It was also sometimes emotionally difficult for me to read because it was so horrible and realistic. The story seems like something somebody might have made up if I didn't remember when the Everest disasters took place in 1996. This would make a very good movie and I would suggest it to anybody who likes a lot of adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Slow, But Hang In There
Review: This book starts off rather slowly, with an almost 200 page introduction to the climbers and the peril of climbing Mount Everest. Then the book takes off and becomes a compelling and electrifiying account of a storm that takes the life of 11 people and leaves more permanently scarred, if not on the outside, then on the inside. Once the storm starts, it is absolutely amazing reading. Just hang in there through the somewhat long intro, and you will enjoy what follows.