Rating: Summary: A real ghost story Review: I read this book in a matter of hours. At the end, I felt that I had just been told the most realistic and frightening ghost story. Krakauer's writing allows you to meet the participants up close and personally, which makes you even sadder when you remind yourself that you are reading non-fiction. Absolutely compelling!
Rating: Summary: FANTASTIC ADVENTURE BOOK Review: This book will put you on the edge of your seat throughout all of the hundreds of pages! In this true account of a Mt. Everest disaster, the author talks about what happened when he climbed Mt. Everest. In addition to a great story, this book gives information about Mt. Everest that I found extremely interesting, and that is one of the reasons I liked the book. I also liked it because it was a super adventure book. I reccommend anyone who likes to climb read it. I will say, though, it is a tad bit sad for those leaky faucets out there. All in all, this book is superb!
Rating: Summary: Morbidly Fascinating Review: The book is memorable and fascinating. It read as an amazingly intriguing psychological portrait of the author as well as those around him who chose to climb Everest. The choices and the mistakes each person made, their arrogance, heroism, and their weaknesses wrapped around an astounding adventure that leaves me wondering whether the decision to climb Everest means someone is more than a bit crazy. It's an account that haunts the reader well after they have laid down the book.
Rating: Summary: Into Thin Air Review: If you are looking for a book to bring you on an adventure with its ups and downs this is the book. It provides lots of details and makes you feel like you were on the mountain yourself. I read every word and the only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I am going to have to read the rest of the accounts of the people that were on that expedition. I strongly suggest this book to anyone!
Rating: Summary: The Dangers of Everest Review: Into Thin Air was a nice book to read. I loved it , it gave a great view of the Everest climbing exprience. The order of the book was great. Base camp to the summit. Parts of the book I did not like. Jon did not mention other people that were on the mountain at the same time as his expendtion. There were other rescue attemps made by other people. This was a great book and i recomend it.
Rating: Summary: A great adventure book Review: I gave Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air five stars because I thought it was not only well written, but also a superb account of the 1996 Everest disaster. It is about an expedition on Everest where people encounter an awful gale that kills and strands many at the top of the mountain. At times while reading I felt I was there with Mr. Krakauer and the rest of the expedition and the other expeditions. I felt like I was cold and gasping for air at 26,000 feet above sea level. A downside to the book is that he writes it as everything revolves around him; so we learn about him and everyone else through his own thoughts. He tells us about all of his faults, observations, and his goals. It is a book that makes you sad after reading it. However, he makes the struggle and sorrow of this entire expedition come alive in an exciting book. He goes into immense detail about being frostbitten and cold and about all the diseases and conditions one can get from not having supplemental oxygen. It was striking when I realized that all of this was true; I knew it was true while I was reading but it just doesn't click in when you're reading the book. Krakauer brought this tragedy to life for people who weren't on the expedition with him and the rest of the crew. Although Krakauer does use some hard vocabulary, it was to some extent a quick, easy reader. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes climbing or adventurous books.
Rating: Summary: Into Thin Air Review: In this book, Jon Krakauer takes you step by step through a thrilling adventure about climbing the highest mountain in the world. Everest. He portrays the harsh storm that the climbers encounter which takes the lives of five of Jon's friends. Driven to reach the top, the mountaineers proceed to climb for the summit of the mountain, despite the high winds and deathly conditions. By doing this, the get caught in one of the worst blizzards ever recorded in the history of Everest. By now they are at the peak of the mountain and have no way down. You will be lead through the heartwrenching experience first hand in this book. If your interested in reading a book where the action never ceases, this book is for you.
Rating: Summary: Stick with the facts, Jon Review: I fully enjoyed reading this book - until I later read other related books, magazine articles, book reviews, articles on the web, etc. How disappointed I was to realize that one of my favorite climbing authors was willing to bend the truth in order to make his story more thrilling to read. It's a pity, but I guess Jon decided it was more important to sell a ton of books than it was to treat others with the respect they deserved or to just stick to the facts.
Rating: Summary: Human errors, tradgedy -- and also great beauty Review: This is a fascinating, journalistic account of the Mt. Everest climb in 1996 which left six climbers dead. Krakauer was sent on the expedition to write an article about the commercialization of climbing Everest. He was an experienced climber and in good physical shape. He expected the climb to be difficult but had no idea of what was really in store of the group.I learned a lot about mountain climbing in general, Everest in particular, and the passion of the mountaineers to reach the top. I personally can't see the appeal, but that's not the fault of the book. Climbing Everest is expensive ($65,000 climbing for each person to start), takes a minimum of two months, is torturous to the body (from gastro-intestinal parasites and respiratory ailments to serious illnesses resulting from oxygen deprivation, crippling frostbite and accidents from falling rocks and slippery terrain. There were a few details which I wish he would have described better -- such as the food they ate, their mountain climbing gear, general bathing and toileting accommodations. There was also such a big cast of characters, that I sometimes got them confused. Also, the paperback edition of the book I read had very few pictures and I couldn't quite follow the route However, the writer did a good job of describing the physical torture and hardships as well as the beauty and the majesty of Everest. He especially did a good job of describing the politics, the personalities, the in-fighting and the moral choices. Especially when things went wrong, it was chilling to read about some of the individual's insensitivity. He makes no excuses, but the human errors in judgment which led to the tragedy as well as the unpredictability of nature are deeply explored. There are no easy answers and I found his approach wonderful in its honesty and willingness to grapple with some serious issues. I was left with a new appreciation for the forces of nature.
Rating: Summary: 1st Rate Adventure Book leaves you breathless Review: This first-hand account of a Mount Everest expedition is one of the most thrilling books I ever read. I got so into Krakauer's detailed descriptions of the conditions on the mountain, I often found myself experiencing the physical sensation of being on the moutain, cold and in desparate need of air. A gifted writer, Krakauer was on the moutain when tragedy struck members of his climbing party and others. As a result, the reader is easily sucked into the whole experience. This was in strong contrast to the book which is often compared to this one, A Perfect Storm, which was written by a third party observer. I cannot imagine anyone reading Into Thin Air and not experiencing some level of tension as the tragic story of the climbers unfolds. As an unexpected bonus, Krakauer offers insightful thoughts concerning the seductive lure of such extreme pursuits as climbing Everest, and how that contributed to the tragedy in numerous ways.
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