Into Thin Air

Rating:
Summary: A sad, but compellling, account
Review: It is a testament to the author's compelling writing style that I consider this one of the best books I've ever read, as I have never mountaineered nor given the sport more than a passing thought--let alone the Mount Everest disaster of 1996. From the history of Everest expeditions to the final summit push in May of '96 that led to the deaths of several climbers, I found myself enthralled and wanting to take a sick day from work just so I could continue reading. For anyone who has heard great things about the book but who would otherwise have never considered reading it, I urge you to pick up a copy right away. Like me, you'll be wanting to read more about this exciting but life-threatening obsession.

Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air Question
Review: This was one of the most powerful books I have had the oppurtunity to read. The shear tragedy of this story is numbing. The one fact left out of the book was, were the bodies of Scott Fischer and Rob Hall and the other members removed from Everest? . If I missed this information, please let me know. Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting account of an amazing event
Review: I never understood why anyone would want to put themselves in so much danger for what seemed like a crazy and impossible goal. This book tells of people obsessed with attaining what seems like the unattainable. The author does an excellent job of explaining mountain climbing to those of us who would never try it ourselves. Once the climbers started to the peak, I couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to adventurers and would-be adventurers because it's an excellent story of man's struggle to conquer his environment and how his environment ultimately conquers him.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkably real.
Review: Into Thin Air is a remarkable story about the dangers and the reality of high-altitude climbing. Jon Krakauer did an excellent job of portraying the tragedy and building up to the climax. This book really opened my eyes about climbing while at a high altitude. I couldn't put it down!

Rating:
Summary: Well written yet unsympathetic
Review: Most reviews of "Into Thin Air" appear to have both a literary and a moral component. I rate this book very highly for the literary component. Krakauer's account of the 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest is superbly written. His prose is lucid and conversational while his research is very thorough. Krakauer is smart enough to share the minute details of the expedition with us. When he talks about training, food, oxygen, supplies, logistics, hygiene, and so forth, he indoctrinates us into the mountaineering world. As a result, when he brings us up the mountain--and then into disaster--we are thoroughly familiar with the territory.

Of course the book has its flaws. Although this is more of a journalistic account than anything else, Krakauer's narrative involves at least one character development: his own. Krakauer portrays himself in a slightly contradictory manner. On the one hand, he's Jon Krakauer, the experienced mountaineer who is a damn site better than most of the amateurs in the climbing party. On the other hand, he's humble Jon, whose really just glad to be along and whose embarrassingly out of shape and gosh, he's just so lucky to be alive at the end. Of course its possible that, like most people, Krakauer is at times egotistical and at times humble. But here it he appears to have appropriated those portions of his personality to the most compatible sections of his narrative. For example, Krakauer delights in telling us how easy it is for him to outpace all of the amateur climbers on the expedition. On the other hand, he freely admits his errors and possible culpability in the death of at least one fellow climber.

If I had to judge this book on ethical terms, I would give it one star. Although Krakauer writes of tragic events, I find his prose to be unjustifiably self-pitying at times. Mountaineering is a dangerous sport in general and climbing Everest is extremely high risk. When you add commercial incentives to such an enterprise then of course people are going to get killed.

I also find the conduct of some of the climbers to be abominable. I simply don't understand why the morning rescue party left Beck Whethers and Yasuko Namba to die. Even if there was no hope for them, would it not have been more comforting to die in a warm tent surrounded by other people than to be abandoned in the frozen outdoors? And would they necessarily have died? After all, Beck Whethers survived.

What's more appalling is the conduct of two Japanese climbers who passed dying members of the Sino-Tibetan expedition en route to the summit. The Japanese climbers ignored them and continued to the top. Then during the decent, they continued to ignore them and left them to die. This must be the mountain climbing version of the Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.

Friends of mine who have gone trekking in Nepal reported that the mountaineers they encountered there were some of the most self-absorbed, ego maniacs they ever encountered. It seems pitiable that people would go to enormous, nearly impossible extents to reach the top of a mountain but would not less strenuous effort to save lives. Imagine the two conversations in the climbers minds:

1. "Yeah, I'm gonna make it to the top baby. I own this summit! Me! Me! Me! Me!"

2. "Aw, they'll never survive. I'll just leave them to die in the ice."

What's wrong with this picture?

But moral issues aside, Krakauer's account is superbly written and will probably be read for generations to come. It is certainly a superior work compared to The Boukreev/DeWalt version, "Climb". The latter work also contains moral ambiguity, but unlike Krakauer's, it is horribly written.

Rating:
Summary: Well done
Review: Krakauer does a great job describing the tragic events that happen during the 1996 climb. Great book, and 5 stars really isn't enough to rate it judiciously.

Rating:
Summary: A painfully honest accuont of a horrible tragedy
Review: Unlike most people, I read "The Climb," by Boukreev/DeWalt, before I read "Into Thin Air," by Kraukauer. In "The Climb", DeWalt (who ghost-wrote the book for Boukreev, and lives in my area), spends a lot of space claiming that Kraukauer went out of his way to slander Boukreev. DeWalt is no great shakes as a writer, but he did succeed in convincing me that Kraukauer had been grossly unfair to Boukreev in "Into Thin Air." So then I went and actually read "Into Thin Air," and I couldn't understand what DeWalt was talking about. Kraukauer certainly did criticize Boukreev, at times rather strongly, but his criticisms seem entirely justified and they are balanced by equally strong praise for Boukreev's courage. And Kraukauer directed the strongest criticism at himself. After reading both books, I am in full agreement with the reviewers who think that DeWalt deliberately portrayed "Into Thin Air" to be something it's not in order to create controversy to draw media attention to "The Climb."

If you have read "The Climb," you owe it to yourself to read this 1999 edition of "Into Thin Air," which has a detailed new postscript that sheds much light on the Boukreev-Kraukauer controversy. If you are fascinated by the '96 Everest tragedy, both books are worth reading, but after reading Kraukauer's postscript my mind has been completely changed. I used to think "The Climb" was the more accurate book. Now I believe DeWalt took great liberties with the facts in order to make Boukreev look infallible, and to make Kraukauer look bad. Both books portray Boukreev as a hero, but I am convinced that "Into Thin Air" is a much more accurate, much more truthful, much more carefully researched book. Its honesty comes across on every page. "Into Thin Air" is literature of the highest order.

Rating:
Summary: I still don't get it
Review: I've never understood why a man would climb a mountain like Everest. I could understand climbing a mountain for the view, or to reach some valuable commodity hidden away at the summit, or even to simply impress a woman, but for me, 'because it's there', doesn't quite get it done. It may be an answer, but it's not an explanation.

In INTO THIN AIR, John Krakauer does a wonderful job of telling the tale of the horrid events that took place on Everest in the spring of 1996. He makes the struggle, the sorrow, and even his own contrition come alive in a very gripping, yet still comfortable read. But what he doesn't do is make me understand why those people, himself included, were there in the first place.

Maybe there is no explanation? Maybe there just isn't a way to put the reasons into words? But when all was said and done, this fine book still left me thinking that even if all had gone well with the climb, none of these people would have enjoyed a single minute of it.

Rating:
Summary: Gripingly suspenseful novel
Review: I often read alot of novels, but nothing has intrigued me more or captivated my attention as much as this book! The novel is filled with detailed and suspenseful accounts of his climb to the top of Mt. Everest, which captures the imagination of the reader. I felt cold when the author felt cold, the novel really brings the reader into the story! I definitely recommend this novel to someone who has alot of time on his/her hands and enjoys a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Questionable Motives
Review: There is no doubt that Krakauer's account of the Everest expidition is a very good read. The book is skillfully woven with history, fact and drama, told in high style. My questions concern the stated motives for writing this book. If it was because Krakauer is haunted by the experience, his guilt must be overwhelming for him to focus so much energy on trying to find fault with a guide who was not even on his team (Boukreev), and who did not allow any of his clients to perish. Scott Fischer's choices were his own, as were Rob Hall's. Boukreev was an honest man with high integrity, who remained gracious throughout Krakauer's finger-pointing. Perhaps if Krakauer's own team were not so focused on the outcome of his journalism, their decisions would have been different, and others would have lived. If you want facts, read "The Climb."