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Summary: Must read The Climb to get the full story
Review: As a mountain climber, I enjoyed this book immensely. Krakauer is gifted in his prose in this book, other books and his National Geographic and Outside articles. However, I feel as though one gets a one sided picture without reading other accounts of this disaster. Although poorly written, The Climb, the late Anatoli Boukreev's account, is a must read to fill in the blanks and question Krakaur's account. The National Geographic Everest book also gives a dry but full picture account of the whole event.
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Summary: I wish it were a thousand pages longer.
Review: I am not a climber, and I share several reviewer's opinions that an Everest attempt is self-indulgent risk for no good cause. That said, Krakauer's account of the climb was the last really riveting book I've read. I felt I was on that mountain. I kept wondering why they did what they did, but I could not put the book down and would have read for hundreds more pages if he'd written them.
Rating: 
Summary: A 'must read' for all with an interest in adventure.
Review: My daughter brought me this book back from Nepal a fortnight ago.I read it in a few night sittings, engrossed in the lead up to and the illfated attempts on the summit. I had recently watched an Australian documentary on the tragedy.The most shocking part was the seeming lack of concern shown by the Japanese team for the dying Ladakhi climbers."Above 8000 metres is not a place where one can afford morality" Obviously Rob Hall had a greater sense of morality.The survival of Beck Weathers is a true miracle, and shows that where there is life, there is hope. I am now reading Chris Bonington's "Everest the Hard Way"(1975). It is interesting to see the difference 20 years makes, from the era when only one expedition was allowed on the peak at a time. I look forward to reading "Into the Wild" by the same author.
Rating: 
Summary: Great summer read
Review: The story itself is amazing. The presentation however, was a bit confusing. I didn't feel that his use of names was consistent (forever switching between first and last) and that the science of climbing was explained well enough (a better example of thorough explanation is found in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm). I felt as though Krakauer assumed the reader has a certain knowledge base going in to the book, both about climbing and the Sherpas. It is surprising how little he did in rescuing the people stranded, and how it was hardly explained, yet he does seem to point out weakenesses in others' stories, even when those others were attempting to rescue stranded climbers. Also, there was little explanation as to the mindset of the climbers, and why they would want to do this, what the motivation was. My final nit with this book was that I felt this was more a confessional than a literary outlet...but the author admits that early on in the foreward, so the reader should be prepared for at-times-annoying self-absorption. Other than these points, I did enjoy the book, and read it in record time, but I wouldn't rush to read another by him (I was greatly disappointed by Into the Wild, which turned me off to ITA for so long). See the IMAX presentation, which puts this all into much needed perspective!
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Summary: Motivating -> Speechless -> Sadness in short Must Read!
Review: This accounting of the terrible ordeal was well written and spoken in the audio book. I found myself intrigued one moment and horrified the next. Well done Jon, If only it could have been fiction!
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Summary: Well-written, moving book
Review: The book details events on Everest that bring into question the nature of our responsiblity to our fellows. As one climber puts his opinion, "above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality." And yet other climbers and expeditions selflessly helped those in need, at risk to themselves and their own attempt to reach the summit. The IMAX film team, for instance, gave away spare batteries and half their oxygen -- which had been laboriously carried up the mountain, and the lack of which risked the successful finish of the $5 million IMAX film -- to help the stricken expeditions.
In another way, the book is like _The Guns of August_ which recounts the unfortunate coincidences and poor judgment which, combined, led to World War I.
The book details the obstacles and conditions all Everest climbers face, and the many different factors on this trip that led to 12 deaths. Did having a journalist on one expedition, and a prominent socialite on another, cause the respective leaders to take risks they would not otherwise have allowed? "Above 26,000 feet, ... the line between appropriate zeal and reckless summit fever becomes grievously thin."
The author also goes into the mystique and motivations of mountain climbing, and particularly climbing Everest itself, and he does not neglect the Sherpas and their history, motivation, life, culture and contributions.
And lastly, the author is brave enough to include at the end some scathing personal criticism he received after the Outside Magazine article.
The shortcomings of the book include a jumbling of the characters' names -- it is a large "cast," but the author makes it harder by switching back and forth between first and last names. For instance, the reader must remember that "Anatoli" and "Boukreev" and "the Russian" are the same person.
I think Krakauer's worst offense is to REPEAT the horrific mistake in the magazine article. Krakauer writes that jus! t above the highest camp, closest to the summit, Krakauer saw Andy Harris walking toward and reaching the safety of the tents (which good news was radioed to Harris' loved ones), and then later reported that since Andy Harris didn't reach the tents, the crampon tracks at the same elevation leading into a 7000' abyss must be Harris'. This was printed in the Outside article, and grieved Harris' loved ones that he died in that way. In fact, Harris had disappeared much farther up the mountain. The person Krakauer thought was Harris was someone else. It was a mistake once, because Krakauer hadn't interviewed everyone -- but to recount the false story again in the book and "correct" it 33 pages later was pointless and confusing.
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Summary: This book takes your breath away!
Review: What an unbelievable account of the 1996 tragedy that took place on Mt. Everest! Krakauer recounts the expedition from the very beginning, and, while almost painful at times, manages to keep the reader enthralled throughout. The writing is so descriptive that you can imagine what it must be like to be stuck above 28,000 feet with no oxygen during a blinding snowstorm! One of the most reader-friendly works of non-fiction I have ever enjoyed. Read this book!
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Summary: Gripping. I wish I could see Everest. I'll just dream.
Review: From beginning to end Icould not put this book down. It took me to a place I will probably never see in my life. I feel it expanded my horizons into a subject I knew absolutly nothing about. I really felt the horror that those people on the mountain felt. I am looking for another book to read now although I know nothing will live up to this book. I am recommending it whole heartedly to all my friends.
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Summary: Once in a long while...
Review: Once in a long while, you'll find a book that leaves you spellbound..."Into Thin Air" is one of those books. It's like finding a rare gift. The story was on par with the best fiction/adventure. I found Mr. Krakauer's writing "adequate", but the drama potrayed, overpowered any deficits. I felt the heady challenge and discovery. I wept, felt the helplessness, and eventually the sadness on the frailty of human beings, but uplifted by the strength of the human spirit. It left me wanting to know much more about the people and world of climbing, particularly the Himalayas.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read!!
Review: Great book! I knew the basics about the accident but that may have made the book better. I learned a lot from the book.
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