Into Thin Air

Rating:
Summary: Buy This Book!
Review: Told not to write his harrowing account of the Everest disaster until he has got over it, Krankauer does anyway. The book is a vivid, painful and frightening account of one man's guilt over surviving while others didn't. I bought the book for a red-eye flight to England. I thought that I'd read for an hour and then get some sleep. By the time I arrived in London, the book was finished - I simply couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: NOT WORTH THE TIME
Review: I know this is a popular book, but perhaps our standas have dropped. I stopped reading the quotes at the beginning of each chapter after the first half. They were filler. A long, tedious book that would have been better left as a magazine article.

Rating:
Summary: EXCITING ADVENTURE
Review: True, trhilling; I felt I was on the Everest top even if I never climbed! Elisa

Rating:
Summary: A great book...but an unfortunate tragedy.
Review: I just recently finished reading "Into Thin Air." I came away thinking, why would anyone risk everything to suffer so much. It, in fact, led me to much introspection. Life is full of risk and danger. Human beings merely choose which risks to take. As this tragedy unfolded, I couldn't help but get emotionally involved. When I finished this book, I loaned it to my girlfriend, who works in a coffee shop. She said many people who saw the book she was reading commented on how good it is. She just finished it a few days ago,and we both enjoyed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: I think that to risk life and limb just to reach the top of a mountain is the height of egomania. Reading this book has not changed my opinion in this regard, only reinforced it. A well written, compelling story, maybe it will dissuade others from taking these risks. I somehow doubt it, though. Young, healthy people seem to be immune to their own mortality until it jumps up and hits them in the face.

Rating:
Summary: Courage still exists!
Review: Courage still exists in this world! I couldn't put 'Into Thin Air' down. The bodies of those left on the roof of the world are a monument to the spirit of these men. What better way to leave this Earth then by doing something you want to do in a noble effort. I pray that I will not die in my bed, but die climbing my own mountains of life in the same way 'Into Thin Air' so dramatically describes. I've given this book to everyone I care about. It's not just about climbing Everest, its about how you live your life!

Rating:
Summary: A frank account of High altitude reality
Review: Krakauer is a master at telling the story of lives led in the peculiar, vivd, spectrum of mountaineering. The thing that should scare people more than this actual tale is that it is not an uncommon one for that region ofthe world. If one commits him or herself to high altitude climbing one must accept the fact that they may very well end up dead. Krakauer is still around because he has seldom ventured into such climates. Good for us. I look forward to Krakauer's next tale.

Rating:
Summary: Once the book got going it kept me interested
Review: Into Thin Air is a book about an expedition that went into the ever famous Mount Everest. While on his expedition Jon Krakauer tells about the hardships and his near death experiences. He tells, in great depth, about the people he met on the mountain. Jon also goes into great detail telling how cold and miserable the trip was. He really made me think that I was up there experiencing the same thing he was. At first the book started slow, but in the end the breath taking thrill of who was going to live and who was going to freeze to their untimely death told the story. In this book every minute could be the difference between life and death. I'm glad I read this book, and I would surely encourage it to anybody that likes to be on the edge of their seat while they read. This book really did that for me. Thanks Jon, I had fun reading your book.

Rating:
Summary: Why all these 10s? Book is good, not great.
Review: This is the best of Krakauer's three books. His first "Into" book (INTO THE WILD) suffers from too much conjecture and autobiographical fodder. EIGER DREAMS reads like a collection of mildly interesting OUTSIDE magazine articles (the piece on K2 is a standout)--which is pretty much what it is. INTO THIN AIR shows that Krakauer is a fine journalist, as well as an experienced climber. Above all, he seems fair to his subject(s). I appreciate his apparent honesty. There is no badmouthing or fingerpointing here for what happened on Everest in '96--excepting the occasional pokes at himself. His narrative is often riveting. Closer editing was needed; some phrases and ideas are needlessly needlessly repeated repeated. I kept waiting for Krakauer to launch into Pittman, who appears to deserve all the criticism she's received for bringing her champagne lifestyle to Everest, but Krakauer shows restraint, which is probably for the best. Krakauer has to speculate from time to time (something that has apparently caused some grief for family members of victims), but he always (?) qualifies these ideas. I look forward to JK's upcoming work. This is a good book, and not a great one. (Reviewers: Save the 10s for the truly great stuff, for heaven's sake!)

Rating:
Summary: Exciting and touching
Review: Into Thin Air was one of the best books I have read in a long time. I couldn't put it down. I was enthralled and excited while reading it. The tradgedy that was the everest expedition of the 1996 season does scare me, but it has sparked my interest in climbing. Although Everest is totally out of the question, a nice small mountain somewhere out west truly appeals after reading the book. Applause to Jon Krakauer for a wonderful book, and good luck to him in the future. I can't wait to start reading his "Into the Wild.