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Into Thin Air |
List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $20.37 |
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Product Info |
Reviews |
Rating: Summary: A compelling account of a disaster Review: I read this book not knowing what to expect. I finished it with tears in my eyes...not only at the loss of human life, but for the survivors, as well. Although the book is fact, parts of it seemed surreal, as though impossible to imagine actually happen, but it did, unfortunately. I wish the families of the deceased nothing but my sincerest sorrow that they have suffered a tragedy, and I hope that the survivors who have yet to move on realize that it was, from reading this book, tragic coincidences that formed together after the fact to create the disaster. No one can judge anyone there, or any of their actions, since we weren't there...and I for one can't even imagine some of it. It is a great book, on I plan on keeping so that my son (who is now 2) can read it when he is 16 or so....even then there will be a lot to learn from...and I think if I ever feel like life is getting to be to much (where you want to curl up and just shut the world out for a day or so), this book will be a good slap in the face to get me going again :) I would definetly buy it if you haven't already...it's well worth it.
Rating: Summary: Like driving past a car wreck Review: Blame it on morbid curiousity, but I couldn't put this book down. I picked it up in a drugstore over the Memorial Day weekend, thinking that it would be a great beach read. I was right, but the memory of the story haunts me. I disagree with some of the critics who say that the author was selfish or callous b/c he didn't help others. Under those extreme circumstances, reason and morality obviously escape you. The rules you live by at sea level do not apply at 29,000 feet.
Rating: Summary: Excellent, but you need to read The Climb for balance Review: Amazing!, but read The Climb too to get a balanced perspective on this disaster.
Rating: Summary: Deeply disturbing but endlessly compelling Review: I just now finished reading this book. I have also read through most of the reviews. Clearly this book has had a profound effect, either positive or negative, on almost all who have read it. I feel as breathless as the climbers must have felt at 28,000 feet. One thing that I will not presume to do is to judge anyone involved in the expedition. I cannot begin to comprehend what motivates someone to undertake such a potentially physically and emotionally destructive course of action. Many activities involve risk (I jump horses - you have only to look at Christopher Reeve to appreciate the risks involved in that activity). But high altitude climbing seems to involve far more than risk -- it is comparable to Russian Roulette. No matter how prepared a climber is, they are constantly faced with lifethreatening situations, if not from the mountain, than from their own bodies and minds. And how can the majority of us, who have never even come close to what a high altitude climber faces, even begin to judge why any given person acted the way the did? How would we, faced with imminent death, with our minds not working with all cylindars, act or react? Even the shocking episode where the Japanese group ignored injured and dying climbers had to be taken in context. We at sea level cannot even comprehend how this could have happened. But one has to wonder what type of person risks their life in order to endure torture beyond anything we can imagine with the sole purpose of making it to the top of a mountain, for all of a few minutes of glory, then face further risk and torture on the return trip. These are thinking processes I don't pretend to understand, and therefore, feel I cannot judge. This book may make you angry, or sad, or bewildered. But it will NOT leave you feeling neutral. It's like a sock in the gut that empties all the air out of your lungs. Unlike many of the reviewers who revile the author for making money off this story, I feel it is a story that had to be told, and Mr. Krakauer! 's lyrical narrative is the perfect voice to tell it. He is, after all, a writer, and writers do get paid for their work. I know I feel richer for having read this book. And I know it will be a very long time before it's effects have worn off. Try to read this book without trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong. Just read it for the visceral impact it will have on you. And pray that no one near and dear to you ever decides to become involved in high altitude climbing.
Rating: Summary: Hey man, It's not my fault! Review: This should be the title of Krakauers book where everything and everyone except John himself is faulted for what happened. He has to live with his selfishness the rest of his life for turning his back on the others. I got the impression that this is a guy who is a loner, self absorbed, and probably never been a close friend to anyone. His line about never being to a funeral before in his life prior to Everest spoke volumes. When the going gets tough, John gets going. Thank god for John that the S Africans where there to be the greater villians. A decent read though even if you don't like the author. Happy Memorial Day folks!
Rating: Summary: A must for people who love extreme achivements Review: This book is awesome not only for the way it explains how a person can be driven to en extreme condition like climbing Mt. Everest, but also how people react in such conditions. On top of that is very educational because explain everything abouth the Sherpa life, what Everest means to the Nepalese economy and how the mountain has been commercialized in the last few years... Anyone who has ever done an extreme physical achievement such as running a marathon or climbing any mountain, will be able to appreciate what can one of these people can go though in order to conquest a dream... I highly recommend this book. For most of us it will be the closest we will ever get to Mount Everest.
Rating: Summary: Riveting and Sobering Review: I am still reeling from this book. The images of the last 100 or so pages will forever be in my mind. I have hiked in the winter mountains of Vermont and have only the slightest idea of what this would have been like. I can't imagine a much more horrible a way to die than stranded on a mountain such as Everest with a radio frozen and dying talking to friends who cannot help you. Most of the book is a description of the people he meets until the events of the last 2 days consume everybody including the reader. I am amazed by the heroism, the cowardice, the strength and weaknesses of all the people. Jon presents a rather sympathetic view of his position and I certainly could not say I would have done any better, but, he is a little too defensive. Maybe he treated "Beck" so cruelly because he didn't agree with his politics. Nonetheless he did about as good a job as anyone could have in trying to understand what happened and passing the incredible story onto us in a readable and lucid manner.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME, GUT-WRENCHING....LOVED IT. Review: I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT AFTER READING THIS BOOK, I WANT TO START MOUNTAIN CLIMBING. THERE IS THAT SOMETHING IN ME, THAT SAYS YOU CAN DO IT. THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ. MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF THE VICTIMS. READING THE BOOK ALONE CANNOT EXPLAIN THE FEELING OF CLIMBING AT 29,000 FEET, IT MUST BE SCARY. THE IDEA THAT SOMEONE WOULD LET SOMEONE ELSE DIE ON A MOUNTAIN SO THAT THEY COULD CLIMB TO THE TOP IS ASTOUNDING. WHILE I UNDERSTAND IT, IT IS WILD. I COULD GO ON FOREVER, JUST READ THE BOOK.
Rating: Summary: One of the Best of the Climbing Genre Review: Krakauer was writing an apologia but his story captures the imagination - and I believed his protestations that he was being honest, accurate, in his depiction. If you enjoy the subject - mountain climbing, Everest in particular - or if you are interested in the most deadly year on the mountain, 1996, you must read this.
Rating: Summary: THE CLIMB vs. INTO THIN AIR Review: If you have or plan to read INTO THIN AIR without also reading Anatoli Boukreev's book THE CLIMB, then you are only getting one side of the story. You'd also be participating in an injustice to the unfortunate people who lost their lives on Everest, people that Mr. Krakauer would not help in their hour of need. Read both books, and one gets a clearer picture of what really took place on that mountain. "Everyone has their side of the story, and somewhere in the middle lies the truth."
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