Rating: 
Summary: Into Thin Air: The true Story
Review: Into Thin Air is a true story writen by a magazine writer and climber Jon Krakauer. Jon worte the history of Everest from how he was assigned to write a behined the scences story about it to how he stuggled to the summit and on the way down came faced with nature at it's worest. As he struggled down the mountain fighting to make it the camp he passed some of his fellow climbers who were dead or deing from the lack of oxygen and cold. Out of a group aorund 15 climbers, 6 made it back alive. When Jon returned to Seattle he felt horribly gulity and wrote this book for his friends who died on Everst.
Rating: 
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: In no way am I a reader, I have never read for pleasure and don't like to read. But while I was forced to read the book Into Thin Air for my senior English class at Walla Walla High School, I found myself enjoying the book. Even though I was reading 40-50 pages a night, I just couldn't put it down. That is how good of a book I thought it was. It was a little boring in the beginning but it really picked up in the middle and towards the end. Once they got to the top of Mt. Everest and started on their way back down is when I could not put the book down. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. If you like to read or not, this book will suck you in until you are finished reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Merciless Sky
Review: INTO THIN AIR is a cautionary tale of egotism run amok. The story of the May 1996 climbing disaster on Everest as told by one of the survivors, Jon Krakauer succeeds in creating an impossible-to-put-down page turner of a story out of what is, in fact, a truly depressing tale of death, waste and selfishness. While Krakauer does not have the poetic ability of Peter Matthiessen in THE SNOW LEOPARD, INTO THIN AIR is a workmanlike job of journalism which, like ALIVE, manages to capture a devastating moment in time. As a professional climber, Krakauer knows of what he speaks though he is quick to admit his own limitations as a mountaineer, an admission all the more telling, as he is one of the more experienced members of this guided climb up the tallest mountain on earth. The tragedy's roots lie, first and foremost, in the fact that Mount Everest has become the quintessential "fast food" mountain. Although Krakauer defers from outright criticism , it is clear that the guided climbs will accept virtually anyone as a client as long as they have a healthy checkbook. There is no glory, no romance, no silence, no time for thought, and little need for skill on the flanks of the mountain. Everest has become a trash-strewn freeway for climbers of every stripe and talent (or not-talent). Krakauer writes uncritically of a "traffic jam" of a dozen climbers or more from multiple teams just below the summit which delayed both ascenders and descenders, perhaps fatally, but never remarks on the irony that the greatest peak on earth has become so tame. Except of course that it hasn't. The altitude alone can cause climbers' hearts and brains to bleed, the lack of oxygen at 25,000 feet-plus can lead to confusion and impaired judgement on the part of even experienced climbers, the thin atmosphere can cause murderous hypothermia, and the weather---with Everest's spire thrust into the jet stream---is notoriously fickle. Yet, Everest's mountaineers (guided and not) trudge by the dozen past the frozen bodies of those who have died on the mountain in failed attempts, apparently without reflection. The owners of the guided climb companies seem cavalier in the extreme, setting dates and times for ascent and descent which become extremely elastic in practice. Krakauer admits that it is hard to tell a client who has paid $65,000.00 to climb Everest that he can't push on to the summit, but the reader has to wonder what has happened to good judgement and professionalism? After all, a CPA from Des Moines should not be given a choice between ego and death, particularly when that death may be the death of others. The pollution and commercialization of Everest is sickening, and in a way, far more horrifying than the 100 degrees below zero snow gale in which these dozens of amateur climbers found themselves. The storm which killed them was an act of nature, implacable and impersonal both. An inherent risk of climbing, Krakauer nonetheless spends a fair amount of time wondering what, if anything, could have been done to save his compatriots. At 29,000 feet can there be ethics in the lifeboat? Krakauer is clearly drowning in survivor's guilt, but the reader suspects that had he attempted a rescue he might have joined the dead. And to what purpose? INTO THIN AIR reminds us that nature is not Disneyland.
Rating: 
Summary: Informative and Descriptive; too Descriptive
Review: The beginning starts out a little slow, and then picks up some speed. Krakauer uses many metaphors which are good to an extent. I almost got lost in the book just trying to keep up with the names, and the things people were doing. I did like the fact that Jon keeps us updated; not missing a second of the action from cover to cover. Unfortunatly, I dont like it in books when a lot of people die. This book kept my attention about as much as when someone gets hit in the face with a snowball, it's great for about 15 seconds then goes away, and is fun to think about nothing much more. I give Krakauer 3 stars on this one
Rating: 
Summary: What a WASTE
Review: Well...beggining started off slowly...the end was ok but it wasn't really my kind of book I don't recomend it unless your an insomniac and need something to bore you to sleep.
Rating: 
Summary: A sad tale of high dreams and high mountains
Review: I recently read Jon Krakauer's book, upon the recommendation of a friend. Ever since, I have not been able to fully comprehend the major loss of so many lives. The writing itself was outstanding -- it's the sort of book that pulls you into it's pages and won't let go. The only complaint I had -- if you could even call it that -- is that Jon seems a little stoic at times, and some people (Sandy Pittman, Anatoli Boukreev, Lopsangs Jangbu Sherpa) come off as total jerks. Jon writes with the sort of knowledge of climbing and mountains and, in particular, the mountain that the Sherpas call "Chumalunga - Goddess, Mother of the Sky". I like how he is very frank, open, honest about people's emotions and physical health and how much the high altitude affects the human body. Many parts are very graphic and emotional and paint your mind with vivid pictures: When Jon reached the summit, I nearly found myself gasping for air and dizzy with oxygen depletion as well, right along with him. Or when he describes the frostbite of Beck Weathers' face - "like ink-black splotches on his nose and hands and face". And I actually cried when Rob Hall -- considered to be the best mountain guide of the century -- talked to his pregnant wife via satellite phone as he lay dying, stranded on Everest. Overall, this book rules -- the highest mountain in the nonfiction survival/adventure bookshelf. Granted, I am no climber, and have only scaled one peak -- Mt. Shasta -- but this certainly deepens my reasons not to go climb Everest! Well, for those of you who still want to do it, good luck. The greatest mountain lies withing, my friends. Climb on. Peace.
Rating:
Summary: Good flow and well written, though not sure of accuracy
Review: This book is one of the best reads I have had in a long time. Read it really quickly, and was very inspired to try out mountaineering, despite the tragic nature of the book. Krakauer takes the reader through a very entertaining tale of valour and foolishness that cost 7 lives. However, I have a few negative comments on the book. 1st, a lot of people seem to think there are many inaccuracies, so I am not really sure what happened, especially as it refers to Anatoli Boukreev. Boukreev actually wrote a rebuttal "The Climb" which is also popular, but it seem that the two were on two different mountains. My second comment is that Krakauer does not respect people's privacy, as he mentions tales of love affaris among the group's members (some of whom were married). I know sex sells, so that's probably why he did it, but I really did not see the need in what is an otherwise enthralling book.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: "Into Thin Air" is one of the best books I've ever read. Jon Krakauer is an awesome author and I love his style. He uses a lot of names during the book, and sometimes it's hard to get it straight, but he writes so you can almost feel the bitter conditions of Everest. I definately recommend this book to anyone considering buying it, but I have one suggestion. If you don't know all about the disaster and who dies, don't read the middle pictures section until you read about them. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: What a story!
Review: Very good book. It was a great discover to find this book at home. I picked it up without expectations, but it was a real surprise. Krakauer writes in a very good way, it is simple and quite concise. It gets to the point. But it also gives you a lot of 'parallel-info'; information you really apreciate while reading. I found myself many times going back trough the pages looking for a particular description, either of a place or somebody. What happened that year on Everest is a big tragedy. Of course there are worst things almost everyday in Africa, India, Indonesia or Bangladesh, but the surroundings, the whole story is the sort of thing that makes you wonder about what we are, what we do, and in particular, why we do it. By the way, you must read 'The Climb' by Anatoly Boukreev after or before this (preferably after). Krakauer's words make you think the other climber was irresponsible, but in reading the russian's book you start thinking in a different way. Maybe it was just a matter of different cultures, maybe it was just that the clients did not understand the way Boukreev lived and feeled the mountain. In any case, the best way to get into it, is reading both books.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing
Review: This is a cd that will have you wishing your commute were longer, or that traffic jams were more frequent -- you won't want to get out of your car. Krakauer reads in a matter-of-fact tone, which, rather than being dull, is riveting. He gives you not only an event-by-event account of the disaster on Everest, but an interesting historical context -- of the mountain, of climbers, of Nepal, of the people who live there. It's extremely well-written, with a true plot that makes you fell lucky to be living below 3,000 feet, and in a home with running water. You'll shiver with cold, and with emotion. I've listened to it three times. A friend has listened to it twice. It's the best book on cd I've listened to yet.
|
