Rating: 
Summary: Icy-cold fingers of life and death on Everest
Review: _Into Thin Air_ might be read as an indictment of the commercialization of Everest, an unburdening for the author (who feels he may have contributed to the pain of an Everest victim's family, if not the man's death, by his own hypoxia-induced misconception), or a paeon to the mountain as a godlike force that humanity would do well to respect. It is all of those, but mostly a tragedy in the classical sense: each climber has a tragic flaw. For several, it costs them their lives. But Krakauer's account makes it clear that even for those, like himself, who survived intact, did not come away unscathed by the experience.
The author's writing is as cool and sharp as the ice fall he clambers over, risking sure death with a single misstep. Reading this book during a hot spell in which the temperature never went below the mid-90s, I still caught myself reaching for a blanket as Krakauer shared the sensations of bone-deep cold and brutal winds that snatch what little oxygen there is from a climber's lungs.
Why would a human being do this? Driven by a desire for peril and adventure, filling some inner emptiness, or seeking to be members of a more exclusive club than one's social peers: Krakauer explores what drives each of the climbers. Ultimately, whatever the force, it costs several of the lively faces on the back-cover photo their lives. Others, who come away with their lives, it costs limbs. Still others, including Krakauer, leave behind a piece of their souls.
This is one of the most compelling tales I have read in many years, and one that I expect will stand the test of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Full of (sometimes) raw emotion of the events at Everest
Review: This book can be compared to another written about an earlier British Everest expidition that also ended in tragedy for 2 of its members. While "Everest: The Unclimbed Face" disected the events in a cool, calm demeanor, "Into Thin Air" poured out everything that Jon Krakauer was feeling as part of the team making the ascent. I found myself being carried along with Jon's narrative. His narrative style can make you feel like you are inside of him as he made his physical and psychological journey up the face of Everest. This is something that I was not able to get into with "Unclimbed Face".
I STRONGLY recommend this book to anyone! I also had the pleasure of meeting Jon at a book signing and the man does deserve all of the acclaim that he's long overdue for!
Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air is a microcosm of American society in the 90s.
Review: For me the real "pull" of this fascinating book is that the society on top the mountain is a microcosm of our Fin de Millenium society. The parallels are striking, now that the DOW is hovering at the 8,000 meter mark--the spectacle of entrepreneurial Darwinism run amoc, the tension of barely hidden class animosities, the ambivalence of the press as both the informer of social trends and the purveyor of sensationalism, the underlying sense of foreboding for what lies ahead. And above all, the deep sense of loneliness that comes from living in a society where there are no real relationships, only the mutual parasitism of people loosely united, but with each on their own private quest, fueled by their own personal motives. I really doubt that Krakauer had any of this in mind when he wrote the book--he must have been too preoccupied with just getting the events down on paper and out of his head. But his choice of what he selected and the way that he presented it must have been informed by his own views on society at large. Certainly, the degree to which this story resonates with flatlanders such as myself can only be because it taps into something deeper--at once more immediate and more fundamental.
The tone of relentless progress toward disaster reminds me of two other works--"The Long Walk" (by Richard Bachman, aka Steven King), and "The Man Who Would Be King (honest, I just saw the pun, as I typed it!), with Krakauer as "poor ol' Peachy , what never done no one no harm", who crawls back on his hands and knees to tell us this terrible tale.
Rating:
Summary: You know that pit in your stomach feeling?
Review: Having completed the book and experienced a great number of feelings associated with it, I came to the conclusion that the book itself was very well written. It accomplishes the purpose, I believe, the author intended: a personal account of the Everest tradgedy. Great! It is one of those books you can hardly put down.
Hearing the reports of the disaster on Everest really got me thinking. These are real people on this mountain, and they have families and loved ones. They will be missed greatly by someone. And then to have this book published to give its audience greater insight into the happenings and events gives us even a greater sense of loss. The book is a great review of human nature.
I fail to understand, however, the great many individuals who criticize John Krakauer for writing the book. The man is an author. It is his chosen profession. How can one be critical of someone who is there as a journalist, and, after being a part of the Everest disaster, writing an account thereof? We may as well be critical of all school teachers who, after becoming such, actually teach students!
Rating:
Summary: An Unforgetable Book
Review: I read about a book a week and this is one of the most unforgetable ones I've read. Having traveled through the Himalayas (albeit by car and airplane), I've never been able to imagine anyone actually wanting to climb one of these peaks and Into to Thin Air really confirmed that feeling. As I read the book, I found myself feeling glad that I never experienced anything close to the "climbing bug".
The book was so moving. It's not a good book to read in public if you're embarrassed to be seen crying. I finished the last chapter waiting outside my daughter's math tutor's office with other parents and kids filing past giving me quizzical looks!
Jon Krakauer seems like such a likeable person. I hope he exorcizes his demons from this experience and that all the loved ones of Everest's victims find some form of peace in time.
Rating:
Summary: From the top the world to the hell of the mind
Review: Jon Krakauer's problem is that he thinks too much. And it's a good thing, or the chronicle of 6 people dying (or was it 9, I really can't recall, but the frozen bodies seemed to litter the pages as they must have littered the mountain) wouldn't have been the masterpiece that it is.
There's plenty of climbing in the book. Just technical enough to be of interest. But the book really isn't about climbing the world's tallest mountain.
It's a confession, in the Catholic sense. And as you read it, you come to understand Krakauer is asking you to judge him; to assign his pennance.
He fooled himself into thinking he was in Tibet to write an article about the commercialization of Everest, but in the end fell victim to his own obsession.
Those who died had the same obsession, and they are guilty of the same selfish fantasy. The only difference between them and the author is that he came back to do his job.
Starting 20 pages into the book -- and for months afterward -- you begin looking up at airplanes flying miles up in the sky, thinking to yourself, "That's 29,000 feet."
You begin to imagine days-on-end of anoxyia. You fool yourself into believing you know what the solar headaches feel like, and how close to death they take you as you try to balance on a 60-degree slope in ear-splitting wind.
To read this book is to get just a hint of the obsession. And it's scary; it almost makes you feel guilty too, just for peering into the misery of these misguided athletes.
Everest is the long climb to the top of the world in search of life's answers. And when you arrive, you learn that it's frozen and barren, and that the only fulfillment is half way around the world in the living room with your kids.
I'm glad Jon Krakauer came home, and that he wrote this book against the best advice of his friends, and that he made me not just understand but feel the cold, the wind, the mountain, the obsession. I forgive him.
Bob Rosenbaum
Rating:
Summary: AN UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE - MOVING,SHOCKING,REAL
Review: Having never understood why people climb mountains, and after seeing Beck Weathers on television last year, I bought INTO THIN AIR in order to gain more insight. Krakauer delivered.
Have some time on your hands, because once you begin reading Jon's story depicting the turn of events throughout his journey on Everest in the Spring of '96, you won't be able to stop reading until you've read the last word in his book. This account of summitting Everest is a page turner even though the outcome is old news. It will leave you wanting to know more about other attempts made on Everest, both failed and successful.
For those who don't understand why on earth anyone would want to do something as dangerous as climbing "Into Thin Air" on rock and ice ... this book answers that curiosity. Because Jon introduces his readers to the backgrounds and personalities of the main characters in his book, we can better comprehend the different reasons people spend thousands of dollars and two or more months of their lives in "hell" on a mountain - freezing and injured - 'just to get to the top'. We learn through Krakauer why they continue their ascent even though the conditions are pure torture and more life threatening with each step; why they don't give it up once they've lost feeling in their extremities, separated their ribs, lost their vision, can no longer breathe due to oxygen depleted air, why they don't turn back even when they see the dead who've attempted to reach the summit on prior expeditions. You'll understand because of Krakauer's talent as a writer ... his ability to replay his emotions, his thoughts, his experiences, and his opinions through writing.
You'll feel the frigid wind, the snow, the ice, the pain, the desperation, the sorrow, the regrets. The "if only's" will torture your soul just as they have and continue to torture Jon's.
He writes in such a way you will have no choice other than to join him on that mountain. You'll meet and get to know the members and guides of Rob Hall's team as well as Scott Fischer, his guides, and some of his team members whom you will respect even though you may not like. Unfortunately, not everyone on the mountain was a "good guy" ... you'll be livid thanks to the danger the teams encounter due to the inexperience, egos, arrogance, and ruthlessness of the few "bad apples".
For the survivors, Jon's book is an avenue in which fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and other loved ones are portrayed as the heroes they were. Although some of the deceased's relatives were upset with Krakauer, it will seem unjust because of the respectful way in which he depicts his fellow mountaineers and the Sherpas.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't give me much hope in the human condition
Review: I read this book in one sitting last Saturday afternoon. After reading so much about it, in the newspapers, and here in the reviews, I was really looking forward to it.
I should say from the outset that the only mountain I've climbed is Mt. Fuji and that was only to 3776 meters. After suffering the headaches and nausea that came with it, I can't imagine going more than twice that high, with or without gas.
I can however, relate to the feeling of, pushing yourself past the point you probably should, just to get to the top. The only emotion I really felt after reading it was disappointment. Disappointment with the people involved, other climbers who walked past dying climbers because they thought 'they could be dangerous', climbers that walk past dead bodies and leave them there.
According to the book, there is organization underway to clean the thousands of used O2 bottles off the mountain, but they leave bodies laying where they died?
According to a story in a Canadian newsmagazine, a climbers body was discovered still hanging in ropes, after dying 1 or two years previously.
The inhumanity of leaving 'team-mates' who are still breathing, out in the snow to die, when you back to your tent 20 minutes away is something that I just can't get over.
Krakaur himself knew that several members of his 'team' were still up above and what did he do? He went to his tent and slept. I would hope that even in the same exhausted condition, I would at least try to help my 'team-mates'.
No wonder he's experiencing guilt.
I question his motives of using the book "to exercise some of the demons" he referred to.
A good read, but it certainly has left me with a poor view of what the future holds for humanity.
Rating:
Summary: Life is living on a Thin-Line !
Review: Mr. Krakauer just brought me with him to Everest.
This is the most impressive REAL STORY I have read
in over ten years. This first-hand account should be the new standard for future writers.
Rating: 
Summary: Silly Book about silly people
Review: Only those suffering from total hypoxia(a word used 400 times at least in the book} could possibly enjoy this vain attempt
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