Rating: 
Summary: I felt as if I were there
Review: I felt a part of Jon Krakauer's climb - I could feel the excruciating cold along with all the emotions he experienced on this climb - the exhileration that turned into fear and survival and the painful, emotional frustration that no one but the mountain was in control. Mr. Krakauer's book gave incredible insight into the climbing
"industry" and the driving force behind the climbers themselves. The book was excitingly informative and definitely left me with the feeling that I wanted to learn more about the hold Mt Everest has on its climbers - and also wanting to read MORE of Mr. Krakauer's books!.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Engrossing . . .
Review: Not since reading "The Power of One" have I enjoyed a book so much about a subject that I knew so little. You cannot read this book without being in utter awe of those who subject themselves to so much pain while engaging in high altitude mountain climbing. The author's sensitive and humble approach to the subject is quite moving. Highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Suspense at its best
Review: Since we already know the outcome of this disastrous adventure,getting there becomes the absorbing aspect of the book. Reading aboutthe characters play out the inevitable is both wrenching and compelling. He brings the reader along, and I felt exhausted by the end. As a sedentary person, my eyes were opened to the extremes some people are willing to go to for a thrilling adventure. Krakaur seems sincere in his desire to purge himself of survivor's guilt.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting account -- not quite as good as Into The Wild.
Review: I looked forward to reading Krakauer's Into Thin Air with muchanticipation for two reasons. First, it had gotten so much pressbefore its release that it was hard to ignore. Second, because I had found his last book, Into The Wild, to be so thoroughly compelling. I read maybe 30 books last year and I'd have to say Into The Wild was one of the top three. Into Thin Air was almost as riveting, but not quite. Still an very interesting read. As for Krakauer's guilt or motivation, it's so hard to put one's self in his shoes. I've never experienced such oxygen deprivation. I've never experienced such brutal physical conditions, such exhaustion. It's hard to be too judgmental. I look at the book as an extremely interesting, well written account of a very tragic incident. As for Krakauer profitting from it. Again, who am I to judge. From what I could tell by reading the book, he spent a lot of time and effort clarifying details of just what did go on. I attended a slide presentation and lecture by Mr. Krakauer on the book and expedition recently and he seemed a most sincere person. In fact, he promised to personally match dollar for dollar any money collected that night for the Himalayan Rescue Association. All I can say is that the book was very well done. I felt the cold, the exhaustion, the blinding snow, the biting wind and in a very real way came to know and feel for all of the people involved in this incident.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book. It makes you want to give Everest a try.
Review: Two weeks ago I was given the opportunity to get Krakauersautograph on Into Thin Air and his other two books. I also heard himspeak. Very compelling story. Unfortunately I only have 70 pages to go in this book but I haven't read Eiger dreams yet. I can't wait!!
Rating:
Summary: Half-way through, you can not stop reading until the end.
Review: It took me two days to read to the half-way point of the book,then I couldn't put it down. I read until 4am the next morning, whenI finished it. I felt as if I, myself, had been at one of the lower base camps, unable to help, but able to see the tragedy unfold. When I closed the book, I cried for the survivors (including the author), and their families, who would never forget the great calamity which would forever alter their lives. Does life become more precious to those who survive such a horrible feat? For me, it shall be a long time before I forget "Into Thin Air."
Rating:
Summary: A book based on life-and-death-experience
Review: In a late Saturday afternoon, reading this book while I moved from a beach chair in the backyard to a couch next to the screen door when it started raining. The rain wasn't like pooring, yet easily noticabe everytime my thoughts escaped from the book. The sky was then even darker than a normal 5:00pm in a clear day.
If one has some imagining ability, preferably an active one, any noise around while reading this book probably would alarm that person as the echo or prelude to the storms or crying for life through out the book. Excellently written and very well edited, this is more than just a thriller that one can easily say, "All that crap was made up, anyway." Apart from personal tragidy and misfortune, the story in the book has more philosophical touches than most realized.
Commercialization is the protocol and the driving force of our morden civilization, it has swallowed everything emerged from daily life, or even life itself---heard of a Heaven's Gate pupil who went on lecture tour after failed suicide? Somehow, nature always has her revenge. In Rob Hill and Scott Fisher's case, they died as much out of their egos as out of their pursuit of market share, as much being mountaineers as being businessmen. It was a brutal, merciless event, yet after some contemplation one cannot claim it brutaler or more merciless than the consequences from global warming or excessive logging. Life goes on, but some of us may have to pay the toll for the rest of us, when they are positioned to challenge mother nature. Not have been dominating our sense all along, the dark side of the human odyssey, key-noted the entire book with its originality.
When everything quited down again, finally finishing the last chapter, I raised my head and looked around: everything man-made, everything commercialized---well, I felt much safer.
Rating:
Summary: A tragic acount of ego getting the better of common sense!
Review: John defines the skills needed to effectively tackle Everest. Those skills were lacking in many of the customers on all of the expedition teams. It is beyond me how people can fool themselves in order to believe they are capable of achieving such a elite goal. Death and permanent physical and mental scars are the result of such self deception.
We all can't play in the NFL, NBA, or MLB. Why do we think we can compete in other professions such as this. "There oughta be a law!"
Rating:
Summary: One of the most gripping stories I've ever read.
Review: Forget the rack of fiction books! This true life drama is told by the tragedy-participant author in great and gripping style. For me, it was a one read sitting, and I found myself walking step by step with the Everest climbers as they dragged themselves up the tortuous route. A must read
Rating:
Summary: Excellent summer read
Review: This is an EXCELLENT and riviting account of the quest tosummit Everest in 1996 where a number of people died making theattempt. Jon Krakauer is an fantastic writer who tells his story in a manner which makes it IMPOSSIBLE for the reader to put the book down. The story flows from beginning middle end seamlessly, the character development is excellent, his own view as a narrator seems extremely balanced and fair given the highly charged and emotional circumstances in which the story takes place. From the dizzy socialite to the postal worker who worked two jobs to scrape together the money to attempt Everest, the group who assembled at base camp in Everest in May of 1996 makes a cast of caracters worthy of a major motion picture. In addition, the reader can learn what it is like to survive at 26,000 feet and to experience tempatures where human beings commonly freeze to death. It is, in the end however, an uplifting story. This is a must read!
|
