Rating: 
Summary: Into thin Air
Review: Into Thin Air was a great book to read in a senior english class. It started of pretty slow and was hard to follow because of so many different charactrs. The book not only talks of this one life changing expedition up Mount Everest but it give detail and background to many other famous mountain climbing expeditions. As you begin to learn of the disaster that lies ahead for those on the mountain you feel as though you are there. It breaks your heart to think of how they must have felt and what was going through their minds. I would recomend this book to anyone who loves adventure and real life. It touches your heart and really makes you think about what is most important to you and all the people you love.
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Summary: What a way to make money
Review: The author claims that he is a liberal. He critisizes people like Sandy Pittman, who in his opinion was unfit to climb Everest. She was there only because she was rich and able to pay 75,000 dollars. At the same time, however, he wrote a book about the tragedy, which made him a lot of money. He was no different then the rest of the paying customers. As much as he is trying to convince the reader that he is a professional climber, it is obvious that he has no idea how to behave on the mountain. 90% of the story is full of self pity and excuses for not trying to help the others. All he thinks of is his own survival. He also critisizes the brave Boukreev, who rescued three people (God rest his soul) while Krakauer was sleeping in his tent. This book is the work of a mediocre go-getter. Read "the Climb" and forget about this pot head.
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Summary: A Great Read for Adventure Enthusiasts
Review: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer/Non-Fiction; Random House, 1999: "Reaching the top of Everest is supposed to trigger a surge of intense elation; against long odds, after all, I had just attained a goal I'd coveted since childhood. But the summit was really only the halfway point. Any impulse I might have felt toward self-congratulation was extinguished by overwhelming apprehension about the long dangerous descent that lay ahead" (189). At 1:12 p.m. on May 10th, 1996, journalist Jon Krakauer reached the top of the world. He had conquered Mt. Everest and reached the summit at 29,028 ft. After his feelings of pride and satisfaction wore off, Jon Krakauer stepped back into reality. A severe storm was forming and his supply of bottled oxygen was dwindling as the minutes passed by. He left the summit to begin his descent, entirely oblivious to the journey that lay ahead of him.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer is the true story of his heroic and tragic journey to the summit of Mt. Everest and back. From base camp at 17,600 ft., he traveled through blistering cold temperatures, harsh climates, and the most challenging terrain in the world in order to reach the summit. When he stood on top of the summit at 29,028 ft., he hadn't slept in fifty-two hours. After every step he took, he had to rest and regain his energy. Although Krakauer was part of an expedition, he often climbed by himself. The decisions that one makes up on Everest are always life or death. There is no safe way to climb the mountain; that's why people do it. They like the rush, but at the same time they know the consequences of their actions so they have to act appropriately up on the mountain. One misjudgment or even one wrong step could lead to one's own death and and/or the death of others.
Jon Krakauer's expedition had coordinated a turn around time before they began the ascent. The turn around time was 2:00 pm which meant that if they have not reached the summit by that time then they must stop and begin to descend back down the mountain. This is very smart because it gives the climbers enough time to get back down the mountain safely and out of harm's way. As Krakauer descended, a storm began to form. The turn around time was near but no one even thought about giving up any time soon. The motivation to reach the top overpowered many of the climbers' common senses. Their decision making was altered and many of the climbers used poor judgment. They would fight to the death, if they had to, through the sub-zero temperatures and gale force winds to reach the top of the mountain. They had their eyes set on the summit and the only thing to stop them was death itself.
I would recommend this book to avid readers who are interested in Mt. Everest or just serious adventure books in general. Because Into Thin Air is a true story, the difficulties the climbers faced and their consequences were described in unimaginable detail. Just reading the book gives one chills of the horrors that lay up on the mountain. To me, the book itself started off slowly while giving a plethora of background information on the mountain and introducing the expedition's characters. But once the climbers stepped onto Everest, the tempo of the book changed tremendously. I could almost feel the frigid temperatures and the pain and agony that these climbers had to endure. Every step they took could have been there last. In the end, Into Thin Air is a haunting, riveting read.
Rating: 
Summary: Write Guy at Right Place at Wrong Time
Review: For anyone who ever thought about climbing a mountain (or reading about somebody else who climbed a mountain), this is definitely the book for you. The risk, the danger, the tragedy--it's all here. Krakauer does a masterful job of blending the history of conquering and dying on Mount Everest with his own harrowing tale of the 1996 expedition. (Also check out his book, IN THE WILD. They're both great reads!)
Rating: 
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: When I chose this book, I chose it because of all of the good things I heard about it. How it was so exciting, wrenching, impossible to put down.
Well, I got to reading it, expecting a thriller, only to be absolutely bored. He rambled on about useless information that had no great impact on me besides losing my interest completely. Yet, I had picked this book to do a project on for english, so I had to read all of it. Once I got to page 207 it wasn't that bad. The pages before that however were pure torture.
I also questioned how true his account of the event was. He seemed to shine a light on himself throughout the book. He made it seem like he was the only one on the mountain who know what was going on. I found a lot of that hard to believe, which led me to further dislike the book.
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Summary: A Wonderful Account of a Real-Life Adventure Tragedy
Review: To give you an idea how much I loved Into Thin Air -- I first listened to it on book tape, then immediately bought the book and read it, and then followed up by buying more non-fiction "adventure" books on mountain climbing. I know that "A Perfect Storm" was very well liked by readers, but I think Into Thin Air beats it hands down. You might seriously consider getting the audio tape, which is read by the author. Something about his emotionless reading of what happened to the group of climbers make it especially haunting. (I know normally emotionless doesn't seem like it would be good in a book reading, but in this case it does.) The main thing you realize on reading this book is, why would anybody want to climb up a snow-covered mountain that has a 1 in 4 chance of killing you. These people are so stupid, which makes for good reading. Get the book or audio tape, and be spellbound by the narrative.
Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: Into Thin Air is by John Krakauer, an author and mountain climber. Outside Magazine hires him to write an article on the commercialization of Mount Everest. John joins a climbing service and ends up taking the climb of his life. The book is actually written after he survived a life-threatening ascent to the summit of Mount Everest. This book was an unbelievable adventure from start to finish. Being an athlete, I really enjoyed the book. I love being outside and doing adventurous things, and his life or death situation would be a rush to me. Climbing Everest would be an amazing journey, and his insight and story make me want to go out and climb right now.
This book appeals to almost anyone looking for an exciting and adventurous read. Into Thin Air has many good reviews; it is hard to find a negative outlook on the book. Climbers especially would enjoy this read; his hard work and will to survive would inspire anyone to go out and climb. Anyone with a love for sports or the mountains will enjoys this book. Life and death just hangs in between each turn of the page. By the end of the book, readers won't even want to put it down.
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Summary: BEST BOOK EVERRRRRR
Review: This is one one of the best books I have ever read,correction it IS the best book I have ever read, there are no slow parts and as soon as you start it you will never want to stop in your whole life it is incredible because it gives background information that some idiots think arent needed but just add to the amazement of the people who climbmed it that year and you will respect them forever, if you are willing to read this without being tainted by jackasses who say it was not real or say it is boring you will agree that this book will change your ------- life, as soon as I read it I wanted to climb everest myself it is written so well as he clibs you run short of breath, you may think it could be to hard for you and whatnot but Im only 13 and I understand everything in it, because of the background information you will understand whats going on.
If you read this you will never regret it and will cherish this book for the rest of your life, take 3 hours a frozen pizza sit down on your bed read and eat.
Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: John Krakaurs first book on Mt.Everest is about a perilous tale about the deadly climb of Mt.Everest in 1996. It was the most deadly season ever in the History of Mt.Everest. On May 10th 1996, John Krakauer reached the summit of Mt.Everest as the sky had begun to roil with clouds. He hadn't slept in 57 hours and was about to kneel over from the drugged like effect of oxygen depletion. It was at 29,028 and was the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner. As he began his decent down Mt.Everest as twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the summit. This book is about the perilous climb up Mt.Everest in its deadliest season.
I liked the book because it didn't use vocabulary that you would have to look in the dictionary to find out. "Twenty-five minutes before midnight, I strapped on my oxygen mask, switched on my headlamp, and ascended into the darkness (page 214)."This quote is from when John Krakauer was attempting to get to the summit of Mt.Everest from camp four. The higher the camp number the higher the altitude is. It goes from base camp all the way to camp 4. Then it is so high that it is impossible to have a camp at that height. I usually dislike books that are nonfiction but this is one book that I seem to like.
I dislike the book at the end because it is very boring to read about how John Krakaurs life is, as he didn't get hurt or lose any fingers or toes. One other guy lost most of his nose, a few fingers and toes, and has to live as a handicap for the rest of his life. It doesn't seem so bad but if I was like that then I wouldn't be able to type at twenty-five words a minute. I couldn't get a job either without some fingers. The end is the most boring, as it was the epilogue. "When I last spoke to a certain teammate, his life had been thrown into turmoil." There is a good use of vocabulary, but as you can see it would be even more boring without it.
My favorite part of the book was when John Krakauer was climbing down from the summit and the twenty other climbers were still going up the humongous mountain. "Plodding up the last few steps of the summit, I had the sensation of being underwater, of life moving at quarter speed. And then I found myself atop a slender wedge of ice, adorned with a discarded oxygen cylinder and a battered aluminum survey pole, with nowhere higher to climb. A string of Buddhist prayer flags snapping furiously in the wind. Far below, a side of the mountain I had never laid eyes on, the dry Tibetan plateau stretched to the horizon as a boundless expanse of dun- colored earth (page 237-238)." It is my favorite because there is so much description about the journey down the mountain. It is also very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: I had the good luck to meet John Krakauer here in Richardson Texas, at a slide show and discussion John did about this very climb to Everest. I think John did an exceptional job writing his account of what happend on Everest during his climb. The Book in my opinion is excellent, will leave you gasping for air as you read the accounts of what went on, and heart broken for those who did not make the climb down. John Krakauer is a "very modest man" and I was very impressed with the way he told the story with slides, answered questions, and he can sure hold his own. When this book was first released he took a lot of "heat" from other climbers regarding his accounts written here.
I did have the chance to remind him that "he should not feel" badly about the way things went on that climb". John does however as he expressed "have guilt" regarding the chain of events. I don't think he realized that I had already read his book. Many folks there that night were having copies of their books signed (me too), they bought their copy at the show, I brought mine from home. I did follow this climb via internet daily with sound card etc., so I got to listen first hand to what was going on during this climb and the fateful ending. It was indeed heart breaking. This story has it all, so incredible, exhilarating, and totally heart breaking. The Climb to Mt. Everest a disaster just waiting to happen. Too many people climbing up and decending at the same time in my opinion caused this fateful disaster. Thumbs UP for John and his account about "what really happened".
You will enjoy this book.
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