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Summary: A student review of the book Into Thin Air
Review: I thought this book have great detail in describing the journey to the top of Mt. Everest. The book was a bit long and not interesting at some point, but all together a good book. Some parts of the book it was hard to put down. Into Thin Air gave me unterstanding of really how hard and long it took and all the struggles everyone went through to make it to the top and get down alive. I would recamend this book to any one who likes adventure books because this is one of the best.
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Summary: A heartbreaking account of a terrible tragedy.
Review: Having recently read, "Lost on Everest," an account of the deaths of George Mallory and his companion while climbing Mt. Everest, I decided to read "Into Thin Air," as well. Krakauer writes compellingly of the various expeditions that attempted to scale Everest in the spring of 1996. More people died that spring while trying to reach the summit than in any previous season. Ironically, some of the people who perished, such as Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, were experienced mountaineers and guides, not foolish and inexperienced dilettantes. Krakauer does what all good journalists do. He sets the scene and brings the story to life for the reader. Krakauer makes clear that the desire to climb Everest is a kind of mania, a compulsion that distorts people's judgement and sometimes makes them act irrationally. Climbing Everest is inherently dangerous, even for experienced climbers. The air is extremely thin at high altitudes and the human body does not function well at that height. In addition, the weather is so treacherous that it is impossible to be completely prepared for the bitter cold and scorching heat that a climber often encounters. As occurred in May of 1996, sudden storms can appear with horrible ferocity. The footing is uncertain, and one false move can send a climber to his death. What makes this masochistic exercise even harder to understand is the tremendous financial cost of climbing Everest--appoximately $65-70,000 for a guided tour up the mountain. Krakauer's account is eloquent, ruthlessly honest and fascinating. He describes the horrifying climax to a doomed expedition with great clarity and in heartbreaking detail.
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Summary: Excellent first-hand account of this disaster
Review: This book is very well written by Jon Krakauer, who was one of the climbers of Everest when this disaster took place. Though at times, as Jon will say many times, his memory was "fuzy" due to the extreme cold and lack of oxygen, he tells to the best of his recollection the amazing story that he was in the middle of. In 1996, Jon was asked by a magazine he writes for to be part of an expedition to climb to the summit of the worlds highest peak. The cost, over $65,000, was completely paid for by this magazine. Jon, a regular climber, always dreamed of this challenge and here was his chance. He would be part of a team with some world-class climbers. This is the story of a good plan and how it fell apart. Many people died in May of 1996, some survived, due to luck. Even experience couldn't gaurentee a safe ascent and decline. Rob Hall and Scott Fischer were two of the best. They both died. Many people have criticized the "guided tours" business, arguing that many people who have no right to make this amazing feat have paid their way to the top. Many people died who shouldn't have been on the mountain in the first place. This book takes you through the hard times and triumphs, but it explores more. It tells of the "slave wages" paid to the Sherpas, who are like mules, just human. It tells of people with money thinking, maybe knowing, they can buy anything. It tells of people with dreams and goals, like the mailman who saved for years to do this. This book is written like A Perfect Storm, by Sebastian Junger, in the sense that it explores the history and lives of the "characters". This is a great book and I'm glad I read it.
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Summary: Chronicle of Ineptitude -- Gripping Nonetheless
Review: My reaction to this book was evidently pretty different from that of the Amazon reviewer. It's true that "Into Thin Air" was a gripping read. But worthwhile? I'm not sure. It's definitely a devastating one -- more so because author Jon Krakauer is careful to take responsibility for his own mistakes (and they are legion as catalogued here).But I finished the book with no feelings of an adventure survived, or of the glory of mountain-climbing. This book was not about 'real' mountain climbers or even real adventurers. It was instead about a group of people who were hopelessly unprepared for what they were about to undergo. And as candidly chronicled by Krakauer -- hardly anyone passes the test of courage (including the guides, including the author). Many die not through a lack of courage or endurance, but through the stupidity of their fellow climbers. Example: After the trial of the mountain itself, the (reduced) survivors face one more night in base camp. Yet, led by Krakauer, they do not care for their wounded, and even leave the most severely wounded of their number alone in a tent with only a thin blanket against the storm (and no way to pull up that blanket due to his severely frostbitten hands). They do not think to leave even a single one of their number to care for this man (or even to hear his screams throughout the storm when his watch cuts off all circulation to his hands), arriving instead in the morning to the dull horror of committing yet one more senseless act of violence. (This despite the fact that there were uninjured survivors available to help him -- if anyone had thought of anyone but themselves. But that seems to have been the trouble all along.) I don't mean to be biting or disrespectful, especially not to the memories of those who did not survive. I do respect what Krakauer has catalogued here -- most of all his honesty about his own mistakes. But for those seeking a real adventure tale, I'd go elsewhere. This book is not an adventure -- it's a confession. And I'm not sure this man deserves to make money on such a confession of ineptitude and callousness.
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Summary: Into Thin Air-A great read
Review: Although I am not a mountain climber and have very little in common experience with the events of May 1996, Jon Krakauer's well written work is not only exciting and factually based but gives the reader the rare opportunity of sharing the writer's experiences and observations as though one we able to see, hear and feel through the writer's sensorium. For me, Into Thin Air was one of those rare books that was hard to put down and left me somewhat saddened when I finished reading it. To a large degree, I felt as though I have stood at the top of the world and shared in the trevails of the true adventure of climbing up and coming down.
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Summary: Heroes and Villains
Review: This book already has 921 reviews, so why add another? Maybe I saw something a little different, maybe not. Krakauer's account of the doomed 1996 expedition to the top of Mt. Everest is an extremely enlightening and interesting document. The author bears his soul to us in the introduction: part of the reason for this book is for Krakauer to attempt to come to grips with the events that happened on the Everest climb. When things started to get out of control, who were the heroes and who was looking out for themselves? I found the book an interesting account of the disaster, but even more than this, a study in human nature and motives. As I began the book, I thought, "Why would anyone REALLY want to climb Everest, with all of the multitude of dangers involved?" Is it the old cliche "because it is there," is it the thrill of adventure, or is it something more? After reading the book, I came away thinking that an element of pride and selfishness (with some climbers) was involved. Some were obviously eager to help others reach their goal. Some were obviously not. Does the thought of the reward so conquer the minds of those who attempt this feat that logical reasoning goes out the window? One of the interesting aspects of reading the book is in trying to get into the minds of the climbers. Why is each person really there? Think about it as you read. Toward the end, one of the Sherpas questions the act of climbing Everest at all. So do I. I kept thinking that there are probably some places on this planet where man has no right to be. It's a humbling story that tells us that we are ultimately not in control. There's something bigger, and it's not a mountain.
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Summary: This Book Just Hits You Right at the Core!
Review: If there is one book that I would definitely recommend to people who are into real life stories, this is THE BOOK. Like what the title says for this review, after reading this book, you feel as though a huge chunk of ice rock just slammed on your chest leaving you gasping for air, hitting you right at the core. This is a story of human courage, sacrifice, courage, and ambition. Jon Krakauer is a journalist sent by his magazine to join an actual Mt. Everest expedition to investigate the money and commercialism that was slowly taking over the beauty of conquering Mt. Everest. He joins an expedition team led by Rob Hall, a famous Mt. Everest guide who had conquered the summit many times. What had been an organized, well-planned climb turns out to be a disaster, leaving 6 of its climbers dead after getting caught in bad weather during the descent. Jon Krakauer brings the reader as close to the icy grip of the mountain on every page of the book. This book is filled with so much emotion and pain. I had to stop and recollect myself after every description of pain and suffering which the climbers suffered while ascending and descending the mountain. The title itself of the book is the one cause which brought pain and death to all who tried to conqueror the mountain. At 29,000, only 1/3 of the oxygen remained at that height. You will meet characters in this book and you will get to know them well as you thru the book. I had to cheat myself by going a few pages ahead whenever Jon Krakauer mentioned or described a person just to check if he made it back alive. Most of them, well... I'll leave you to your own reading. Please please get this book. This is a classic. You will love this book. I dont want to go deeper into this review or else it will just spoil the full impact of the book. Trust me on this.
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Summary: The Best High Mountain Account I Have Ever Read
Review: Jon Krakauer states himself that writing this book was an act of catharsis - a means of releasing the troubling thoughts which developed through the writing of the original article in "Outside" magazine. The decisions that he and the other survivors made on Everest will haunt them for the rest of their natural lives. The book spends a great deal of time discussing what drives marginal mountaineers to undertake such a dangerous climb. With the increase of guided expeditions there has been much discussion about whether or not merely being a paying client is reason enough to be allowed to take on such an undertaking. Krakauer's presence on the climb, as paid for by "Outside" magazine, was meant to assess the experience of the guided expedition. Krakauer does a great job of researching the backgrounds of the climbers on his team. He fleshes out where they came from and their myriad motivations for wanting to "stand on top of the world." As a long-time climber himself, he is able to see some of the dangerous potentialities inherant in such a climb - especially when it involves folks lacking the requisite experience for big mountain climbing. When things go right, the good guides on Everest can get a lot of climbers to the top. When things go badly, however, or poor decisions are made, situations can escalate in their severity very quickly. I applaud Jon for telling us all about his experience. His pain over the deaths and his helplessness to do anything about some of them is self-evident. There have been many who criticized him for not participating more in the rescue efforts. I feel that such criticism is totally unfounded. Jon was a paying customer, not a guide. If customers were to start attempting rescues on the mountain, in all likelihood we would see many more deaths and accidents every year. A customer does not have the same responsibilities, nor the training, as the people they have paid to take care of them. Whether or not customers should be on the mountain at all is a debatable topic, but it's outlandish to hold them responsible for their failures to perform rescue attempts in such conditions. For anybody intrigued by high-mountain adventure, this is an absolute, hands-down, read-it-straight-through type of book. I can't believe that I waited so long before finally getting to it.
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Summary: Weak heart...Afraid of heights...Stay away from this one!
Review: If you have a weak heart,or if you are afraid of heights,then this is NOT a book for you! A chilling (wind chill -70), emotionally intense journal of how the author survived one of the deadliest climbing seasons, in terms of human loss, to ever occur on "the roof of the world", Mt. Everest. Through Jon Krakauer, the reader can experience vicariously the harrowing trials that occurred during the fateful accents to the summit of the world's tallest mountain, in May of 1996. Jon Krakeur, an experienced climber, was on a journalistic mission for a climbing magazine in May of 1996. His task was to report on the growing commercialization of Mt.Everest (guided ascents for $65,000/climber regardless of skill). Instead, he has documented a very different story. Classified as non-ficition, this engrossing read has been defly constructed and meticulously researched. The author chronicles with an objective point of view the events leading to his ascent. He respectfully depicts the Sherpas and the personalities of most of the mountaineers on Everest at that time. However, considering the near delusional state the "thin air" was producing both mentally and physically on the author, his recollections of the storm and its after-math should be considered "probable occurrances". Jon Krakauer survived, 5 of his fellow climbers would be dead and one badly frostbitten. Does he answer the questions that the surviving relatives need answered? Only the reader can say. A "must read" that helps with these answers is Anatoly Boukreev's "The Climb". Boukreev was a guide on the mountain that fateful day.
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Summary: Couldn't put this down - I hope he helped his soul...
Review: John Krakauer, in what some say was a self-therapeutic exercise, writes this gripping and terrifying story of the infamous climb to the summit of Mount Everest in May 1996, when ten seasoned climbers and sherpas died on the mountain. I have never understood the powerful draw that the climbing of Mount Everest has on certain people, but this book held my attention in an uncharacteristic way. You know going into the reading that people will die, but Krakauer manages to help you know, respect, and like them before he gets you to the summit. He also paints a strong picture of the state one is in during a summit - oxygen-deprived brain sluggishness, the inability to sleep, the blistering and frostbite, the incredibly slow and painful process of moving from one base camp to the next. You learn about the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the different nationalities, and you recognize and respect the fact that team work and good judgment are crucial in any situation, but especially in life-threatening ones.
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