Into Thin Air : A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

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Summary: Engaging. Mesmerizing. Disastrous.
Review: Gripping true account of an expedition to Everest gone wrong. We get to know some of the folks on the trip and the egos of those leading the way up the hill. The missing element is the author's inability to define or describe why people are obsessed with climbing in the first place. What motivates climbers to risk their lives. The audience demands more than the Mallory explanation "because it's there."

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Summary: Sheer Terror
Review: When I first read this novel, I let the rest of the world pass by. I was caught in a terrible nightmare, but determined not to wake up until the end of it. I recommended it to my future husband, who experienced the same fascination. My second reading of the book let me latch onto some details I had missed in my original state of fright.

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Summary: EVEREST, THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
Review: ON MAY 10TH, 1996, JON KRAKAUER ASCENDED TO THE SUMMIT OF MT. EVEREST. ALTHOUGH HE HAD NOT SLEPT FOR FIFTY-SEVEN HOURS AND WAS SUFFERING FROM OXYGEN DEPLETION, HE SAFELY RETURNED TO HIS CAMPSITE THAT NIGHT. AS HE COLLAPSED IN HIS TENT, HE WAS QUITE OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT NINETEEN MEN AND WOMEN WERE CAUGHT ON THE SUMMIT AT 29,028 FEET, IN A DESPERATE STRUGGLE FOR THEIR LIVES. TWELVE PEOPLE WOULD LOSE THEIR LIVES THAT NIGHT IN AN INCREDIBLY BRUTAL STORM. IT WOULD BE A NIGHT THAT HE WOULD TRY VERY HARD TO FORGET. I THOUGHT THAT THIS BOOK WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND DESCRIBED THE STORY OF CLIMBING EVEREST VERY WELL. I MUST SAY THAT IT LEFT A SICKENING FEELING IN MY STOMACH AND GAVE ME A TREMENDOUS FEELING OF LOSS. BUT, DESPITE THE CONTEXT OF THE STORY, I ENJOYED MOST OF THE BOOK AND WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN MOUNTAIN CLIMBING.

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Summary: A real ghost story
Review: I read this book in a matter of hours. At the end, I felt that I had just been told the most realistic and frightening ghost story. Krakauer's writing allows you to meet the participants up close and personally, which makes you even sadder when you remind yourself that you are reading non-fiction. Absolutely compelling!

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Summary: FANTASTIC ADVENTURE BOOK
Review: This book will put you on the edge of your seat throughout all of the hundreds of pages! In this true account of a Mt. Everest disaster, the author talks about what happened when he climbed Mt. Everest. In addition to a great story, this book gives information about Mt. Everest that I found extremely interesting, and that is one of the reasons I liked the book. I also liked it because it was a super adventure book. I reccommend anyone who likes to climb read it. I will say, though, it is a tad bit sad for those leaky faucets out there. All in all, this book is superb!

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Summary: Morbidly Fascinating
Review: The book is memorable and fascinating. It read as an amazingly intriguing psychological portrait of the author as well as those around him who chose to climb Everest. The choices and the mistakes each person made, their arrogance, heroism, and their weaknesses wrapped around an astounding adventure that leaves me wondering whether the decision to climb Everest means someone is more than a bit crazy. It's an account that haunts the reader well after they have laid down the book.

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Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: If you are looking for a book to bring you on an adventure with its ups and downs this is the book. It provides lots of details and makes you feel like you were on the mountain yourself. I read every word and the only reason I didn't give it five stars was because I am going to have to read the rest of the accounts of the people that were on that expedition. I strongly suggest this book to anyone!

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Summary: The Dangers of Everest
Review: Into Thin Air was a nice book to read. I loved it , it gave a great view of the Everest climbing exprience. The order of the book was great. Base camp to the summit. Parts of the book I did not like. Jon did not mention other people that were on the mountain at the same time as his expendtion. There were other rescue attemps made by other people. This was a great book and i recomend it.

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Summary: A great adventure book
Review: I gave Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air five stars because I thought it was not only well written, but also a superb account of the 1996 Everest disaster. It is about an expedition on Everest where people encounter an awful gale that kills and strands many at the top of the mountain. At times while reading I felt I was there with Mr. Krakauer and the rest of the expedition and the other expeditions. I felt like I was cold and gasping for air at 26,000 feet above sea level. A downside to the book is that he writes it as everything revolves around him; so we learn about him and everyone else through his own thoughts. He tells us about all of his faults, observations, and his goals. It is a book that makes you sad after reading it. However, he makes the struggle and sorrow of this entire expedition come alive in an exciting book. He goes into immense detail about being frostbitten and cold and about all the diseases and conditions one can get from not having supplemental oxygen. It was striking when I realized that all of this was true; I knew it was true while I was reading but it just doesn't click in when you're reading the book. Krakauer brought this tragedy to life for people who weren't on the expedition with him and the rest of the crew. Although Krakauer does use some hard vocabulary, it was to some extent a quick, easy reader. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes climbing or adventurous books.

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Summary: Into Thin Air
Review: In this book, Jon Krakauer takes you step by step through a thrilling adventure about climbing the highest mountain in the world. Everest. He portrays the harsh storm that the climbers encounter which takes the lives of five of Jon's friends. Driven to reach the top, the mountaineers proceed to climb for the summit of the mountain, despite the high winds and deathly conditions. By doing this, the get caught in one of the worst blizzards ever recorded in the history of Everest. By now they are at the peak of the mountain and have no way down. You will be lead through the heartwrenching experience first hand in this book. If your interested in reading a book where the action never ceases, this book is for you.