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

Rating:
Summary: The beginning was boring, but the rest was very good!
Review: We enjoyed this book for the most part. The beginning was a little too boring for us. We didn't like how Jon Krakauer went on and on about things that didn't seem very important to us. But those facts helped us out later in the book. Those boring facts helped us have a better understanding of the book later on. The fact that he keep going on and on about equiptment and sherpas wasn't too exciting to us, but we like the middle and on because it got exciting. It got really exciting when one of the memebers of the team was left to die. Then came back alive with frostbite!

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Summary: Excellent! A page turner and very well written.
Review: Makes you realize how strong and mixed up human emotion, drive and ego can get. The descriptions of this unfortunate disaster are so vivid that you can sometimes feel your feet starting to frostbite.

Rating:
Summary: finished in under 24 hours
Review: The first quarter or third of the book is a little slow, but that's because there is a lot of relevant information in those pages relevant to mountain climbing. When the actually tale of the disaster begins I could not stop reading. Too bad I looked through the pictures in the book beforehand, else I would not have foreseen some of the parts of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Into Thin Air - WOW!
Review: This book is an absolute must read! It is a true story of the 1996 trajedy on Everest, however the book reads like a novel. I also reccomend "The Climb" which also give another perspective on the same days on the mountain. I didnt however like his personal slander toward Scott Fischer of Mountain Madness. I could have done without that.

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Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I read this book after seeing the Imax movie about Everest. This book was amazing. It was written very well. I could not put it down, once I started it.

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Summary: Non stop thriller
Review: Jon Krakauer brings Mt. Everest right into your lap. I suddenly have the urge to take up climbing.....

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Summary: Deeply moving, and a cliff-hanger (sorry......)
Review: I am a novice trekker and fascinated by Everest. Jon Krakauer's book was an absolute Can't-Put-Down for me. However, I believe you don't need any knowledge or love of climbing to be deeply moved and taken by this book. Krakauer writes with first hand knowledge and the empathy that could only come from having been there. His insight is deepened by the strong tie that comes from working and living intensely within the microcosm of an Everest summit climb, with people upon whom your very life rests. Not only was his experience and loss very personal, but it almost bleeds as the symbiotic bond between this group of people are rent apart. The author spares himself not at all in his analysis of the fateful last days high on the mountain. A must read!

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Summary: Breath taking figurely, I feel like I climbed Everest
Review: Words are difficult to desribe what I am feeling after completing this book. It is a five star experience, I hunger to want to know more about really happened in the thin air of Everest. I find my self wanting to meet Jon, sit down and talk with him about the experience. I also believe him to be VERY creditable, his personal knowledge of climbing, and a trained eye to detail brings this account right into our hearts and tugs hard. I guess the question never to be answered is why did Hall violate his own Time deadline? Thank you Jon for having the courage to write an account that has cost so much in human life.

Rating:
Summary: descriptive, informative
Review: A very good book to read. When I first checked it out of the library, I finished it in one night and asked for it for Christmas, because I was riveted by it. Jon Krakauer wrote such a descriptive, detailed book that I felt like I was almost there and knew the people who passed away. While reading about the journey was interesting, I really enjoyed learning about the history of Everest, the different attitudes people have about the mountain, and the high altitude guiding business. I can never put the book down and always feel sorry at the end. By writing the book, Krakauer not only takes us on a terrifying journey but also reminds us that Everest cannot be taken for granted and one can never conquer the peak; the mountain lets you climb to the top but it can be deadly and not even the best climbers in the world have a chance when the mountain acts up.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!!!!
Review: Jon Krakauer has created an obsession! I cannot get enough of Everest. After reading this book, I feel as if I've actually climbed the mountain (thank God without the oxygen deprivation!). One of the best books I've ever read -- I couldn't put it down (and that's from someone who hates reading). It has now been read by my spouse and two of our friends who feel the same way (we all recently saw the Omnimax film about the climb). Can't wait for his next one!