Rating: 
Summary: Perfect for urban flatlanders, too
Review: I am not an "outdoorsy" type. No hiking. No biking. And certainly no mountain-climbing. Nor do I particularly enjoy reading accounts of hikers, bikers and climbers. Except for this book, which I consumed in about two days, even though it falls within two categories I tend not to like: non-fiction and nature.Two things I learned:
People can be incredibly brave, disciplined and strong, especially when it comes to mountaineering.
People can be incredibly stupid, obsessive and insane, especially when it comes to mountaineering. Either way, this is an absolutely gripping, inspiring and yes, tragic story masterfully told by Jon Krakauer. He tries his best to speak to every one of his readers, even flatlanders like myself, not just those in his highly eccentric clique of mountaineers. He succeeds most of the time. And that's the strength of the book: it can be read as an adventure, a sobering lesson, and as a travelogue to one of the most inhospitable (and famous) places on Earth.
Rating: 
Summary: Into Thin Air by Parker Kemp "from The Walker School"
Review: I thought Into Thin Air was a good book, but could do without all of Mount Everest's whole history. In the beginning, the book was mainly the history with just a little bit of the main story. But, later on, the book really got into the action and adventure of this Mount Everest disaster. I thought that this book did a great job of allowing the reader to imagine what it would feel like to be on top of that mountain. In the end, this was an excitng story about a great adventure. If there was a little bit less history anout previous expeditions, I would have given this book 5 stars, but for these reasons I gave this book 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: a book that draws you back again and again
Review: As does his book, "Into the Wild," this book draws you back into reading it again and again throughout the years. You begin by thinking casually while your washing dishes, etc. of some little something in the book and you retrieve it to look up that particular part and before you know it you're reading the entire book from middle to end to beginning to middle. It's that kind of book. Haunting.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading! A lot of names to keep up with, though.
Review: I got this book because I am now into exploration and true stories... This is an excellent piece of reading. Krakauer is real good at describing situations, people, environments and moods. The only thing is that it gets to a point where a lot of names are used in the book and it is kind of hard to keep up with them... Other than that, it should be a wonderful reading. I could not put it down!
Rating:
Summary: good narrative
Review: An account of the 1996 Everest tragedy that killed five people when an unexpected storm blew in. It's well written, with enough details to give one a sense of what's involved in climbing Mount Everest yet not so much to bog down the reading.
Rating:
Summary: gripping...detailed and informative
Review: Krakauer does a very good job of detailing the events as they unfolded on the mountain and the events tht happened and things tht could have been done to avoid such a disaster. The technical details that go on with a climb is pretty amazing and Krakauer does a good deal of detailing those for newbies like me and it gives a whole new prespective on the risks associated with climbing... A must read for anyone interested in climbing.
Rating:
Summary: totally cool
Review: trek up everest. great job describing scenery and weather. Book of the year at College of the Redwoods in Eureka. Many people dies on climb. Many people should not have been there in the firtst place. Very intense riveting book a real page turner. If you like hiking get this book. you may not want to climb everest though but its a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Despite Its short falls this is a really good book
Review: Into Thin Air is a well-written book. Krakauer has an effective way of painting a stunning picture of Everest while at the same time representing how dangerous the expedition is. He also shows a lot of emotion in his writing when talking about his own experiences and how scared he was at certain times. This makes the book more enduring to people and more readable. Also, I feel Krakauer is trying to dissuade weekend climbers from paying 60,0000 dollars to get up Everest. He does this by going to pain staking detail about the dangerous while giving life to his pain and anguish, physical and emotional. This being said, I think that sometimes his emotions get the best of him and cloud his objective perspective when it comes to certain aspects of the expedition. He writes about Scott Fischers as if he were a member of it when in reality he did not have that much contact with them and his writing about Boukreev is a little skewed. Overall this book hits the mark and is heartfelt explanation of the tragedy on Everest.
Rating: 
Summary: Into Thin Air 2: The True Story of the Mount Everest...
Review: Mr. Krakauer should put the above title out next. It's a tad gut wrenching to read how Mr. K. goes to such lengths to shine a better light on himself. And yet, he villifies Anatoli Boukreev who was more heroic on the mountain than anyone. While Krakauer was curled up in his tent, Boukreev was pulling people from their graves. Oh well, IT all evens out eventually.
Rating:
Summary: Krakauer's Adventure Classic.
Review: It's been nearly five years since I've read "Into Thin Air," but Krakauer's book is the kind that remains with you long after you've closed it. This book is probably one the author himself wishes he had never had to write. I'm sure he wished that he could have written a different one, one that is to say, where there are no deaths, one where everyone successfully completes their ascents to Everest's peak. However as we all know things didn't go that way. Instead, bad luck and death hounded them and Krakauer, one of the lucky few to survive managed to tell us his side of the story. It's elegantly written, cleanly reported and above all, haunting.
I usually don't read books on the outdoors, but this one was clearly worth it. I think it will long remain an adventure classic.
| 
