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

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Summary: What a great book.
Review: The bottom line here is this is a great adventure story. I havent compared it to other accounts and don't care. Excellent tale. If you like it, try Into the Wild too.

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Summary: A harrowing journey of triumph and disaster on Everest.
Review: Jon Krakauer is not only an excellent climber, but also a gifted writer. He weaves a tapestry of heartwrenching personal tragedy and triumph into his novel; Into Thin Air. The psychological, mental, and physical conflicts are conveyed so clearly, one feels as though they too are on this incredible journey as he describes the ill-fated summit to Everest. The mountain is the main character, and those climbers attempting to penetrate its burly skin are mere pawns. This book scares and excites. It ellicits every emotion imaginable and challenges us to look within ourselves, and surmount our own fears. It also deals with the delicacy of human life and man's eternal desire to overcome the impossible; in this case to tame the unconquerable beast, nature. It is clear that we are infinitessimal in comparison to the power and strenght of Everest. This book invites us in and quickly envelops our hearts, minds and senses, and anyone who picks it up will not be able to put it down. The emotional rollercoaster that Krakauer so poignantly conveys in this book along with his own personal insight makes this powerful novel a must read; especially for fellow outdoor enthusiasts.

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Summary: What a poor book...
Review: I do not agree with the majorities of reviews: 1. Krakauer is no good writer - compare him to other classics of mountaineering 2. Just by reviewing articles and other books on the tragedy on May 10th you will find out that he keeps A LOT of events and facts out of the story. The biggest mistake probably is to present Boukreev as the scapegoat... the one guy who did more for the rescue of all the remaining climbers than ANY OTHER PERSON up on the mountain at that time. Sad that he seems to need that to create a Hollywood like drama...

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Summary: Only one account of the 1996 Everest trip
Review: To get a different (some times quite different) account of the Everest disaster, read "The Climb", by A. Boukareev, the Mountain Madness guide that was at the scene and is mentioned in Krakuer's book.

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Summary: A Fascinating Look At Extreme Mountain Climbing
Review: This book was so mesmerizing that I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days. Friends who have read this book agreed with me that it was such an attention grabber that they read it in one or two sittings. I have to say that I'm not a mountaineer-type. I love to hike but I have never understood what would push people to climb Everest or any other peaks for that matter. This book did not shed any light on why climbers feel compelled to "push the envelope" but enlightened me to the harsh reality of high-altitute climbing. I was completely engrossed by the story and felt as though I was part of the team. Great eye-opening window into the world of high-altitude climbing.

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Summary: Hpes and dreams become a nightmare!
Review: I found the book very enjoyable and a quick read for anyone that enjoys true life adventure stories. The author made Everest come alive. The actual ordeal was less than 72 hours. The author provides relevant background on the history of Everest. The only thing that bothered me is that this is one person's view of the events. I wonder about the objectivity of the author's position, especially experiencing this disaster first hand.

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Summary: Fantastic, could not put it down
Review: I saw the IMAX movie made at the same time of this tragedy. I then bought the book and read it in one day. I felt it was an honest attempt to explain what happended. This is one of the best books I've ever read.

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Summary: A gripping tale of a real-life tragedy
Review: This book was a gripping look at the perils of climbing the highest mountain in the world and of the human endurance the challenge places on the climbers. One of the best non-fiction books I've read in years. I saw the IMAX movie "Everest" before I read this book and I thought the parts written about the Khumbu Icefall were dead on. That to me also seemed the scariest part of the climb.

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Summary: From a climber's point of view
Review: My mother figured that since I am an experienced rock climber who plans to diversify to ice climbing and finally true mountain climbing, I should read this book. I started it while on a climb, and could not put it down. I began to feel as if I knew these people, and had to constantly refer to the dedication to see who had survived. He used many technical climbing terms, but he did very well in explaining them. His language was very terse, and the writing was not too full of adjectives and adverbs. This did not make for particularly "english classy" reading, but it allowed for a fast pace. Because it was written so soon after the disaster, Jon did not have too much of a chance for the details to become muddled and what he wished could have happened did not have a chance to really mix with what really did happen. Some people felt he wrote it too soon, but knowing how tales of climbing successes and disasters have a tendency to grow as time passes, I believe he did the right thing. My mother hoped that by reading this book I would be cured of my drive to climb. Instead, she gave me a thought provoking reading about the forces which compel people to climb, and a too-close-for-comfort description of how easy it is for small mistakes to compile into a deadly disaster.

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Summary: Fair, Thorough, and Exciting
Review: Krakauer has written a great adventure story, one that is both tragic and true. He takes pains to share differing opinions about areas of controversy, trying to be as fair as possible. His explanations of climbing equipment/jargon, historical reviews of Everest, Sherpa culture, and the photographs accompanying the text, make it easy for the layman (like myself) to follow the story. Keep a dictionary by your side as you read this - Krakauer's vocabulary is quite ample and he employs several words not commonly used in conversation.