Into Thin Air (edit title)

• Rated 0 stars

“Jon Krakauer is a journalist from Seattle. His life totally changes when Outside Magazine asks him to climb Mt. Everest. He decides he will do it.

In 1996, he first stepped foot on Everest, and from this experience he would never look at things the same ever again. The people he was climbing with were very experienced and had climbed a lot of mountains. When it came down to the summit day everyone was ready, everything was perfect. But, that afternoon it would turn into chaos. Although they were all prepared they were not prepared for a storm. That is how the chaos started.

Into Thin Air is a great book by Jon Krakauer. I couldn’t put it down. It was such an amazing story!

~ TH
”

• Rated 3 stars

“The book Into Thin Air was a great book filled with suspense and detail. The ways the main character explains climbing up and down the mountain is like you are actualy there and you are like your own character. Into Thin air expalins the story of a man that has made it to the top of MT. Everest and his adventure up the biggest mountain in the world. The biggest struggle the main character faces in the book is when he is climbing up one of the smaller peaks of the mountain before reaching the top of the summit, he and his group take refuge in a camp that is run down and very badly taken care of. The refuge was dirty and filled with sickness, the main character faces a very bad disease that keeps he and his group from reaching the top of the summit for a week or two. This book in my opinion is a great read for those who like a little adventure in their lives and love a great read. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“I love gritty adventures and thought the writing was excellent. There is a shadow of doubt as to the truth of some events. However, I believe interpretation of such experiences vary according to the player.”

• Rated 2 stars

“Exceedingly dull discussion of an incredibly exciting subject. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“This was my first Krakauer read (even after years of contemplating picking up this or Into the Wild) and found his first-hand description of tragedy on Everest to be thrilling despite knowing the outcome of the story from the onset, gut-wrenching to see what the climbers went through and the decisions they were forced to make, and thought-provoking as I tried to think about what I would have done in that situation. Krakauer was on a climbing expedition on Everest in April/May 1996, with renowned climber and guide Rob Hall. Krakauer had some experience as a climber and was freelancing for Outside magazine, who paid for his trip in exchange for the story. Little did they know that he would be caught in and survive a storm that claimed more lives than any other single storm in Everest history. He cleverly weaves in the history of hiking Everest and other climbers personal stories to paint a vividly bleak picture.

One of the first things that struck me about Krakauer's story was how many people were on the mountain at once and the complete lack of experience some of them had! I always picture the highest peak in the world as having a few scattered groups of two to three people courageously fighting to the summit while loaded down with gear. Instead, Base Camp is a permanent establishment overrun with commercial hiking groups, documentary filmmakers, doctors, public relations persons, and a smattering of career hikers. And these are just the foreigners and doesn't include the endless numbers of local Sherpa's who, in my humble opinions, are the true adventure athletes as they scramble ahead of the commercial group to set up camps, attach ropes for climbing, do all of the cooking, and carry near-hundred pound packs through the thin atmosphere with no supplemental oxygen. Excuse my language here, but that is just bad ass.

The havoc that being at 29,000 feet elevation wrecks on the human body is unbelievable. I read Krakauer's description and couldn't believe the things these climbers endured before the storm even hit - these ailments were just par for the course. After the storm hit and Krakauer describes his own descent from the summit as well as the other descents he could piece together from other survivors, I found myself in amazement that anyone survived at all and literally sick to my stomach that so many people were left for dead with hardly any search - a point that caused Krakauer an amazing amount of guilt, which is evident in his writing.

Both of the above points brought up so many questions about climbing Everest in general and what I would have done in the storm. Should inexperienced climbers be able to pay their way onto the mountain and rely on guides to lead them to the summit like it's a hike through the woods? Would I have gone back out into the storm after safely arriving at camp to look for survivors? I like to think I would but then I picture myself severely dehydrated, frostbitten, so exhausted from my own ascent and descent that I can barely move, and the weather at -100 degrees F with hurricane force winds, visibility at approximately 4 feet, and nighttime to boot. Toss in the lack of oxygen that makes brain function difficult and I'm honestly not sure of my response.

This was a fantastically written true-life, first person, adventure novel that also ties in ethical concerns, moral obligations, and the increasing commercialization of the far reaches of our planet.”

• Rated 5 stars

“One of the best books that I've read ”

• Rated 0 stars

“About a climbing expedition gone bad. True story, hard to imagine the commitment that these climbers have to extreme adventuring. Many people died along the way.
Very disturbing. Really intriguing!”

• Rated 5 stars

“Classic account of climbing Mt. Everest. I recommend also reading Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season to get an idea of how the whole concept of climbing Everest has been literally and figuratively spoiled.”

• Rated 4 stars

“This was a really good book. It was a little boring in the beginning but then when the storm came it got really good. It made me realize how bad the conditions are on Everest! If your looking for a non-boring nonfiction book, READ THIS!”

• Rated 5 stars

“At first I thought the book was very boring, but then I started to love reading it. I felt like I didn't want to put it down for even one second of the day.”