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Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
: Krakauer's exceptionally well-written account of the fulfillment of his lifelong dream of climbing Everest and the tragic circumstances that shrouded the expedition is the best book I have read in years. He is frank, descriptive and minces no words. He comes down hard (too hard?) on himself and the others on the mountain that day for their role in the deaths of his fellow climbers.
What drives a man to climb the world's highest peak in spite of the physical, mental and emotional trauma it has wrought on those who have attempted it before him? Krakauer's account explores this issue and answers some of those questions in a way even those of us who have never climbed a mountain can understand. As I read, I felt as if I were with Krakauer and his fellows as they scaled some of the most difficult terrain on the planet, all the while enduring winds, snow and wind chill of 100 below zero. I highly recommend the book.
I kon wthis sounds childish and silly but this is the best cook I have ever read. And I have read it many times in the last year. It has turned me on to climbed to the point where I have a small* library on mountaineering. Ire commend this book to anyone mountaineer/armchair moutaineer or reader. You will LOVE this book. *Small in relation to the library of congress
How many of us have thought.. "If I go down this path, I'm doomed, but I've made my point clear to others and to rescind now would be a cowardice act"? In business, war and health, this is a common scenario that often leads to tragic results, and Everest Quest 1996 was no exception.
Krakouer takes us on the Everest journey from his perspective, but continues to question the acts of himself and others throughout the terrible ordeal - leaving the reader consumed with thoughts of, "what would I have done differently?". It is this constant self-evaluation that is the true appeal of "Into Thin Air".
More than a classic adventure novel, here is acute adventure teamed with psycology... massively entertaining and educational, and most importantly, unique.
Bravo! Krakauer shows the world that Nature makes the rules, but people interpret the rules - and depending on how they see themselves and others - the interpretation can be tragically flawed.
The best book iv'e read yet. It felt like I was actuley there
The mind-wrenching story of Sagarmatha '96 has sadly become a cottage industry in '97. And it is Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air that, no doubt, will become the fulcrum for discussion and second-guessers for decades to come. And for good reason. The work is a superb, powerful and hauntingly engaging book...not just for the alpine crowd, but mainstream America. Just as it was for those who went to the summit a year ago, it's impossible to turn back once you've started. The book joins a long list of epic mountaineering books such as K2, Anapurna, The Freedom of the Hills, The Conquest of Everest, Seven Summits, etc. as an adventure classic. Only Into Thin Air may be the best ever, not just because of the magnitude of the mountain or the disaster, but because of the reporting skills of his author, participant. Certainly, the other "classics" were captivating, but were penned by those whose primary function in life was something other than journalism. Krakauer, as he proved in Into the Wild, is the Rob Hall/Scott Fischer of Outback Journalism.
Without question, it is a grand account, with details that will upset your stomach as well as your heart. However, it fails to properly address the many ironies that drip from this story. Krakauer was sent to Everest by Outside Magazine to report on the commercialization of the mountain, yet this tragedy, as stated, has become a cottage industry. There are web sites while Outside and Men's Journal still compete for the latest updates. A year ago Life Magazine shocked us with a decaying corpse and there are movies (IMAX and Cinemax?) currently in the works. And when does the 29-city book tour begin, Jon? But interestingly, the biggest irony of all is that the one person who was vilified as the biggest media hog, is the one now who has tastefully decided to remain quiet. I respect Sandy Pittman for her silence while the media machine throws six figures and starbeams at the other survivors.
And although I greatly admire Krakauer for his journalistic skill, which is so apparent in this book, I also see him as a hypocrit. Why is he trying so hard to sell this story and at the same time trying so hard to sell us that he remains so haunted by it. He complains that a day doesn't go by when he isn't troubled by the events of a year ago...but frankly, a day doesn't go by when he isn't talking about it somewhere. Nobody forced him to write the book, nobody forced him to be on ABC's "Turning Point," nobody forced him to be the cover story for "Outside." Jon, I suspect that if you're having trouble forgetting Everest, it's because you're having trouble not selling the story. Don't get me wrong, I am GLAD you chose to share the story with us in all the ways you have. And, certainly, I don't begrudge the fact you are making a tidy sum for it...just don't complain about it, spare us the righteous re-cycled puppychow. If you are still troubled, simply do as Sandy Pittman: SHUT UP ALREADY.
One or two final comments: Where were the Krakauer photos? Finally, Krakauer writes, "Traditionalists were offended that the world's highest summit was being sold to rich parvenus--some of who, if denied the services of guides, would probably have difficulty making it to the top of a peak as modest as Mount Rainier."
Christ, Jon! Talk about hypocrisy. Pages earlier you talked about how it had become fashionable to "denigrate" Everest as a "slag heap." Wasn't it your point that one must respect the mountains, that at any one point they can kill you? Isn't ironic how Krakauer also denitgrates a mountain in his own backyard; The Mountain where one of his own mentors (Willi Unsoeld) died? And a mountain which was the site of this country's single-worst disaster? Jon, let me remind you it was "modest" Mount Rainier in 1981 where 11 persons died in a single accident. Check my math, but I believe that is three more than Sagarmatha in '96. And besides nobody turned it in to a cottage industry, either
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