[.ca] Into Thin Air (ISBN 0553502190)

From Amazon.com:
"Intrinsically irrational" is how Jon Krakauer characterizes the compulsion to climb Mount Everest in his audiobook Into Thin Air. The highly publicized fates of the May 1996 Everest expeditions, including the tragic loss of 12 lives, seem to bear out Krakauer's statement. Listening to Krakauer read his own account of the events in this unabridged version adds a uniquely intimate and thought-provoking dimension to the tragedy. Although Krakauer reads his account with journalistic professionalism, it's impossible to forget that you are listening to someone unburdening himself of a great weight, an unburdening that sometimes nearly approaches a confession. Since the 1980s, more and more "marginally qualified dreamers" have attempted the ascent of Everest, as guided commercial expeditions have dangled the possibility of reaching the roof of the world in front of anyone wealthy enough to pay for the privilege. In 1996, Outside magazine asked Krakauer, a frequent contributor, to write a piece on the commercialization of Everest, and Krakauer signed on as a member of New Zealander Rob Hall's expedition. The disastrous outcome of the 1996 expedition forced Krakauer to write a very different article. Those who read Krakauer's book may wonder whether the audiobook can possibly shed more light on the unfortunate events. It does. Krakauer's chronicle is chilling and horrifying. He recounts with excruciating detail the physical and mental cost of such a climb. Even under the best of circumstances, each step up the ice-clad mountain is monumentally exhausting, and the oxygen-deprived brain loses the ability to make reliable judgements. And on May 10, 1996, when Hall's expedition and several others made their summit assault, the conditions were far from ideal. The mountain was so "crowded" that climbers had to wait their turn near the summit while their bottled oxygen dwindled by the minute. By afternoon a blinding hurricane-force storm had stranded a number of climbers on the highest, most exposed reaches of the mountain. By writing and reading Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. (Running time: 467 minutes; six tapes)

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The Perfect Storm .. but on a mountain..:
many times whilst reading i found myself droping it from view and shaking my head. obviously without spoiling it for others, there is not a better example of this than the last sentence or paragraph. on several occasions other climbers in desparate trouble were passed, sometimes without even a mere glance, and left to surely die. yet it's as if the climbers never actually weighed up the pro's and cons of stopping for fellow men (and women) but just that, in such extreme conditions, the thought process never even occurs. one can never imagine this clime unless being exposed to it oneself, Into Thin Air is as close as we'll get. i found the postscript diminishing the book though. the author defends his book in length which i found unnecessary considering he never attempted to explain the actions of others and also praised them in equal quantities throught the text. Jon Krakauer himself questions the risks involved in having a jounalist as part of the expedition, i prefer to question the risks of not having one present. the book, whilst no doubt appealing to budding mountaineers, is equally enjoyable to those who relish good narrative non-fiction.

Where do I sign up for the next expedition:
Although Jon Krakauer had been writing for Outside magazine for serveral years, and had published several novels, this is the book that put him on the literary map. Krakauer's first hand account of the Mt. Everest tragedy which claimed the lives of serveral mountain guides and their clients is a riveting tale of man against nature. It is also a cautionary tale of just how things can go wrong when the proper warning signs are not heeded. On the whole, this book is well written. Krakauer's writing style is such that it easy to start reading this book and forget that you have a non-fiction book in your hands.

One of my favorite books.:
I discovered this book after I read "Into the Wild", and quickly became a huge fan of Jon Krakauer. I am almost done reading "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev, another climber from the 1996 Everest tragedy, and much prefer Jon Krakauers book. Jon is very descriptive in "Into Thin Air", making constant sidenotes to explain mountaineering techniques and other information that readers may not understand. He is very thorough and honest when describing the events before, during, and after the Everest event...making the reader truly be able to picture themselves there. The book has photos as well...so we know what some of the climbers and guides look like...as where crucial events happened on the mountain. "The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev seems to rush through the events, and not describe things as well. This book is a must read for outdoor enthusiasts, mountain climbers, and history lovers.

Excellent!:
I think this book single handedly destroyed the climbing career of Anatoli Boukreev. Had he not died a couple of years later he would have ended up slinging hash in a greasy spoon somewhere. The guy comes off like an egocentric chump, more concerned with breaking his own climbing records than attending to the welfare of his clients. His blatent attempt to repair his thoroughly trounced reputation in the wake of this masterpiece, did little to redeem him, either. (re: "The Climb") In the years since Into Thin Air was published however, Beck Weathers has emerged as a breath-taking monument to perseverance and survival against horrific odds. His book "Left For Dead: My Journey Home From Everest" is an absolute must read.

An Intense, Captivating and Emotional Read:
I Can't begin to describe how amazing this book was. At many times you forget that this is a true story, the way it pulls you in, and once you do remember, the shock of that reality is unbelievable. I watched the Imax film at a museum while in the middle of reading the book, and didn't know that they were both from the same 1996 climbing season until about 15 minutes in and i finally clued in. The two together paint such a vivid picture, although i can never truly understand what it was like, of those tragic events, that i was caught completley off guard. All i can say is that, you, the person reading this comment, should most definitely pick this one up. Even if this is not the sort of book you normally read, i know it wasn't the sort of thing that i enjoy reading, trust me when i say that you will most certainly enjoy this one.