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  <title><![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[This is the true story of a 24-hour period on Everest, when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended the worst single-season death toll in the peak's history.]]></description>
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        <name><![CDATA[Jon Krakauer]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>19</votes>
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    <body><![CDATA[I recently attended the Banff mountain film festival in Canada. One of the key speakers was Simone Moro, the close friend of Anatoli Boukreev, the climber who was killed in an avalanche several years ago on Annapurna and whom Krakauer pretty much vilifies in this book as not having done enough to sa...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2208327">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>19</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[mountaineers, adventure lovers, crazy people]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Nov 30 14:19:31 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Mar 17 17:40:17 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is not a review.  I don’t feel like writing a review for this book, but I feel like I should at least say something about it because I did enjoy it.  I mean, it did make me utter “Jesus Christ” out loud more than one time, and I don’t often talk to myself while I am reading a book.<br/>...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9775705">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9775705]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9775705]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>21920081</id>
    <user>
    <id>520753</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kim]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Essex Junction, VT]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/520753-kim]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>12</votes>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri May 09 07:37:33 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon May 26 05:06:24 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Read within the span of 10 hours.  This is not a hard read, well, if you take out the subject matter.  <br/>I picked this up because 'Into the Wild' has been out or on hold for months at the library so I thought I'd at least get a feel for Jon Krakauer's writing style.  <br/>I also have to admit t...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21920081">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21920081]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21920081]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26199723</id>
    <user>
    <id>540865</id>
    <name><![CDATA[HairycusHippocantropusErectusSimiriwingus]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Bandung, Indonesia]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/540865-hairycushippocantropuserectussimiriwingus]]></link>
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    <book>
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  <isbn>9793269170</isbn>
  <isbn13 nil="true"></isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">5</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: Kisah Tragis Pendakian Everest]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3410927.Into_Thin_Air_Kisah_Tragis_Pendakian_Everest</link>
  <average_rating>3.75</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>8</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Sagarmatha atau Dewi Langit, itulah julukan orang-orang Sherpa untuk Everest. Para pendaki dan ahli geologi menganggap puncak tertinggi dunia itu tidak indah, terlalu besar, lebar dan kasar. Namun keanggunan arsitektural yang tidak dimiliki Everest diimbangi oleh massanya yang besar dan menakjubkan. Belum lagi kisah-kisah mengguncang tentang berbagai upaya penaklukannya yang memberikan reputasi tersendiri. Ditemukan pada 1852, Everest baru dapat ditaklukkan 101 tahun kemudian setelah &quot;serangan&quot;yang berganti-ganti dilakukan 15 tim ekspedisi serta hilangnya 24 nyawa, jumlah korban yang terus bertambah seiring sejarah pendakiannya yang berlanjut hingga kini.<br/><br/>Jon Krakauer adalah klien sebuah tim ekspedisi komersial, satu di antara sekitar 16 tim yang mendaki Everest pada 1996. Pada hari pendakian 10 Mei itu, tak seorang pun yang pernah membayangkan bahwa bencana yang menakutkan sedang mengintai, dan kemudian merenggut nyawa delapan rekan mereka. Tidak ada yang menduga, bahwa di penghujung hari, setiap detik akan menjadi sangat berarti.<br/><br/>Krakauer menulis Into Thin Air dengan harapan akan dapat &quot;mengenyahkan Everest dari kehidupanku.&quot; Kesedihan mendalam karena peristiwa tragis di haribaan Dewi Langit itu nyata tercermin dalam kisah ini. Bagaimanapun, bahkan setelah usai menulis Into Thin Air, Krakauer harus pasrah mengakui bahwa tragedi Everest itu akan tetap menghantui hidupnya. Tragedi yang bisa pula menghantui Anda, pembaca, setelah menuntaskan halaman terakhirnya.<br/><br/>&quot;Sebuah kisah mengerikan tentang risiko pendakian, sebuah kisah tentang kemalangan dan pertimbangan yang keliru, sebuah kisah tentang kepahlawanan yang menyayat hati.&quot;<br/>- PEOPLE<br/><br/>&quot;Salah satu buku petualangan paling dahsyat...''<br/>- The Wall Street Journal<br/><br/>Jon Krakauer adalah kontributor untuk majalah Outside, dan penulis Eiger Dreams serta buku laris Into the Wild. Banyak tulisannya tentang penjelajahan alam dimuat antara lain di Smithsonian, National Geographic, dan Rolling Stone. Dia tinggal di Seattle bersama istrinya, Linda.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>7</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Enjum]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jul 03 07:12:02 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Aug 10 08:30:19 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[You can always tell you are reading a good book when you find yourself holding your breath during the intense moments. Well, this is definitely one of that book.<br/><br/>Meski gw samasekali buta tentang hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan mendaki gunung, tapi gw sempat punya impian dan hasrat gila untu...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26199723">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26199723]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26199723]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Greg]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Woodside, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/42508-greg]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>4.07</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>290</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top.  No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.<br/><br/><strong>Into Thin Air</strong> is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller <strong>Into the Wild</strong>. On assignment for <strong>Outside</strong> Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world.  A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.<br/><br/>Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.<br/><br/><strong>Into the Wild</strong> is available on audio, read by actor Campbell Scott.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>4</votes>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Apr 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Mar 25 20:48:42 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Apr 25 07:46:45 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I had no idea what shelf to put this on.  So I made up a new one, lacking the number of characters needed, this shelf should be called, true stories about things I would never do or try to do.  But maybe that is a lie.  Like Krakauer I too have had a near death experience while engaged in 'climbing'...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50476240">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50476240]]></url>
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      <review>
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  <isbn>0385494785</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780385494786</isbn13>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>4</votes>
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  <read_at>Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jun 29 15:57:07 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jun 30 17:15:52 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Jon Krakauer is a student of extreme behaviors and those who engage in them, and he happened to be on Mt. Everest during the notorious May 10-11, 1996, disaster.  A series of seemingly minor mishaps, oversights, and questionable decisions kept climbers moving up the mountain hours later than any rea...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25852381">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25852381]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25852381]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>6696126</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Chris]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Berkeley, CA]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158966247s/1898.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1898.Into_Thin_Air_A_Personal_Account_of_the_Mt_Everest_Disaster</link>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>5</votes>
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  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 24 07:03:11 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 24 07:46:23 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I don't know how I feel about this book, an account of an expedition to Everest that killed several people. It made me angry when I suspected it would just end up being disaster porn, but Krakauer manages to pull through in the final pages and evoke the wrenching guilt of the survivors, the loss and...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6696126">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6696126]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
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    <id>1630419</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Matt]]></name>
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  <isbn>0385494785</isbn>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158966247s/1898.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>3</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Feb 01 11:08:58 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Feb 20 13:08:33 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Fascinating book. Krakauer has a style of prose that captivates and brings the story and the people very much to life. He's an exceptional journalist, and documents every moment from multiple perspectives and with an exactness of time.<br/><br/>This story is tragic and horrible. Strangely, it make...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45050008">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45050008]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45050008]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>16733127</id>
    <user>
    <id>827372</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Greg]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Mountain View, CA]]></location>
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  <isbn>0385494785</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780385494786</isbn13>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158966247s/1898.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>3</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Feb 29 18:05:14 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Feb 29 18:58:24 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a riveting first-hand portrayal of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster where eight people died in a single day.  The fact that the story is a real-life account makes it all the more compelling.  After reading this book, I became enthralled in learning more about high-altitude mountaineering and ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16733127">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16733127]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16733127]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <read_at>Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jun 30 12:00:26 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jun 30 12:07:17 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've never physically experienced climbing Everest, but I feel like I have.  Krakauer's ability to describe the events in simple (sometimes brutally simple) language made my lungs hurt sometimes.  But that is only part of the reason this book was amazing.  <br/>The first part of the book is a fasci...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2568903">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2568903]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>28918045</id>
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  <isbn>0385494785</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780385494786</isbn13>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
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  <date_added>Thu Jul 31 16:00:41 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 31 16:03:53 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I really really liked this book as well.  I think mostly because it was a true story that I loved it.  I think everyone should read it and then we should all get together and go climb Everest.  Let me know who is in I will call and make reservations.]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Kelly ]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <read_at>Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jun 21 10:25:13 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 01 16:01:07 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Well written. This chronicles the 1996 tragedy very well. I taught this book for many years, and students enjoyed it. I like how the book makes me question who is a celebrity and who is a hero and what are our moral obligations to help others.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25060651]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25060651]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>24244262</id>
    <user>
    <id>1221435</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sara]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Jose, CA]]></location>
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  <isbn13>9780679457527</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">51</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top.  No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.<br/><br/><strong>Into Thin Air</strong> is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller <strong>Into the Wild</strong>. On assignment for <strong>Outside</strong> Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world.  A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.<br/><br/>Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.<br/><br/><strong>Into the Wild</strong> is available on audio, read by actor Campbell Scott.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
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    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
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  <read_at>Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jun 11 11:00:37 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jun 11 11:01:34 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[While it was a well written book, I had trouble getting beyond my anger at the needless loss of life.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24244262]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/24244262]]></link>
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      <review>
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    <user>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jenni]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <date_added>Sun Dec 14 21:28:04 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Feb 01 19:42:47 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is one of those books tha tI loved while I hated it.  It ts the real story of climbing mount everest ant the people that died in the 1996 season.  I can honestly say that I now wonder why anyone would ever have the desire to climb that mountain.  Everyone on that mountain had to face a moral ch...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40122676">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/40122676]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
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  <read_at>Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
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    <body><![CDATA[Krakauer wrote this book after returning from the infamous and disastrous Everest climbing season in 1996 which left numerous expedition members dead and/or maimed. It appears to be an attempt to relieve himself of his guilt; only the author will be able to say if the attempt was successful. <br/>...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60526000">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60526000]]></url>
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
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    <body><![CDATA[Compelling, a lot of suspense, well written and very hard not to read on one day. However, I could not decide about my own emotions: Respect and admiration for the climbers' determination and discipline or plain pity for their childish and selfish behaviour putting themselves (and others) in danger ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58038405">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/58038405]]></url>
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[my mom]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Oct 27 18:15:14 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Oct 27 19:17:36 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[        I read <em>Into Thin Air</em> by Jon Krakauer.  Krakauer has also written the bestseller <em>Into the Wild</em>, and sometimes contributes to <em>Outside Magazine</em>.  He lives in Seattle with his wife.  This is his true story about the harrowing adventure of his summit to the top of the world, Mount Everest.  But m...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36347271">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36347271]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36347271]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Mon Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 11 10:56:42 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 11 11:54:07 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[In the spring of 1996, Outside magazine proposed to send writer <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q= Jon Krakauer" title=" Jon Krakauer"> Jon Krakauer</a> to the Base Camp of Mount Everest to write a feature-length article about the commercialization -- and the consequent trashing -- of the world's highest peak. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/search/search?q= Krakauer" title=" Krakauer"> Krakauer</a>, an avid hiker, decided that it would be miserable to...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29855922">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29855922]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/29855922]]></link>
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[pretty much anyone]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[doug]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Oct 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 22 14:47:12 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Oct 24 12:04:06 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I promised myself that when I wrote a synopsis of Into Thin Air it would not contain the words perilous, arduous, or ill-fated because those words have a limiting effect on a book of this calibre.<br/>     Yes, it recounts an ill-fated Everest expedition.  Yes the climb is alredy fraught with peril...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27984817">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27984817]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27984817]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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  <id type="integer">1898</id>
  <isbn>0385494785</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780385494786</isbn13>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1898.Into_Thin_Air_A_Personal_Account_of_the_Mt_Everest_Disaster</link>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that &quot;suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down.&quot; He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster    <p>By writing 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.    This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.  &quot;I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day,&quot; writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. &quot;What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients.&quot; As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored, The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer re!  counts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.   In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters-a prestigious prize intended &quot;to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment.&quot;  According to the Academy's citation, &quot;Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.  His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind.&quot;</p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>1997</published>
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  <read_at>Mon Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Jul 20 01:09:29 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 21 21:22:52 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is a harrowing account of the 1996 Everest disaster, when a single storm killed several climbers. The author, a reporter assigned to cover one of the doomed expeditions, recounts the story in intricate detail with the assistance of several interviews conducted both during the expedition an...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27764747">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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