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Into Thin Air

by Jon Krakauer

3.89 · rating details · 125,338 ratings · 4,572 reviews

National Bestseller

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 "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would als...moreNational Bestseller

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 "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." 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.

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. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "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." 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 recounts 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 "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "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."(less)

Paperback, 333 pages

Published June 8th 2004 by Anchor (first published April 22nd 1997)

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Nov 30, 2010

karen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school

RELEASE THE KRAKAUER!!!!

seriously, it is time to just raze everest and be done with it already. i mean, it's big and impressive but it is just taking up all this room and killing people so why do we even need it anymore?? can't we just get over it? really, i think it has reached its peak and is all downhill from here.

shameless punning aside.

so this started out as an article that KRAKAUER was asked to write for outside magazine about the commercialization...more

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Mar 17, 2009

Michelle rated it

Recommends it for: mountaineers, adventure lovers, crazy people

Shelves: non-fiction

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.

(I almost want to post a picture of a LOLcat with a caption that says “This buk wuz gud,” but I don’t have one.)

So…These are a few things I learned from reading this book:

1. If...moreThis 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.

(I almost want to post a picture of a LOLcat with a caption that says “This buk wuz gud,” but I don’t have one.)

So…These are a few things I learned from reading this book:

1. If a person decides to climb Everest, they are likely to encounter dead bodies along the route up to the summit.

2. Lobuje, which is on the way to Everest Base Camp, is a place that overflows with human excrement. While Krakauer was there in 1996, he wrote "Huge stinking piles of human feces lay everywhere; it was impossible not to walk in it." Lovely. Insert “Want to get away from it all?” commercial here.

3. Without the assistance of Sherpas, it is unlikely that climbers would be able to reach the summit at all. Besides schlepping tons of your crap, they also know the way, and they place climbing ropes and in some instances, repair ladders, so people will be able to ascend the trickier places.

The place would also be a lot dirtier without them because they are partially responsible for removing some of the trash that Everest has accumulated over the years. One camp reported having around a thousand empty canisters of supplemental oxygen (as I said below in a review comment, so I might as well stick it in here, too).

4. In 1996, it cost $65,000 to be a client on a guided tour climbing Everest.

5. It is very easy to develop high-altitude sicknesses and/or hallucinations as a climber gets closer to the summit. In fact, the "every man/woman for him/herself" attitude that people had, whether or not they had to have it in order to survive, was more than a little disturbing.

On this particular excursion, two climbers got stuck on the mountain during a storm. They spent the night at 28,000 feet without shelter or supplemental oxygen and were believed to be dead. The guide sent to look for them the next day found them barely breathing after chipping off three inches of ice from their faces. Believing that they were beyond help, he left them there. One of the climbers, my personal hero, woke up from his coma hours later and was lucid enough to get himself back down to one of the camps. Sure, he lost half an arm, his nose, and all of the digits on his other hand to frostbite, but he's still alive.

Oh, and sure, the events that happened on Mt. Everest in 1996 were tragic, but I do think the people who climb it know what they are risking. (less)

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Jul 01, 2007

Brigette rated it

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 save the lives of those caught in the blizzard on Mount Everest in May of 1996. Needless to say, the vibe in the room was chilly whenever the subject of Krakauer's version of events came up; he was acc...moreI 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 save the lives of those caught in the blizzard on Mount Everest in May of 1996. Needless to say, the vibe in the room was chilly whenever the subject of Krakauer's version of events came up; he was accused of slander and some in the room even claimed that he had not done much himself to save the lives of those in danger during the Everest disaster.

Nevertheless, as a reader of climbing nonfiction, I stand by Krakauer. I have always found his account of the Everest disaster an intensely moving and thought-provoking one. Like Joe Simpson's books, Into Thin Air reveals its speaker to be a climber with a conscience. Kraukauer loves climbing but is completely honest about the fact that such a dangerous sport so often puts one in the agonizing position of having to make life or death decisions under conditions that make clear thinking nearly impossible-- the cold, the lack of oxygen, the immense strain on the body at that great elevation. One gets the sense while reading that he is trying to make sense of this crazy sport as he writes, that this book is his process of figuring out the answer to the question: with all of the dangers and fatalities that result from climbing Everest, why on earth do people actually sign themselves up for this kind of thing?

In the years since I first picked up this book, I have discovered many other great climbing books in the adventure genre, although Krakauer's remains one of my all-time favorites. For more accounts of the Everest disaster, see also Boukreev's The Climb and Beck Weather's Left for Dead. If you enjoy Krakauer's writing, you might also enjoy Nando Parrado's Miracle in the Andes, a true account of the narrow escape of some members of a Uruguayan rugby team that survived by any means necessary-- and I do mean ANY means necessary--two grueling months in the Andes after their plane crashed in the mountains on the way home from a game. In addition, Joe Simpson's Touching the Void is a similarly remarkable story of a climber who survives unlikely odds after breaking his leg on the side of the mountain Siula Grande in Peru. There are also movie versions of both (Titled Alive and Touching the Void, respectively.) In addition, a movie version is due out soon for one of Krakauer's other wilderness adventure books, Into The Wild. (less)

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May 26, 2008

Kim rated it

Shelves: for-realz

Read within the span of 10 hours. This is not a hard read, well, if you take out the subject matter.
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.
I also have to admit that it wasn't the writing style that sold me, not that it isn't well done, but usually I'm not drawn to 'personal accounts' or non-fiction, in general, unless it is a subject that really fascinates me...moreRead within the span of 10 hours. This is not a hard read, well, if you take out the subject matter.
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.
I also have to admit that it wasn't the writing style that sold me, not that it isn't well done, but usually I'm not drawn to 'personal accounts' or non-fiction, in general, unless it is a subject that really fascinates me. I'm an escapist and sometimes the reality of all this seeps in and rattles me in ways I'd rather not tap into.
This is very much rubbernecking. I knew that there is no happy ending to this tale, yet I was riveted and sickened the whole way through.
I wasn't drawn so much to the feat of the climb or the determination of the climbers but more to their never ending egos and downright obsession. Their fanatical need to conquer. The fact that these people spend upwards of $65,000 to subject themselves to hypoxia, frostbite, and possible cerebral edemas just makes me shake my head and say 'what the fuck?'

Krakauer states in the first chapter that once reaching the summit, a sheet of ice at 29,028 feet above seal level, he couldn't summon the energy to care. He spent less than 5 minutes on the 'roof of the world' with absolutely no spiritual awakening to speak of.
What makes people do this? What drives them to become so consumed with the thought of scaling a mountain that's killed 1 in 4 climbers since the first summit reach in 1953?

Because it's there.

Which, on its own, I can understand, sort of. But, to get there and not feel the euphoria? That's where I become lost. This passage, in particular, floored me:

"People who don't climb mountains...tend to assume that the sport is a reckless Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills.... The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountains I'd been on. I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain."

The fact that the drive to reach the summit had climbers walking over corpses of their peers also is mind-numbing. To think that some of these climbers were so single-minded that they would assess a fellow climber, make the instantaneous decision that they would be nothing more than baggage and refuse to help them sends me spiraling to that survival of the fittest mentality that makes my stomach curl.
This is a freakin' Darwinian rat race.

I need to research this further, the IMAX film has been netflixed and I'm adding the K2 disaster and other stories to my reading list. What a fun summer this will be. (less)

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Dec 11, 2011

Cassy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: from-dad, physical-own, 2011, non-fiction-general, region-asia

Life got you down? Then join us on a guided expedition led by Capital Stupidity Inc. as we climb to...

The Summit of MOUNT EVEREST

For the bargain price of $65,000*, we will take you on the adventure of a lifetime full of scenic views**, camaraderie***, and athleticism****.

Worried that you lack the necessary climbing experience?
Don’t be discouraged!***** While Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, it is not the most technically challenging ...more

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Aug 10, 2008

HappyHippo rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to HappyHippo by: Enjum

Shelves: nonfiksi, book-to-movies

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.

Meski gw samasekali buta tentang hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan mendaki gunung, tapi gw sempat punya impian dan hasrat gila untuk mendaki gunung Everest. Setelah membaca buku ini impian dan hasrat tersebut (kalaupun masih ada) kini dipastikan lenyap tanpa bekas. Thanks a lot Mr. Krakauer for make my dream coming to an abrupt ...more

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Apr 25, 2009

Greg rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: something-i-d-never-do

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', like the doomed people in this book, my own life was possibly endangered by faulty decisions made by those who are being paid to know better. My own experience is pretty undramatic, and was rectifi...moreI 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', like the doomed people in this book, my own life was possibly endangered by faulty decisions made by those who are being paid to know better. My own experience is pretty undramatic, and was rectified in a few moments, and possibly if my parents had been the litigious sorts I could have bankrupted the Boy Scouts, and still be suing them for the experience and blame every anxiety and problem I have on this moment. That would be a huge lie though (my own experience was at summer camp, I didn't want to rappel, but I was talked into trying it, I was tied in, and as I stepped backwards over the lip so that I was on the vertical part of the rock the knots on my harness and carabiener started coming undoing themselves. I freaked. Some teenage kid had tied me in who was assisting the guy in charge. The real guy in charge retied my harness, I for some reason decided to try it again and actually enjoyed it, not that I ever did it again after that, and probably will never try it again).

Seriously though, this book is about people doing something really dangerous and paying the price for it. It's pretty fucked up on all kinds of different levels, and anyone knowing what it's like to climb into the danger zone of high altitude and then goes and does it anyway so that they can say they have stood on the top of the highest mountain of the world, you can't feel too sorry for (or I can't). Sure it's a testament to the human spirit to overcome obstacles, and being able to do this is something I know I would never be able to do (or want to do), and it's pretty amazing that people can do what it takes to climb these high mountains, but it's also really dangerous and people die doing things like this all the time (historically up until 1996, 3% of all people who climbed just above base camp on Everest died, that's not even necessarily the people who made it all the way up to the final reaches near the summit where the events of this book took place).

What I took from this book is that accidents happen, and they can be awful. That being in really high altitudes seriously fucks with you in ways I had no idea about. I also learned that maybe man shouldn't fuck with nature so much for profit, and that maybe commercialization of things alters the perception of real risks involved. Nature and high altitude don't realize that just because you paid big bucks for the ride up to the top that they should lay off and let your trip be like Club Med. I also learned that certain South African's are dicks, and sadly they didn't get to play as much of a role in the narrative as other groups of people, which is a bit sad because there was something absurdly funny about them. (less)

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Jun 30, 2008

Randy rated it

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 reasonable turnaround time. At 29,000 feet, that would have been bad enough given cold, hypoxia, and a finite supply of supplemental oxygen, but an unexpected storm that moved in from the south turned a...moreJon 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 reasonable turnaround time. At 29,000 feet, that would have been bad enough given cold, hypoxia, and a finite supply of supplemental oxygen, but an unexpected storm that moved in from the south turned a problematic climb into a catastrophe. Several people died, including two widely regarded expedition leaders. Krakauer was one of the stronger climbers that day; he spent only a few minutes on the summit and was on his way to camp when the storm struck. His account of the disaster is gripping, painful, and angry. Krakauer is not shy about offering up criticism of expedition leaders and some fellow climbers, and he discusses his own feelings of guilt as to one guide who died on the mountain. I know nothing about mountain climbing, and I couldn't put this book down.

ETA--I was so fascinated by the book that I looked up dang near everything I could find online about the disaster. I'm not the only one; PBS Frontline ran a special just last month about some of the survivors. Krakauer's book angered a few other participants from his climb; however, their criticisms go to peripheral matters (did guide Anatoli Boudreev behave responsibly in descending before his clients? Was one of the sherpas too busy attending to a Manhattan socialite to perform his other duties properly? Did Krakauer himself collapse while descending the mountain? Could Krakauer have left his tent on the South Col and helped Boudreev's heroic rescue effort on the night of May 10?) and not to the major issues raised in the book. There appears to be broad agreement that Rob Hall and Scott Fischer allowed other concerns, personal and commercial, to take precedence over getting their clients down off the mountain safely. Also, Fischer's judgment may have been seriously impaired by a high-altitude ailment. Moreover, the number of deaths on Everest suggests that there are plenty of people climbing the mountain who have no business being there in the first place. (less)

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Sep 24, 2007

Chris Heaney rated it

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 unanswered questions. That hit me pretty hard.

So why three stars? I wanted more about the people who died, more in other people's voices, and less straight narration of events. (Or perha...moreI 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 unanswered questions. That hit me pretty hard.

So why three stars? I wanted more about the people who died, more in other people's voices, and less straight narration of events. (Or perhaps just a mix of the two.) I do understand the simple ordering of what happened was necessary, even cathartic for Krakauer (or perhaps it gave him no resolution), but I wanted something more like a testament to the individuals up there, like he did for McCandless in Into the Wild.

Also, as always, I'm torn between thinking that this kind of exploration is wonderful and that it's just another code-driven bloodsport inflicted by the wealthy upon the world (and its sherpas), and which folks like Krakauer end up making a lot of money from.

Still, it's a fast read, sharply told, and a good meditation on disaster and guilt. And it has a scary and sad epigraph worth sharing, on how one explains any sort of disaster:

"I shall be inevitably be asked for a word of mature judgement on the expedition of a kind that was impossible when we were all up close to it... On the one hand, Amundsen going straight there, getting there first, and returning without the loss of a single man, and without having put any greater strain on himself and his men than was all in the day's work of polar exploration. On the other hand, our expedition, running appalling risks, performing prodigies of superhuman endurance, achieving immortal renown, commemorated in august cathedral sermons and by public statue, yet reaching the Pole only to find our terrible journey superfluous, and leaving our best men dead on the ice. To ignore such a contrast would be ridiculous: to write a book without accounting for it a waste of time." -- Apsley Cherry-Garrard, "The Worst Journey in the World," an account of Robert Falcon Scott's doomed 1912 expedition to the South Pole(less)

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Feb 18, 2010

Tatiana rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Tatiana by: Heather

Shelves: 2010, non-fiction, foreign-lands, pulitzer

If Krakauer's intention was to kill all of our romantic ideas about mountain climbing with this book, he undoubtedly succeeded. Whatever idealistic notions of bravery, athleticism, adventure, and brotherhood I had about this "sport", are now gone forever.

What Krakauer delivers instead is a very tough picture of people who are ready to risk their lives and lives of those around them (guides, Sherpas, rescue workers) for the purpose of satisfying some masochistic macho aspira...moreIf Krakauer's intention was to kill all of our romantic ideas about mountain climbing with this book, he undoubtedly succeeded. Whatever idealistic notions of bravery, athleticism, adventure, and brotherhood I had about this "sport", are now gone forever.

What Krakauer delivers instead is a very tough picture of people who are ready to risk their lives and lives of those around them (guides, Sherpas, rescue workers) for the purpose of satisfying some masochistic macho aspirations of theirs or, even worse, to get some cheap fame. I now know that there is no sportsmanship or athleticism or fitness about these trips to the top of Everest. People kill their brain cells, they freeze off their body parts, they lose eye sight, they die, all for the privilege of standing on the top of the world for a few seconds. I never understood this achievement before, I understand it even less now, knowing the costs of it. Even more, what kind of an achievement it is, if everything is done for you - Sherpas build your camps, make your food, carry your baggage (including laptops, TVs, gourmet foods, and magazines), fix ropes for you to hang on, even haul you to the top if needed?

But enough of ranting, time to talk about the book itself. I think Krakauer is a great non-fiction writer who manages to suck you into any story. Same goes for "Into Thin Air." It is a compelling book, more interesting in the latter part than in the beginning (once you pass 150-page mark, the book is virtually unputdownable). I personally would have preferred him to talk more about the trip and its difficulties rather than recounting everyone's back stories, but in the end, I have to admit, it adds certain relatability to the narrative. I also was afraid that he would spend a lot of time assigning blame to various players (including himself), but was pleased to see that he had learned from his "Outsider" article and came to the right conclusion that the Everest disaster was nobody's fault.

Overall, a very interesting and in many ways eye-opening story, which in spite of being beyond my scope of interest, managed to hold my attention.

Reading challenge: #10(less)

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Chloe I kind of get it. Sometimes, it’s as if the only way to know you’re alive is when you’re concentrating so hard to remain that way. But, I’m in some so...more
Dec 11, 2011 09:35pm

Ivana Chloe wrote: "I kind of get it. Sometimes, it’s as if the only way to know you’re alive is when you’re concentrating so hard to remain that way. ...more
Dec 12, 2011 12:28am

Jan 15, 2011

JG (The Introverted Reader) rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to JG (The Introverted Reader) by: Donna S

Shelves: 4_stars, author_american, non-fiction, read_in_2011, reviewed, titles_i_like, setting_nepal, biography_memoir, travel

In 1996, Jon Krakauer attempted to climb Mt. Everest as part of a guided group for a writing assignment for Outside magazine. An experienced climber in the hands of a reputable group of guides, he didn't really foresee any problems. Go, climb the mountain, hope conditions allowed them to reach the summit, go home, write the article. But things are rarely that easy. A storm blows up, reminding everyone that nature laughs at our best-laid plans; some questionable decisions are made; and sudden...moreIn 1996, Jon Krakauer attempted to climb Mt. Everest as part of a guided group for a writing assignment for Outside magazine. An experienced climber in the hands of a reputable group of guides, he didn't really foresee any problems. Go, climb the mountain, hope conditions allowed them to reach the summit, go home, write the article. But things are rarely that easy. A storm blows up, reminding everyone that nature laughs at our best-laid plans; some questionable decisions are made; and suddenly the entire group is fighting for their lives.

I've decided to try reading a non-fiction book in bed at night, thinking that I won't be quite as interested in non-fiction, and so will find it easy to put those books down and get to bed at a decent hour. This is the first book I grabbed from the library with that in mind. Ha! I don't know if I could have picked a worse book for tame, before-bed reading!

My poor husband has had to listen to me babble on and on about people he knows nothing about as I've made my way through this page-turner. Even if the climb had been fairly straight-forward, I found it interesting to read about what drove these people, how they acclimated to the altitude, and how exactly one manages to climb the highest peak on Earth. I know nothing about mountain-climbing, and, while I did find all this fascinating, I have to say that I'll be staying in my tame little Appalachians doing easy to moderate hikes. I'm not someone who likes to push myself beyond my limits, but it's always nice to step outside your comfort zone, even if it is through the pages of a book, and see what's going on with others who live differently than you.

There were so very many people climbing the mountain that I completely lost track of who was who. I had the head guides down, and one or two people who really stood out, but they really did start to run together. There is a list of who's who at the beginning of the book, but, in this edition at least, it only lists names, nationalities, and which group they were on. Not much to go on there.

It amazed me how many people climb Everest at one time. My edition only had a handful of pictures, but there were literal lines to get up certain sections of the mountain. I imagined that it would be your very small group and that would be it as far as you could see. But there are the bottlenecks, and even as they're blundering about in the storm, random people would suddenly pop up out of nowhere to ask for directions back to camp. It sounds comparatively crowded up there!

I don't know how it is now, but Krakauer even mentions the literal tons of trash littering the slopes of Everest and some of the cleanups that were underway around that time. I understand that you don't want extra weight on a climb like that, but, come on. Pack it out. I hope it's been cleaned up more in the 15 years since this book was published.

I at first thought this was a book my husband would enjoy. Then I realized that there were a few too many mistakes being made. As I told my husband about the book, he just said, "I can't read that. I don't have patience for that kind of thing." And he doesn't. Being a perfectionist, he does have a hard time reading about what might appear to be stupid mistakes.

Which brings me to my last point. It's very easy to sit in my snug little house under my comfy blanket and with a mug of tea by my side and believe that these people made some stupid mistakes. But, for me at least, Krakauer did a good job of explaining that you just can't think straight at that altitude. I was able to keep that in mind, read it as an adventure story with tragedy at its heart, and withhold judgment. Others, like my husband, may not be able to step back and do that. So, I say, withhold judgment yourself until you've been in their position. People paid for mistakes with their lives, some of the survivors feel guilty, and that's the end of that. No one else needs to throw stones.

I highly recommend this if you don't think you're too much of a perfectionist to be put off by it. Just don't try to read it before bed unless you do want to be awake all night, turning pages!(less)

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Feb 29, 2008

Greg rated it

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 even attended several lectures by prominent climbers.

The story is compelling in spite of - not because of - the author. I am personally repelled by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer injects an ampl...more

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Feb 20, 2009

Matt rated it

Shelves: favorites, natural, nonfiction

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.

This story is tragic and horrible. Strangely, it makes Mt. Everest more appealing to me, but in terms of staggering danger that comes with it. It really speaks to humanity, to morality, the pursuit of dreams and danger and adventure. There are heroes an...more

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Nov 29, 2010

Petra X rated it

Shelves: biography-true-story, 2010

Into Thin Air or Injustice (of many kinds) on the Mountain.

Until almost the end this book was exactly as I expected it to be with just one exception. It was the story of a journalist climbing Mount Everest both as a journalist and as a mountaineer. Ideal getting paid to do your hobby! It was interesting because Krakauer is a damn good writer and because its fascinating to see the details of how the mountain is climbed. Its also disappointing because few individuals do it by themselv...moreInto Thin Air or Injustice (of many kinds) on the Mountain.

Until almost the end this book was exactly as I expected it to be with just one exception. It was the story of a journalist climbing Mount Everest both as a journalist and as a mountaineer. Ideal getting paid to do your hobby! It was interesting because Krakauer is a damn good writer and because its fascinating to see the details of how the mountain is climbed. Its also disappointing because few individuals do it by themselves, without a major support, like the guy who bicycled all the way around Europe to Nepal and then climbed the mountain alone (I would have liked to have read his story but it was only alluded to in the book). For everyone else its a package tour for the fit and not-necessarily experienced who want to climb Everest and have an awful lot of spare cash. Transport is arranged, tents are set up, luggage is carried, there will be steaming hot tea awaiting the climbers on their return to their tents after an expedition, and if they really can't climb well, they can be short-roped and pulled up. Short-roped is the climber roping themselves with a less-than-one-metre rope to the waist of the would-be-climber and literally hauling them up.

Still, even with all this portering and pampering I was surprised that the first climbers of the season (using last year's ropes) fitted ropes up Everest so that the climbers didn't have to set their own. More than that, the really difficult bits got ladders installed! But no matter how many shortcuts and easements they are able to achieve there are two things that can neither be predicted nor controlled. One is altitude sickness which in some forms can kill very quickly, and in others causes mental delusions that led one of the team to his death. And the other is the weather. 15 climbers died the year Krakauer climbed.

At the beginning of this review, I mentioned there was one exception to my expectations for this book based on several books I have read by this author. The exception was one extraordinary chapter full of the most vituperative nastiness against a socialite climber. I didn't know why it was there. He didn't get any nicer towards her as the book progressed either, but then he said that when he was writing the book he had a 75 minute phone conversation with her. Either she didn't know what he'd written - I would never bother wasting time on someone who had that little respect for me and intended to tell the world - or he didn't write it until after the phone conversation. My only reaction to the chapter was thinking that the author was such a damn bitch.

The last chapter was tremendously interesting. Krakauer had not had much respect for another of the climbers - the guide and tour leader Anatoli Boukreev. He felt that Boukreev was more fulfilling his own ambitions of climbing than in sticking to his job of helping others to climb and looking after their safety. Boukreev wrote his own book saying that Krakauer had not mentioned certain incidents somewhat detrimental to himself and that he had made some observational errors, either through oxygen deprivation or wilfullness, and gave his own version of the climb. This argy-bargy went back and forth in print and on tv, and this chapter is Krakauer defending himself. Sadly Boukreev, a climber par excellence, was buried under an avalanche on Annapurna the following year, in 1997, so we will never get to hear what he thought of Krakauer's defence.

The book is worth reading because the Sherpas have always been sidelined in stories of climbing Everest. As if it is somehow more praiseworthy for a White man to climb the mountain and its nothing really for the Sherpas who can just hop up and down like monkeys carrying all the loads while the white man Climbs. This book sets the record straight. The mountain could not be the business it is without the Sherpas. The tour companies and guides have enormous respect for these men and their abilities and form as firm friendships with them as they do with anyone else in their lives. Its a shame that this respect doesn't extend to paying them more than the one-tenth they earn compared to the tour guides but of course its justified in the traditional way - this is local wages, this is a lot of money for the locals, the locals don't need the things the guides from America, Australia etc do... Oh YAWN, I've heard it all before. Why can't people just put their money where their mouth is. You can't pay bills and put your kids through school on respect. Reduced by 1-star to four stars because of this.(less)

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Oct 01, 2011

Philip rated it

Recommends it for: pretty much anyone

Recommended to Philip by: doug

Shelves: memoirs, non-fiction, favorites

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.
Yes, it recounts an ill-fated Everest expedition. Yes the climb is fraught with peril. It is an adventure story, but in its honesty it is quite a bit more.

Although it is a non-fictional work, many of the literary conflicts that make for good narrative are present. The most...more

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Feb 09, 2010

mark rated it

Finally came across a book on the road that I really wanted to read. And once I started it, I pretty much tore straight through.

Krakouer recounts in a first-person narrative the tragic 1996 climbing season on Mt. Everest. Having been sent by Outside magazine to report on the booming commercial guiding industry on the mountain, he was actually a participant in a guided ascent that year and on one team caught in a storm near the summit. His writing is straightforward and interested...more

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Jun 30, 2007

Trevor rated it

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.
The first part of the book is a fascinating history of mountaineering and Everest. Krakauer's talents as a journalist pay off as he is able to describe this history in such a compelling way.
But the book runs deeper. Krakauer has ...more

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Sep 20, 2010

Charlie McKittrick rated it

It wasn't until about half way through this book that it started to become really gripping. In the first half there were some historical facts about mountaineering and Everest which I enjoyed. Throughout the book the author had a tendency to go off on tangents and by the time he went back to the actual story, it was hard to remember where he was picking up from. He also did a lot of name dropping. I found it challenging to remember who exactly everyone was. He includes a list of climbers, s...more

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Jul 31, 2008

Ryan rated it

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.

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Jul 01, 2008

Kelly rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

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.

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Jun 11, 2008

Sara rated it

· review of another edition

While it was a well written book, I had trouble getting beyond my anger at the needless loss of life.

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Feb 01, 2009

Jenni rated it

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 challenge that I couldnt possibly believe anyone would desire. Hiking past the bodies on the mountain was bad enough, but then to have to chose to leave living people behind because it was probably too...more

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Sep 30, 2009

Hayes rated it

Shelves: bookcrossing, read-in-2009

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.

There is a bit of Everest climbing history (very interesting), a lot of gossip (not my thing), a fair amount of name calling (no one escapes unscathed except the great Italian climber, Reinhold M...more

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Jun 14, 2009

Georg rated it

Shelves: english, non-fiction, reviewed-2008-2009

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 pointlessly (or is it a valid point just to stand on "the roof of the world"?)

But the (new) postscript costs him at least one star. This is boring, cheap and self-opiniated attor...more

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Oct 27, 2008

Andrew rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone

Recommended to Andrew by: my mom

I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer has also written the bestseller Into the Wild, and sometimes contributes to Outside Magazine. 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 more horror than adventure awaits Jon as he summits on the deadliest season the mountain has ever experienced. After losing both of his guides, he is on his own trying to keep not only himself alive b...more I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer has also written the bestseller Into the Wild, and sometimes contributes to Outside Magazine. 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 more horror than adventure awaits Jon as he summits on the deadliest season the mountain has ever experienced. After losing both of his guides, he is on his own trying to keep not only himself alive but the other members of his team too.

I enjoyed Krakauer’s style of writing. He doesn’t use complicated words or ideas but he easily gets his thoughts across. It makes a very good read that is never confusing or nonsensical. I also enjoyed how Krakauer put a quote before each chapter that directly related to the events that happened in the chapter. The quotes really helped to bring deeper meaning to the story and characters. He also often elaborated so much on a character that sometimes a single chapter could be just about that character. It gave me a much better feel of people. Lastly, Krakauer doesn’t just use his own recollection. He interviewed at least a dozen people in writing this book to make sure it is as accurate as possible, and often quotes their words, making it seem like you were there with him.

A couple of things were not done so well by Krakauer though. Although I said he elaborated very much on characters and their story, it often took away from the story itself and left you forgetting where you had previously left off. Even though he elaborated very well on some characters, others I felt were left out, and I had to keep asking myself who this person is and what he was like. It seems as though Krakauer elaborated much on the minor characters, but never gave us a clear picture of what the main characters were like. Krakauer also seemed to be adverse to suspense. I know this is a nonfiction book, but it would be much more fun to read, especially toward the end, if he had included a little more suspense. Not to say the book wasn’t a fun read, it’s just that he seemed to throw all the cards out on the table, creating an anticlimactic feeling when you already know if the person is going to live or die.

Even though Krakauer sometimes gave away the ending, Into Thin Air is an excellent and exciting read. Anyone interested in increasing their general knowledge of the world’s highest point will definitely enjoy reading Krakauer’s detailed descriptions of every slope and crevasse on the mountain. Also, those that enjoy looking a little deeper into a book will definitely enjoy Krakauer’s quote before each chapter. They really give more meaning to the book as a whole. Lastly, anyone just looking for a good read should really take a look at this book for its easy-to-read style and heart wrenching decisions and struggles.
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Jul 26, 2008

Joe P rated it

This was my second Krakauer book, and my first book on this particular event.

It always seems strange to me when I read a book while already knowing the ending. Such was the case in this book. Krakauer does a great job of describing the entire trip in great detail - from the planning stages, to the early weeks at Base Camp, and finally to the summit push. Interspersed in his narrative are seemingly hundreds of tangents, introducing us to nearly all of the climbers on the mountain...moreThis was my second Krakauer book, and my first book on this particular event.

It always seems strange to me when I read a book while already knowing the ending. Such was the case in this book. Krakauer does a great job of describing the entire trip in great detail - from the planning stages, to the early weeks at Base Camp, and finally to the summit push. Interspersed in his narrative are seemingly hundreds of tangents, introducing us to nearly all of the climbers on the mountain, and telling us stories of Everest conquerors (and victims) of decades past. The tangents were sometimes unwelcome, interrupting a particularly interesting storyline. But they are necessary diversions, since personalities and motivations certainly help explain some of the questionable decisions made on the mountain that day. Did Rob Hall remain high on the mountain to help Doug Hansen reach the summit, one year after turning him around near the top, putting both climbers in death's view? Was Hall silently competing with maverick guide Scott Fisher to see how many clients each could get to the summit? These questions and literally hundreds more are asked throughout the book. Sadly, very few are answerable.

This book gets an easy four stars from me. I was entirely engulfed by the story, even spending hours after my last page researching other accounts, ordering 'The Climb' (guide Boukreev's account of the same events), and promising myself to watch the IMAX movie Everest, which I'd seen 6 years ago without prior knowledge of the tragedy. The pit in my stomach is still there, primarily from the chilling exchange between Rob Hall and his pregnant wife, as he sat alone at the South Summit, awaiting death. That conversation, as with many of the events that took place during this trip, will remain with me for some time.

I credit Krakauer's honest, open, and inquisitive storytelling for not only entertaining me, but for injecting these human beings and their stories into my psyche. (less)

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May 12, 2008

Skinnywhitedude19 rated it

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,...moreWhen 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.Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside 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.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.

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Jan 19, 2008

Sarah rated it

"Why does Krakauer always seem to ruin a good story by putting himself in the middle of it?!

Seriously, I think this is a great story with a lot of lessons for all of us, especially if you do any sort of adventure activities or mountaineering yourself. I like that he wrote this not just as disaster porn, but also as a very real warning about the dangers of being human and risky at the same time.

AND, yeah, there's been a fair amount of controversy over the specifics...more

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Dec 27, 2007

Nick rated it

Shelves: mountaineering

A compelling first-hand account of the tragedy that unfolded on the upper slopes of Mt. Everest on the 10/11th May 1996. Told by Jon Krakauer, a climber and journalist who had joined a New Zealand-led commercial expedition to report on the increasing commercialisation of Everest, it follows the whole series of events, introducing us to key players (both experienced guides, Sherpas and the clients who paid to be helped to the top) and attempts to put into some semblance of order what happened whe...more

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Dec 08, 2007

Marnie rated it

Yikes. While on assignment for Outside Magazine in May 1996, Jon Krakauer climbs Everest with a group led by the best climber in the world. Ultimately, only 5 of the original 12 make it back down the mountain alive. Writing this book seems like his attempt to deal with his guilt for surviving - trying to process what happened, what went wrong, and how his actions, or lack thereof, contributed to the deaths of people who had become his friends. All of the people on the mountain had to make agoniz...more

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About Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing.

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“Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable.” — 13 people liked it

“It was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier. Climbing was a magnificient activity, I firmly believed, not in spite of the inherent perils, but precisely because of them.” — 12 people liked it

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