Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Aug 07, 2009 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, travel, favorites, ultimate-reading-list, ebooks, memoir

This is one of the most fascinating works of non-fiction or memoirs I've ever read and one of the few I've been drawn to read more than once. I found mesmerizing how the author brought me into another world; that of extreme climbing and the "thin air" of Everest. Air so thin, that if you could be dropped down by parachute without acclimating yourself first you'd die. So thin that even going there using the proper procedure, you might find yourself struggling so hard to breathe you might crack ri ...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Kristen rated it really liked it

This is the second of Krakauer's books that I've read. He's a good writer, and I like the way his books combine personal autobiography with the subject he's focused on (more so with Into The Wild, which was definitely not intended to be autobiographical, but contained several autobiographical components, where this one was largely autobiographical). I found the ending to be a bit rushed, as though he found himself either rushing to meet a print deadline or emotionally unable to delve any deeper ...more

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May 25, 2011 Matt rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, non-fiction, 2012

Before beginning Into Thin Air I dreamt of maybe climbing Mount Everest one day (as so many do). But now after having read the true account of one journey up the mountain, I must say that I no longer want to (thanks a lot Jon Krakauer). But regardless of this, I still rather enjoyed the book.

The beginning is somewhat slow, the part in which they begin climbing the mountain. However, the ending was extremely good and it solidified my enjoyment of the novel overall.

Krakauer was very good at foresh ...more

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