Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray.
“A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism.”—People
A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years
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.
In Into Thin Air, Krakauer 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.
This updated trade paperback edition 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. 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. 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.
“A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism.”—People
A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years
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.
In Into Thin Air, Krakauer 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.
This updated trade paperback edition 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. 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. 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.
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Readers say Jon Krakauer's *Into Thin Air* is a gripping, detailed account of the 1996 Everest disaster, praised for its honesty, vivid storytelling, ...
slow to start but overall fascinating
i really like krakauer’s writing style, journalistic but also engaging. similar to into the wild, this book gives me the effect of the wikipedia deep dive i would do about the event (if that makes sense).
listened to the audiobook over 2 days (like i did with into the wild). both audiobooks were read by philip franklin, and i really like his reading style. he did all the accents. very good.
i really like krakauer’s writing style, journalistic but also engaging. similar to into the wild, this book gives me the effect of the wikipedia deep dive i would do about the event (if that makes sense).
listened to the audiobook over 2 days (like i did with into the wild). both audiobooks were read by philip franklin, and i really like his reading style. he did all the accents. very good.
I am surprised by how I felt about this book and the events that took place. I had knowledge of this incident but mot all the details. Into Thin Air maps out what led Jon and the others on the mountain during his expedition--those in and outside of his particular camp. Threaded in between these details we lean the history of Mountain Everest and the lives of those who perished over the years.
Knowing what I know now about the expedition, I feel agree with some of the loved ones left behind by people in his camp. Jon's feelings and guilt were valid and I recognize the effects that altitude has on a person's body and mind. But I don't think he could speak on what those who died on the mountain could have been feeling.
And regardless of the unspoken "understanding" climbers have whist on the mountain about the bodies left along the trail, it is extremely haunting to even imagine.
Knowing what I know now about the expedition, I feel agree with some of the loved ones left behind by people in his camp. Jon's feelings and guilt were valid and I recognize the effects that altitude has on a person's body and mind. But I don't think he could speak on what those who died on the mountain could have been feeling.
And regardless of the unspoken "understanding" climbers have whist on the mountain about the bodies left along the trail, it is extremely haunting to even imagine.
An unbiased as it could be account of the 1996 Everest disaster where many climbers lost their life during a storm at the summit of Everest due to last minute poor decisions.
Written by Jon Krakauer as a climber on the expedition there is plenty of details, rumination, and heart in the retelling of the events. Krakauer did his best to remain unbiased and the account feels very informative, even a little dry at times but the honesty and attention to details is appreciated.
I find anyone trying to climb Everest has a few screws loose so this was a very interesting book to read. If you’re into wrested in Everest of the 1996 disaster I highly recommend this book and I plan to read more by others that survived this expedition.
I re read this book after originally reading 25 years ago and it was amazing. I am glad I stopped my dream of climbing everest when I was 5. Got to be crazy to climb this!
Cookies: 6.8. Oreo (would’ve been Girl Scout without having to learn mountain lingo). Easy but captivating read that got better as it went. Left me with questions, frustration and sadness…signs of a solid read imo. Fav characters were the sherpas
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