
Graham G. (
Foucault) wrote on 5/28/2007...
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
What an amazing book! It should be mentioned that there are other perspectives to this disaster (some which can be read in
this Salon.com series of articles), and other books have been written about it, but this does not affect the fact that this is an incredibly well-written book. It reads like a suspense novel. It's just so tragic that you have to keep reminding yourself that these people were real. Real lives were lost.
In 1996, when this book is set, I was living in my home country of England, and I don't remember the story at all, so unlike some who read this book, I never saw the news stories flying about at the time. I would not normally read a book about mountaineering, but this is a book about the people involved and the narrative reads so well, that even those without any interest in the subject should find it gripping.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Very gripping non-fiction read. Krakauer's writing style is easy, engaging and illuminating. Highly recommended.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
"Into thin Air" is a brilliantly written adventure saga that ends in tragedy. Jon Krakauer takes us step by shivering step, on his journey up Mt. Everest, during the notoriously deadly expedition of May 1996, where 4 of 11 climbers lost their lives. Barely escaping with his own life, journalist Krakauer remembers the team members and friends left on the mountain.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
In May 1996 a sudden blizzard on Mt. Everest took the lives of eight climbers. This book is an account of the tragedy. At the time I was overseas teaching English. The only sound of the media circus that filtered through to me was the bellow that one of the climbers, a socialite, was decadent enough to have the Sherpas lug up necessities such as a 40-pound satellite phone and espresso machine. Suspecting there was more to it than that, I read this book to get the full story. I also read it because lately I'm interested in the phenomenon of adventure travel, as discussed in Errant Journeys by David Zurick. Anyway, this epic is worth reading as an example of the most well-written journalistic prose that we can get these days. Readable for those into travel and adventure books; interesting about the psychology of risk takers; inspiring tale of survival; cautionary story of guilt and recrimination and damage to reputation.

Walter D. (
ltwalt) wrote on 3/17/2008...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book was riveting. I started it on travel and could not put it down after getting back home. The author stays outside the story and always is quick to note where his own involvement may have clouded his narration.

Jeff N. (
lajet) wrote on 1/17/2008...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Great book, tough to put down. Besides being a great writer, Krakauer is an accomplished climber. He was also at the wrong place at the right time, so you really get an amazing opportunity to climb Everest with him. Get this and THE CLIMB together - differing points of view on the same event. Very facinitating.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
a harrowing account of one group's disastrous attempt to scale Mt. Everest. Exciting reading for those of us who would never attempt this journey in real life!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book is the one that turned me on to non-fiction. I always thought I was just a "fiction girl" before reading this one. Everything that Krakauer has written has been on-the-edge-of-your-seat gripping. This book is wonderful! (I own this book and haven't posted it because I just can't bear to part with it).

Frances S. (
FrancesS) wrote on 11/1/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Very well written piece of non-fiction that reads like fiction because it's so filled with danger and adventure. You don't have to love mountain climbing to enjoy this book. It's a great peek into the psyche of climbers and the industry that supports them.