"..I hoped that something would be gained by spilling my soul in the calamity's immediate aftermath, in the roil and torment of the moment I wanted my account to have a raw, ruthless sort of honesty that seemed in danger of leaching away with the passage of time and the dissipation of anguish."

As an avid mountain climber in his youth, Jon had always wanted to climb the Everest. However, as he grew up his dreams faded away into the practicality of a family life. All that changed dramatically when Outside magazine, where he was a contributing editor, commissioned him to write a story about the commercialization of Everest, and agreed to fund him to go all the way to the top as part of Rob Hall's guided expedition of 1996.

The expedition ended in a disaster, when on summit day, a storm blew up out of nowhere and several members of Hall's expedition, as well as Scott Fischer's guided expedition got stuck on the slopes on the way back from the summit.

Five people from the 2 expeditions died as a direct result of the storm, including the two leaders Hall and Fischer. Of course, Jon and many others survived through that difficult day, and many (including Jon) successfully climbed the summit.

Into Thin Air is a chillingly personal and detailed account of this episode. Jon's book gives a detailed description of all the people who were on the peak at that time and the incidents leading upto the disaster and beyond. At times his too-honest approach doesn't hold back from questioning the judgments of several individuals, some of whom died, and many of whom are still alive.

Jon is equally critical of himself, and hasn't spared himself in his analysis of the events around the calamity. "My actions - or failure to act - played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris. And while Yasuko Namba lay dying on the South Col, I was a mere 350 yards away, huddled inside a tent, oblivious to her struggle, concerned only with my own safety."

Into Thin Air raises many difficult moral questions, wrapped inside the tortuous circumstances in which these individuals were coping with the effect of lack of oxygen to the brain. Instead of choosing to answer them in his own way and make judgments of right and wrong, Jon chooses to lay every fact in front of the reader to let them form their own conclusions.

Jon's book is a must read for those who aspire to challenge themselves physically, by going to the Everest or otherwise. But it's also a must read for many of us who encounter situations in our lives where we have to make instant and tough decisions in circumstances where our intellect and emotional control can be excused for failing itself, and where each action can significantly impact the lives of others. While Jon's book isn't a moral guide of any sort, it does force us to introspect by introducing us to an extreme situation which most us of would likely never encounter.

Into This Air is written in a fast paced narrative style, almost like a fiction thriller with some drama thrown in. Go read this book -it's guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seats.

P.S. : The title of this review is borrowed from the name of Scott Fischer's adventure company.

This book is both an engrossing account of a perilous journey up Mt. Everest...the "top of the world"...and a deeper study of what drives individuals to willingly take on great, and known, risks. It is this unique balance of best-seller caliber action and deeper content that make "Into Thin Air" stand out for me.

Krakauer's writing caters to a wide audience and he brings credibility and first-hand experience to the subject matter. When delving into the larger question of what drives people to take on risk, however, his own point of view looms large. As the title of this book includes the words, "A Personal Account," this is understandable, but I found the author's personal outlook overshadowed the theme of life and risk.

Overall, this is a book well worth reading. It offers a gripping account of a harrowing set of events in the loftiest areas on Earth.

Even though the title of the review is what it is, the book does has some interesting tidbits about high altitude mountaineering. For non climbers and arm-chair adventurers it would satisfy you, as the author writes well. You'll learn some intrinsic details, enough to keep the "how and what" types occupied. For this the book gets it's two stars -- good writing and technical details (like the effects of high altitude sickness).

But what makes this book really hard to stomach though, and how a reader can learn to despise the author, is how critical the author is about those in the expedition. Usually I like to know the "real story" in adventure disasters, to know the interpersonal reactions (like the character chemistry in the Scott South Pole Expedition), yet I draw the line at common decency. The Japanese woman climber, he complained about what she carried, claiming it helped to contribute in her death. That cold. Then in the end of the book the author tells of how he tries to cope with the tragedy, and the death of the very people he was critical over. It comes off self-serving, and after the meat puppetry, even put on. Guess the author tries to cope with some anger and denial, which means he didn't recover enough after the tragedy to write the book without it, and would explain how upsetting a read this book can be.

Get the book if you like mountaining stories. Get it for some history (some tidbits about the IMAX expedition in the book). But don't get it if you have a heart, you'll be wanting to tear pages out of the book as he pokes the dead in the eyes.

Of all the books that I have read, this is the best. Absolutely fascinating. And, in my opinion, it's an adventure story that can be enjoyed by folks who aren't necessarily into mountain climbing. My dad gave this book to me as a gift, and he being a writer himself had told me that he thought it was one of the best books he had ever read. I've since given it as a gift to a few of my friends. Also, another fun book by Krakauer is Eiger Dreams, which is a collection of short climbing/survival stories. I'd highly recommend Into Thin Air!

This book should leave any reader stunned and saddened. Great writing, although I think calling it an adventure story may be a little bit of a misnomer. It is truly a tragedy. Krakauer understands the audience he is writing for, but also tries to be sensitive to those who lost their lives on Everest and those who have been left behind in the aftermath of the disastrous May 10th expedition to the summit. Compelling and a page turner.

I remember the spring of 1996 and the Everest disasters very well. I was stuck in traffic when a writer named Jon Krakauer was briefly interviewed on NPR when he first returned as one of the survivors of a deadly climb. I had never given mountaineering or Everest much thought but the drama, and especially Krakauer's traumatized voice, inspired a curiosity I've only now actually pursued by reading this book.

If you have ever been at a popular tourist spot when several buses pulled up and disgorged different tours, you have the picture of what mountaineering on Everest had become by 1996. The golden era of exploration and mountaineering on Everest was over. Commercial expeditions charging $65,000 a head would take up clients who could pay, not necessarily those who were vetted mountaineers. Base Camp was a cross between a vanity fair and a scout jubilee. Krakauer, a practiced climber who was commissioned by Outside Magazine to write about the experience, had signed on with an ethical and highly skilled outfit. There was, to the climbers, little warning that anything could go wrong. Across the next several weeks, the climbers moved slowly up the mountain, becoming acclimated. Perhaps the first clue of the reality of Everest was encountering dead bodies from previous years that had simply been left behind. The 1996 groups kept going. The ravages of altitude sickness, the increasing consumption of oxygen canisters, and the physical punishment should have been more flags. The day scheduled for achieving the summit became a train wreck of bad choices, rejection of basic guidelines such as turn around times, altitude sickness, and the surprise of a subzero storm that suddenly grabbed the top of the world with hurricane force. The scramble for survival meant, in some cases, abandoning people for dead on the mountain, people who had become comrades on the ropes. Krakauer documents incredible stories of heroism and survival, as well as the death toll and permanent physical injuries incurred by some.

Krakauer is an astonishing writer who does a good job of sorting out a confusing series of events. Realizing the limitations of one person's memory in the midst of a traumatic experience that has bequeathed a sense of guilt, he went back and interviewed other survivors to get at the truth. Although he never imposes overarching themes on the narrative, his story illustrates classic conflicts as humans are seen tempting mortality on the grandest scale on earth. The more they push their human capacities, the more the mountain seems determined to push the climbers down into their very flawed human place. In the end, this is not so much a tour of a mountain as it is an exploration of humanity. There are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks pointing fingers at those who survived, and some are pointed weakly at Krakauer, but I found this to be very evenly handled.

Krakauer said entirely untrue things about Anatoli Boukreev, one of the greatest mountaineers who ever lived, and the hero of the expedition. Boukreev wrote a book, THE CLIMB, about the same trek, explaining why he did what he did, but it wasn't as popular because his writing wasn't as polished as Krakauer's. There is no doubt that Boukreev single handedly rescued three of the climbers during a raging blizzard, climbers who would have died otherwise. I was reading THE CLIMB while on the Annapurna trek in 1999. I reached Annapurna base camp, and there was a memorial to Anatoli Boukreev, who had been killed in an avalanche while climbing Annapurna only 1 year 9 months before. I had no idea this memorial was there, and was awed and humbled by the combination of reading Boukreev's book, seeing his memorial and being in the same area where he had recently been killed. Boukreev should never have been ridiculed by Krakaur. Boukreev was one of the greatest climbers who ever lived, and he knew what he was doing.

I believe Boukreev's words should be taken into account. They are quoted below:

"I am writing because I think Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air," which appeared in [the September, 1996 issue of Outside Magazine], was unjustly critical of my decisions and actions on Mount Everest on May 10, 1996. While I have respect for Mr. Krakauer, share some of his opinions about high altitude guiding and believe he did everything within his power to assist fellow climbers on that tragic day on Everest, I believe his lack of proximity to certain events and his limited experience at high altitude may have gotten in the way of his ability to objectively evaluate the events of summit day.

My decisions and actions were based upon more than twenty years of high altitude climbing experience. In my career I have summitted Everest three times. I have twelve times summitted mountains over 8,000 meters. I have summitted seven of the world's fourteen mountains over 8,000 meters in elevation, all of those without the use of supplementary oxygen. This experience, I can appreciate, is not response enough to the questions raised by Mr. Krakauer, so I offer the following details.

After fixing the ropes and breaking the trail to the summit, I stayed at the top of Everest from 1:07 PM. until approximately 2:30 PM., waiting for other climbers to summit. During that time only two client climbers made the top. They were Klev Schoening, seen in the summit photograph (pages 46-47) taken by me, and Martin Adams, both of them from Scott Fischer's expedition. Concerned that others were not coming onto the summit and because I had no radio link to those below me, I began to wonder if there were difficulties down the mountain. I made the decision to descend.

Just below the summit I encountered Rob Hall, the expedition leader from New Zealand, who appeared to be in good shape. Then I passed four of Scott Fischer's client climbers and four of his expedition's Sherpas, all of whom were ascending. They all appeared to be alright. Above the Hillary Step I saw and talked with Scott Fischer, who was tired and laboring, but he said he was just a little sick. There was no apparent sign of difficulty, although I had begun to suspect that his oxygen supply was, then, already depleted. I said to Scott that the ascent seemed to be going slowly and that I was concerned descending climbers could possibly run out of oxygen before their return to camp IV. I explained I wanted to descend as quickly as possible to camp IV in order to warm myself and gather a supply of hot drink and oxygen in the event I might need to go back up the mountain to assist descending climbers. Scott, as had Rob Hall immediately before him, said "OK" to this plan.

I felt comfortable with the decision, knowing that four Sherpas, Neal Beidleman (like me, a guide), Rob Hall and Scott Fischer would be bringing up the rear to sweep the clients to camp IV. Understand, at this time there were no clear indications that the weather was going to change and deteriorate as rapidly as it did.

Given my decision: (1) I was able to return to camp IV by shortly after 5:00 PM. (Slowed by the advancing storm), gather supplies and oxygen and, by 6:00 PM., begin my solo effort in the onset of a blizzard to locate straggling climbers; and (2) I was able, Finally, to locate lost and huddled climbers, re-supply them with oxygen, offer them warming tea and provide them the physical support and strength necessary to get them to the safety of camp IV.

Also, Mr. Krakauer raised a question about my climbing without oxygen and suggested that perhaps my effectiveness was compromised by that decision. In the history of my career, as I have detailed it above, it has been my practice to climb without supplementary oxygen. In my experience it is safer for me, once acclimatized, to climb without oxygen in order to avoid the sudden loss of acclimatization that occurs when supplementary oxygen supplies are depleted.

My particular physiology, my years of high altitude climbing, my discipline, the commitment I make to proper acclimatization and the knowledge I have of my own capacities have always made me comfortable with this choice. And, Scott Fischer was comfortable with this choice as well. He authorized me to climb without supplementary oxygen.

To this I would add: As a precautionary measure, in the event that some extraordinary demand was placed upon me on summit day, I was carrying one (1) bottle of supplementary oxygen, a mask and a reductor. As I was ascending, I was for a while climbing with Neal Beidleman. At 8,500 meters, after monitoring my condition and feeling that it was good, I elected to give my bottle of oxygen to Neal, about whose personal supply I was concerned. Given the power that Neal was able to sustain in his later efforts to bring clients down the mountain, I feel it was the right decision to have made.

Lastly, Mr. Krakauer raised a question about how I was dressed on summit day, suggesting I was not adequately protected from the elements. A review of summit day photographs will show that I was clothed in the latest, highest quality, high altitude gear, comparable, if not better, than that worn by the other members of our expedition.

In closing, I would like to say that since May 10, 1996, Mr. Krakauer and I have had many opportunities to reflect upon our respective experiences and memories. I have considered what might have happened had I not made a rapid descent. My opinion: Given the weather conditions and the lack of visibility that developed, I think it likely I would have died with the client climbers that in the early hours of May 11, I was able to find and bring to camp IV, or I would have had to have left them on the mountain to go for help in camp IV where, as was in the reality of events that unfolded, there was nobody able or willing to conduct rescue efforts.

I know Mr. Krakauer, like me, grieves and feels profoundly the loss of our fellow climbers. We both wish that events would have unfolded in a very different way. What we can do now is contribute to a clearer understanding of what happened that day on Everest in the hope that the lessons to be learned will reduce the risk for others who, like us, take on the challenge of the mountains. I extend my hand to him and encourage that effort."

My personal regards,
Anatoli Boukreev
Almaty, Kazakhstan

Anatoli Boukreev was killed in an avalanche December of 1997 on a winter ascent of Annapurna.

If you are interested in mountain climbing, and have not read this book, run right out and purchase it. The same is true, if you are a fan of non-fiction adventure stories where man is struggling for survival. This story tells of the disastrous events on Mount Everest in May of 1996, when eight people died in one storm while trying to summit. If you are thinking of reading only one book on this subject, then this is the book for you. The telling of the events that spelled out death for some, and life for others, is a first hand narration by Jon Krakauer, who was on the mountain to write a magazine article when the tragic events took place. You will not only learn about the events of 1996, but you will also learn how mountain climbing has become a profitable business, where clients pay large sums of money to have a chance to get to the top. In some case this guided climbing can help someone's dream that may have otherwise been impossible, come true. Still, in some cases there are clients who just shouldn't be attempting such a climb. I was surprised to come to an understanding that the mountain may actually become crowded, with lines of climbers waiting to traverse some tricky areas of the climb. Krakauer's analysis of the events, and his telling of the story reads like a novel. Although I knew basically how the story would end, even before beginning the book, I still found it to be a page-turner.

In May 1996, a rogue storm killed nine climbers on Mount Everest, several of them from an expedition led by Rob Hall of New Zealand, the others from an expedition led by American Scott Fischer. Hall and Fischer were themselves counted among the victims. One of the survivors from Hall's expedition was John Krakauer, a writer from Outside Magazine, who had volunteered to go on the expedition to research and write a story on the commercialization of Everest.

Krakauer was no inexperienced novice, having been a climber for over 30 years at the time of the expedition, and that is part of what makes his telling of the story particularly compelling. He had the background and personal experience necessary to write the story in a way that someone who had never climbed a mountain could not. And he was there when the disaster happened, observing with a writer's eye for details.

I have never had any desire to climb a mountain, nor any real knowledge of mountain climbing, despite living near some of the most-climbed peaks in the Pacific Northwest - Mount Rainier and Mount Hood. I didn't pay much attention to the Everest disaster at the time, and all I remembered hearing before reading Krakauer's book was that some guy was able to call his wife on the phone from the top of Everest right before he died. Perhaps it was my recent unexplained interest in disaster stories that led me to Into Thin Air a few weeks ago, twelve years after the Everest disaster.

In the author's note at the end of the book, Krakauer writes, "My intent ... was to tell what happened on the mountain as accurately and honestly as possible, and to do it in a sensitive and respectful manner." Krakauer succeeds in this admirably. There are no "bad guys" in this book, just real human beings who did the best they could in unexpected and calamitous circumstances. The book is not about blame, but about understanding what happened.

Albeit through Krakauer's eyes, we get to know many of the climbers from Hall's and Fischer's expeditions as they prepare to ascend the mountain: a postal worker making his second attempt at Everest, an attorney who had climbed six of the Seven Summits, a pathologist, a publisher who had attempted Everest three times, an anesthesiologist, a cardiologist, a 47-year old Japanese woman, a female "millionaire socialite-cum-climber," among others. Most of the climbers had had at least some high-altitude climbing experience. We also get to know the leaders and guides for both expeditions, most of whom were very experienced climbers. These were expeditions that should have succeeded.

The immediacy of Krakauer's writing, as he relives every day, every hour, and sometimes every minute of the experience, conveys the hard work involved in climbing to the peak of Everest and the desire that drove the climbers on, until a sudden turn in the weather left them struggling to stay alive in a hostile environment where they only had themselves to depend upon.

No one seemed aware of the approaching storm. Some bad decisions were made. Mistakes and more bad decisions were made by men and women weakened both physically and mentally by the elements. In the end, some of the most experienced people failed to survive, while other less experienced people miraculously did.

This is a true and tragic story that's not easily forgotten, especially by Krakauer, who ends his introduction to the book by confessing, "I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time." This is a story Krakauer had to tell in the way that only he could, and I for one am glad he shared it with us.

I saw the Frontline documentary "Storm over Everest" by David Brashears which features interviews with several of the individuals mentioned in the book. You definitely get two different perspectives when watching the documentary and reading this book, but both accounts are riveting. I found myself pulling for the characters throughout the book, and I was exhausted when I finished.

Into Thin Air, the second of Krakauer's self-described three books to date on fringe elements of society, is about the mountaineering tragedy on Mt. Everest in May, 1996. He was with one of the teams on the mountain at the time for an article he was writing for Outside magazine.

In general, the story is about people who, for reasons known only to them, subject themselves to very extreme, sometimes-not-survivable weather and altitude conditions in the interets of having "climbed" the mountain (many truly climb, some of whom are able to summit; some pay significant amounts of money for what can perhaps best be called "taken," sometimes to the peak). More specifically, the book is about the numerous teams on the mountain at the time and the extraordinary difficulties encountered, some due to the limited training of paying customers, many due to the sheer number of people trying to get up and back down within the same period, all exacerbated by the weather conditions. A very tragic story ... several talented, courageous climbers died in the process and others had life-altering injuries.

Many books have been written on the events (Boukreev, Breashears, Viesturs, and others), but to my knowledge this was the first. It is well-written and, in many ways, reads like you would expect - by a talented professional writer who witnessed a truly devastating situation first-hand and who, at the time, wasn't anywhere near "over it." Highly recommended, whether or not you have any interest in mountain climbing.

This book is a true story. As such, it is amazing that men and women still will try to climb this mountain to the peak. Dangerous conditions come from everywhere, lack of oxygen, weather, and the mountain itself. Plus I must mention the climbers, some of which, are not prepared for this ascent. Have some tissues handy.
This book is well written. It tells a story of triump and tragedy and of human error and its consequences. You must read it for yourself.
GREAT SUMMER READ, or anytime.

I'm not a big non-fiction adventure book aficianado, but this book was wonderful. Jon Krakauer is the type of author who can make you feel what he's feeling and see what he's seeing without being overly verbose. I felt the epilogue was especially poignant.

Like many other one star reviewers here, I read Into Thin Air first and found the story quite compelling. After reading The Climb and Above the Clouds, its clear Into Thin Air was hastily written and poorly researched. I also question Outside magazine's journalism in the original article as its easy to question the fact checking involved in that article.

Don't spend your money on Krakauer.

I read this after seeing the PBS doc Storm Over Everest, and found it quite an interesting adjunct. I note that all the one-star reviews here say read Boukreev's book and see what a liar Krakauer is, but I doubt it's that cut and dried. I don't see that he's as egocentric here as many say, nor that he is as noble. He seems a little of both to me, ie a human being.
In any case, the book reads well, though it's no great piece of literature, just a solid, somewhat overlong narrative of a fascinating and tragic event.
Sandy Pittman must be thoroughly ashamed of herself if half of this is true; she tried to buy her way to the top while getting sherpas to carry her espresso machine and satellite dishes, and good people died as a result. The Taiwanese climbers seem equally egocentric and uncaring for others. Then again, the guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer may be equally to blame for encouraging people who weren't ready to make the climb, just so the guides could make more money and get more recognition.
Looks pretty much like the Mother Goddess spanked them all damn hard, and in some ways this reads like a straight-up Shakespearean tragedy, with all the hubris and drama that entails.
Worth reading.
I'm looking forward to reading Boukreev's book, but I think in the end there'll be three sides to this story...

I just read this book while on vacation in Mexico for a week. Talk about gripping! Each successive camp takes you higher and higher, as the suspense builds. You really get a feel for the determination and ultimate tragedy that drove and still drives people to climb Everest. Some people take issue with Krakauer, but you should give it a read and decide for yourself. PBS recently ran a two hour documentary on this trip that was simply breathtaking!! GREAT BOOK!

Personally, Jon Krakauer is my all time, hands down favorite author. I am an adventure junkie. This was the second book i ever picked up of his and i seriously could not put it down. I am in college, normally college students have tons of other things to do than read, but i put things off just so i could read this book. I LOVE IT! If you are an adventurist, adrenaline junkie, a climber, a camper, a hiker... read it...

This story is a page turner which I read in a single night. It's the gripping tale, told in a powerful way of how too many climbers and competing agendas led to a major disaster on Mt. Everest. I saw the story as one of power and control run amuck leading to the loss of too many lives. Of one man who sat down to die, and of another who refused to die even when left for dead three times. The story takes many twists and turns and involves dozens of key characters, so it would be hard to read over too long a period of time since there are a lot of details to track. Never the less, it's a great adventure story that illustrates the dangers of miscommunication at the top of the world.

Krakauer doubtlessly is a great story-teller who can keep you engrossed in every detail he delivers at each turn of the story. My only complaint is that he sprinkles difficult vocabulary not only without any added effect, but clunkily, making certain words stand out from the rest of his prose. Take, for example, the following sentence:

"Now, four days later, Nukita warned us that a similarly PREDACIOUS swarm of print and television reporters lay in wait for us..." (280, emphasis added)

Um... why not just "predatory"? Is it just me, or is the word "predacious" as common a word as "predatory"?

Or take another sentence:

"But such moments were tempered by the long PENUMBRA cast by Everest..." (282, emphasis added)

Again, why not infinitely more understandable and easy-to-imagine "SHADOW"? Why "PENUMBRA"? Why go so poetic and abstract all of a sudden? I was literally thrown off balance when I came across the word in midsentence because it's so out of place. Besides, it hazards leaving the reader wondering what the word means rather than sympathizing with the author's plight. My complaint is based on the fairly commonsensical belief that when a word is not adding anything - whether it be impact, image, style, etc. - it should be ruthlessly cut and/or replaced with another. PENUMBRA seems to fall pat into this sort of instance. Unfortunately, I didn't keep detailed note of every instance in which the author slipped in flashy words tragically to the detriment of his own otherwise lucid prose, I can't say for certain how often he did it, but as far as i remember, there were numerous similar occasions where I thought the word he chose was definitely working against his writing.

But my quibbling ends here and I only have kudos for the book. It's an awesome adventure story about people with astounding willpower under the worst and extremest of environmental conditions imaginable. Highly recommended.

As with his other ode to ego versus nature, "Into the Wild", Mr. Krakauer makes it clear with "Into Thin Air" that nature is best seen as a test bed for the elite and ego inflamed to examine their will and inner mettle or, um, die. As a result "Into Thin Air" leaves the old school of respectable and fearful examination of man living WITH nature (see the books of Ernest Seton among many others as an example) into a new school of nature writing dedicated to exploring the various ways a man or woman must overcome nature or perish in the attempt. Which, let's face it, is just plain silly. There is very little to recommend in this viewpoint, it is narcissistic and sophomoric and ultimately degrading to both nature and man; so goes the book, and for that matter, so goes the Nepal Everest base camp, which has become, at my last visit, an open dump/sewer.

If you really must read about the dangers of Mt. Everest, you are much, much better off reading "Mountain without Mercy" by B. Coburn, T. Cahill and D. Breashers. Better yet, pick up the book In Highest Nepal; Our Life Among the Sherpas by Norman Hardie. Norman doesn't conquer Mt. Everest or even care to, in fact he never even attempts the summit. Instead he lives among the Sherpa and discovers the various means they've discovered to live with the most extreme that nature has to offer. Which, in my view, is what nature writing should be about.

When I was very young, I believed my purpose in life was to climb Mount Everest. I was fascinated by the idea of hiking through the snow and eventually reaching the highest piece of land on earth. Walking to school, I would imagine myself climbing the mountain. Every road I crossed was a vast crevasse, thousands of feet deep. But, like most childhood dreams, I eventually grew out of it. So, Recently when I saw a book captioned: "The Mount Everest Disaster," the old ashes were rekindled and I naturally had to read it.

Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's recollection of the "Mount Everest Disaster," as the cover phrases it. He gives background information of every climber on his team as well as general facts about Mount Everest and climbing itself. Krakauer's style is excellent, and afterwards it feels as if you were there on the mountain beside him.

The book was a little slow at the beginning, unfortunately. Maybe it was the fact that none of the names meant anything to me, or the fact that everything is described in great detail, sometimes seeming very long and drawn out. Eventually I got used to it, and it ultimately was necessary for understanding all of the character's actions later on. One great aspect of the book is that Krakauer names who died right off the bat. Not only did that make me immediately interested, but it also became nerve wracking later in the book, knowing which characters were destined to never return home.

Krakauer is a born storyteller. Most storytellers do just that. They tell stories. But unlike most storytellers, Krakauer had his own story to tell. It was a life-changing story at that. Many authors could have barely made up such a great tale out of thin air, but this actually happened. That is the most haunting fact of the story, it is true.

Regardless if you like climbing, hiking, or snow, this is a great book. Even if reading isn't enjoyable, this book is. In short, this is the best book I have read in a very long time.

I read Into Thin Air in school. After hearing from many other students, I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book. After getting into the story, I changed my mind.
The story starts off somewhat slow, as they are not on the mountain yet, but picks up after the 7th chapter. It is one of those books that you want to read straight through. It always leaves you on the edge, wanting to read more. This book is about the true but sad story of climbers from everest expeditions. They summited at a bad time and got caught in a horrible storm, leaving many climbers behind. I don't know if this book is completely accurate, as it has been challenged many times but no one knows what happened that year for sure.

In spite of many reviews of this book which suggest that Mr. Krakauer's account of this Everest expedition is self-serving and overly critical of Anatoli Boukreev, I found it to be a moving and unbiased narrative of an event which has obviously devastated the author and left him wracked with guilt.

Into Thin Air is a riveting and exceptional account of the 1996 Everest disaster that left many brave people -- tourists and guides -- dead. If the author, Jon Krakauer, did not try and identify the factors which led to this tragic end, we as readers would be sorely disappointed with the book. Clearly, we want to know what happened and what went wrong. Krakauer tries to describe the events as he remembers them, and he has called upon many of his companions in this nightmare to share their memories as well.

He does not point fingers, and this is an important point for me. An event of this magnitude was too complicated to have a single cause, and no one person or action could be solely responsible. I realize that the relatives (and fans) of Hall, Fischer, and Boukreev don't want to hear about mistakes they might have made, and yet I always found Krakauer to be fair in his observations. Hall's death is tragic, and I cried while reading about it. But still, Hall did not follow his own guidelines that day, and Krakauer explores the reasons he might have acted against his better judgment.

And yes, Boukreev was a hero who single-handedly saved several people -- but his actions earlier in the day had their small part in the impending disaster. Some other reviewers carry on as if Krakauer has identified Boukreev's decision to climb without oxygen as the sole cause of the disaster. He never says that. It's just one detail in a web of causalities.

Krakauer does not spare himself. He makes it clear that he was in a state of collapse in his tent, asleep, while Boukreev was heroically staging a rescue attempt. And he is very, very clear about the role he played in the death of Andy Harris. I think Mr. Krakauer will take that guilt with him to the grave.

This is a moving, well-written, and (in my opinion) realistic and unbiased account. I found it to be unforgettable.

Anyone who wants to climb Mount Everest after reading this book is raving mad.

Jon Krakauer's storytelling is amazing. You feel as if you are on Everest with him (and with the condemned on that fateful climb): you feel the numbing cold and lack of oxygen; you are maddened by the ignorance of inexperienced climbers; you can't take another minute of the physical exertion and are desperate for rest.

Krakauer makes you really care about the people who are injured or killed. He is painfully honest and obsessed with accuracy, but it's far from boring; the book reads like a thriller.

While this book makes for a very compelling reading, it raises several questions about the accuracy of the story as told by Krakauer. Krakaeur consistently downplays and denigrates Boukreev's heroics and experiences of climbing without use of bottled oxygen. In the meantime, Krakaeur opens the book by describing how on the way down from the summit, he asked a fellow climb to shut off the oxygen during a traffic jam, only to find that the fellow climber accidentally turned up the valve. According to Krakaeur, this unplanned use of oxygen left him even more groggy and Krakaeur implies that the fellow climber's error contributed his near "comatose" state once he got down. (and why he did not join in on rescue)

Anatoli Boukreev's Climb should be read alongside the book.

No matter what the reason, when beckoned to assist other climbers, Krakauer did not do so. Boukreev did assist. Heroically.

You then decide, whose story is more accurate, and closer to the truth.

While this book makes for a very compelling reading, it raises several questions about the accuracy of the story as told by Krakauer.

Anatoli Boukreev's Climb should be read alongside the book.

When beckoned to assist other climbers, Krakauer did not do so. Boukreev did assist.

You then decide, whose story is more accurate, and closer to the truth.

I recently became obsessed with reading about Everest and this book has been by far the best I have read. Jon Krakauer is a fantastic author and has put together arguably the best account of the tradgedy of 1996.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster I never dreamed of climbing Mt. Everest whether it was there or not, hell I get winded on the ski lift. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air evokes intoxicating wonder in the endeavor, while tempering it with the stark reality of deadly conditions and daunting sacrifice.

Krakauer writes in a way that is so pain-stakingly specific to the subject, yet somehow he leaves room for the reader's imagination to fill in the scene. A rudimentary map in the prologue pages colored by about a dozen black and white glossies mid-way through the book were all I needed to paint an intimate picture of the 1996 Mt. Everest Disaster.

I'd never put much thought into what it would take to do something as monumental as climbing Mount Everest. Logistics aside, preparing oneself for such a quixotic adventure must include long hours staring into the mirror. I was captivated by the soul cleansing effect of pushing one's mind and body so far beyond the boundaries of safety and sanity. Krakauer's story enlightens this aspect as only someone writing from real experience can. The reality and tragedy of these events only begin in the text. The full force of the story gripped me far beyond words.

Shivering through pre-dawn walks to the subway in Brooklyn while reading Into Thin Air, I tried to picture myself trudging across the frozen waste of the Western Cwm with a trusty Sherpa by my side. Fifty below zero, sixty mile per hour wind gusts, hundred foot crevasses, thirty percent oxygen levels, sheesh, count me out, I'll wait for the DVD.

Now, I don't want to turn my blog into a book review site (how friggin' boring would that be?), but I love this guy! Into Thin Air is recommended reading.

Vinny

This is an amazing story of an unimaginable nightmare that happened on Mt Everest. Even though I have no mountaineering experience or even much interest, I read this book in just a few days. The story is haunting and Krakauer does an amazing job retelling what happened on that fateful expedition.

Jon Krakauer is a great storyteller. I literally could not put this book down, reading it cover to cover in one day. Most books can't hold my attention for more than 50-60 pages at a time, but I was simply so engrossed in this story and the vivid imagery Krakauer painted with his words that I simply couldn't stop reading it.

The reader gets a palpable sense of what the expedition teams members suffered through. The extreme miseries of cold, exhaustion, and oxygen deprivation. The book consistently portrays the dangers of the low oxygen environment. The worst of these are pulmonary and cerebral edema, which can both cause death unless the climber is brought to a lower altitude. But probably the most deadly effects of the thin air is hypoxia, the under-saturation of oxygen in the blood. Although not directly life-threatening, it can cause confusion, disorientation, and hallucinations. In an already dangerous environment, having less the full faculties is a deadly hindrance. Krakauer recounts many incidents where team members, due to hypoxia, failed to put on their harnesses correctly, neglected to put on their gloves to protect their hands from the below freezing temperatures, or gave team members incorrect information in their confused state that could have proven deadly.

Also palpable is the overwhelming drive and determination to reach the summit that ultimately cost some their lives. And the agonizing, heart-breaking dilemma that comes when deciding when a team member can't go on and can't be rescued. When do you leave them for dead? But there are moments of inspiration even in those stories. Take Beck Weathers, a forty-nine year old Texan left for dead, not once but twice. His will to live defied all odds. After being left buried overnight in the snow, Weathers was found barely alive by teammates the next day. They determined he was beyond saving and left him to let nature take it's course. But hours later, he roused himself up and managed to walk back to camp. Even then, his condition was so poor he was not expected to live and was left back at camp in favor of getting more viable members down the mountain. Defying the odds, he descended to base camp with the aid of another expedition crew and was flown back to a hospital in Kathmandu.

Then comes the ultimate question, how can an expedition led by an experienced and talented climbing guide like Rob Hall go so wrong? In a nutshell, Hall made an exception to his own guidelines in an apparent sympathetic attempt to see one team member make the summit after failing to do so the year before. It left the expedition to descend far later than Hall knew they should have. It cost eight people their lives, including Hall himself.

In reading this book, you really get a sense of who all the team members are. Krakauer writes with great clarity and empathy. He has a very readable narrative style. This is one book I'll be recommending often.

This truly is a beautiful book, with a lot of good pictures, and is a good read for anyone who is in love with the tallest mountain in the world.

I loved this book and finished it in about 2 days. I'm now watching the Discovery series on Everest also. Krakauer is a superb writer with a gift for blending drama, narrative and fact-telling in a stylish manner. [...]
Highly recommended.

I found this book extremely intriguing it keeps on the edge all through it. The author in the end addresses some of what has been seen by others as weak points. I think this is the best adventure book I have read.

In May 1996, mountaineer and author, Jon Krakauer, is commissioned by "Outside" magazine to join a commercially led endeavor to the summit of Mt. Everest. In typical riveting Krakauer fashion, this true story chronicles the struggles between the two most ravenous forces on earth; mother nature and human nature. At the core of this harrowing tale is man's relentless desire to succeed. Everest emerges as the classic metaphor to an underlying current of avarice.

Seeking publicity, Scott Fischer, owner of Mountain Madness Expeditions; solicits Krakauer as a reporter for Outside to join his team of clients to the summit. Outside, however, finds a better deal with Fischer's competition, Adventure Consultants; led by Rob Hall. Both teams attempt their assault on the summit with a deadly storm brewing on the horizon and a stew of professional jealousy simmering on the fire. As mother nature ponders her assault in the troposphere and a mountain of publicity on the line, both Hall and Fischer are under pressure to get their clients to the top; Fischer more so if Hall fails. Their rivalry results in both men relaxing their own critical safety rules, resulting in the worst single season death toll in Everest history.

There are a few tear jerking moments, including one man's resolve to survive against the most devastating odds imaginable.

For those who seek high adventure from the comfort of an easy chair at sea level, Into Thin Air will not let you down.

Into Thin Air is the account by Jon Krakauer, a reporter working for Outside Magazine, chronicling a climb on Mt. Everest. Krakauer, who was originally slated to climb with a group called Mountain Madness, based in Seattle and directed with Scott Fischer, was then switched to a group called Adventure Consultants, based in New Zealand and directed by Rob Hall. This book is a blow by blow account of the approach, climb, and disaster that occurred on the summit day, leading to the deaths of Fischer, Hall, as well as four other people. While Fischer and Hall were quite accomplished climbers, and experienced with Everest, major decision errors, and arrogance, led to the catastrophes that occurred. Firstly, both groups took extreme pride in getting anybody with any experience at all up the mountain. Secondly, neither group followed their own rules. Neither would fix lines, expecting the other team, or, two other completely inept and inexperienced teams, to fix the ropes, and neither obeyed their own decision to turn back at a certain hour, if the summit wasn't achieved. In addition, there were simply too many people on the mountain attempting the summit push at one time to allow for speed, efficiency, and safety. It was a perfect setup for disaster. Understandably, clients pay reasonably high fees to be personally escorted to the summit of Everest, but, when one needs to be carried and dragged to the summit, as happened with Doug Hansen and Sandy Pittman, it defies the honor of actually having climbed the mountain. One of the guides, Anatoli Boukreev, a Russian climber of unbelievable fitness, came under harsh scrutiny of Mr. Krakauer for reportedly abandoning several clients to look after his own personal safety, even though it was Boukreev's personal valor that saved several clients, Pittman and Fox from otherwise sure death. Boukreev actually wrote a book The Climb to defend his own actions. Criticism of Krakauer's writing, related to a failure to also look out for his fellow climbers by going ahead of the rest of the team. Part of this was understandable, as the rest of the team was not in good fitness and did not belong on the mountain, or should have turned back long ago. It has been argued the Krakauer's slick jouralistic prose tended to minimalize his faults, and accentuate others, though I didn't sense that this was domineering. Certainly, constructive criticism looks at the climbing errors, which was made by virtually everybody on the mountain, rather than a single person. So you might ask, did they learn their lessons? I don't think so. Get into the expedition groups' websites ( [...] ) and you will find that they are continuing this madness. You can even sign up for a several month ski-expedition to the South or North Pole! Not a good idea. Everest, and even smaller peaks, like Denali or even Rainier, should be limited to those who climb on a regular basis, and have a clue how to do advanced rescue and techniques of the mountain. A recent catastrophe on Rainier was exactly this sort of thing--poorly prepared clients who went through a short class on self arrest and knot tying being dragged up a capricious and unpredictable mountain.

Few personal narratives can come close to capturing the mixture of adventure, awe, and tension that Krakauer builds here. As it says in the title of my review, this is the only book that I have read twice. The second time, it wasn't until the end that I noticed I had just finished the book again - it's that gripping. From the first page to the last, Kraukauer pulls you in and doesn't let you go until you've encountered the suffocating feeling of the death zone, or temperatures that seem to turn blood to ice. Ultimately, Kraukauer is able to display the joys, sacrifices and terrors associated with summiting Everest - a feat that has come to symbolize the pinnacle of man's earthbound achievement. Simply splendid. Buy it!

I loved this book. Our book club picked it to read. It told me alot about mountain climbing. It was written so that you felt you were there.
I think these people are crazy to do something that they know may bring about their death. Some of them were married,or had small children. I had no idea about the length of time it took to climb a mountain like that and also the yucky bathroom problems and "thinking" problems that arise when you climb so high. I would recommend it as a learning experience, but it is sad to know that some climbers will not return home.

this was easily one of the best books i've ever read. now to read some of the other accounts of the 1996 everest disaster to get other perspectives.

Krakauers first hand account of the "Everest Disaster" is horrifying yet amazing. Once I arrived at the halfway point of the book, I said to myself "How did I not know about this?" The tragedy is so intense and unique, and Krakauer does absolute justice to the story and to himself. This is a tale that appeals to adventurers, mountaineers, history buffs, well you know what it just about appeals to anyone! Thats why it is such a profound story. I think it shouldn't be bound to one genre because some people limit thereselves to just one type of novel. I read this book for a college English class, but it turned out to be more of a personal enjoyment than I originally thought.

It's quite shocking at some points, because the death toll is a wee bit high, but this just as to the raw vivid reality that was the Everest Disaster. Krakauer writes like the thoughts in our heads. He relates to us and speaks from his personal experience, unlike writers who flaunt their intelligence. The book is real and unsheltered or sugarcoated.

Into Thin Air is one of those novels that you must read in life even though its not your genre. It's like one of those novels that serves as a foundation for American literature. Please go to your local library or Barnes and tell me if that first chapter doesn't suck you in like a tornado.

Absolutely amazing book. I couldn't stop talking about it with anyone I ran into that would listen! Shipped in a timely manner

This was a well written book, the reader felt the freezing weather, lack of oxygen and the cramping of muscles. It was so well documented. Jon Krakauer is an excellent writer.

As an outdoors and mountaineering enthusiast, I found this book to be a critical read in gaining knowledge and experience in my never ending pursuit of the thrills offered by the outdoors. It is important that all who undertake dangerous thrills, especially those found atop mountains or in dense woods, share in this story, and the dangers that we face. Some of us are naive enough to think that nothing bad can happen, even when all plans and protocols are strictly adhered to. This book brings us the harsh reality that even the most experienced climbers, naive or not, can succumb to the perils that we face in our own quests. I consider this book a must read for all mountaineers and outdoorsmen.

David Huntington

The book was received in great condition, timely and we were happy with our purchase.
thank you

While in college back in May, 2000, my paleontology professor told our class about this book. I remember him telling us about how he was unable to put the book down once he started reading it, about how those climbers froze to death, and about how one managed to rise from the dead and get off the mountain alive. Back then, I had never read a book of this length, ever, unless I was forced to by a teacher to write a report or study for a test. Honestly, I always felt reading was a waste of time, especially anything over 10-20 pages; this book is over 300. But for some strange reason this book was always in the back of my mind because I never forgot about the professor's account of how good it was to read.

Today is December 18, 2007, over 7 years since my professor mentioned the book to me. And for another reason I can't understand, last week I decided to purchase the book and read it, 7 years later. Once I got this book, I was so addicted to reading it I forgot who I was, where I was, or what I was doing. The next day I read the book in the morning on the train, skipped lunch at work and kept reading, and kept on reading later that day on the train ride home from work. The book was stuck to my hands like a magnet!

It's written very well and organized even better. From the first few pages you can't wait to read about what happens next. The author does a great job in describing the details of the climb (upward ascent), which is a little more than half way in to the book, and the remaining pages describe the horrific events that changed the lives of so many people that day. To say I was moved by this book would be an understatement.

On a bizarre side note, one night when I was about 75% in to the book, I remember it was late, probably 2:30AM, and I had been reading for almost 3 hours straight. The weather outside was very cold and extremely windy with gale force winds up to 60mph, not unlike the conditions on Everest as Jon describes in the book. Since it was late I decided to go to sleep, but this turned out to be almost impossible. My mind was so in to this book that the weather kept telling my mind that I was on the mountain experiencing the chilling conditions of that horrible night on Everest in 1996! I could not convince my mind otherwise! I was flat out crapping in my pants because I was so moved by the book. The brain can play some serious tricks on us, and needless to say, I got about 1-2 hours of sleep that night. The wind did not let up until 9AM the next morning. A moving experience, to say the least....

Now I am searching for books to read like a mad man, go figure...

Highly recommended!
I don't know why anybody would ever subject themselves to these types of extremes, but to read about them is fascinating.
Jon very subtlety makes himself to be the best climber of the mountain (which me very well may have been), and his honesty throughout and following the account comes through.
Highly recommend this book.

This great book, beautifully written by Krakauer, deals with the deadly experience of a group of climbers (leaded by experienced mountaineers) on their journey to Mt. Everest.
Values as humility, respect, perseverence (and also flaws as greed and selfishness) are neatly described.
If interested in drive a team towards an objective, it teaches on how to achieve it by showing what hasn't to be done: Krakauer's mates, they learn it the hard way.
A book you won't stop reading until finished.

This book is so moving. I read it really fast once and then immediately started over slowly, paying attention to details. The view of the writer and then the sharing in the final pages was so unbelievably honest and forthcoming. Thanks!

An expertly written, riveting narrative, with a lot of anger seeping through, the author unfortunately feels compelled to point fingers and cast blame for the tragedy on Everest in 1996. No one is spared this harsh examination, except himself, and this somewhat sours what is otherwise a fabulously riveting tale of tragedy and adventure.

Enough has been said and written about the qualities of this book - superbly paced, fabulous attention to detail, insight into the background and history of the mountain and the Sherpa's, commentary on the morality and wisdom of 'guided ascents' up Everest, etc etc. All of these are true - the book is great.

What struck me, however, after a re-read 10 years later (I read the book when it first was released, after reading the Outside article he wrote) was the discrepency and one-sided reporting of many of the personalities in the book. Krakauer only tells half the story of many of the people in this book - and usually the negative half.

The most classic one, of course, is his treatment of Anatoli Boukreev's behavior on that infamous summit day. I will skip an examination of this, as it has been covered in depth elsewhere, most specifically in Boukreev's rebuttal of this book, 'The Climb'. But just as striking are his depictions of other climbers on the mountain, and his, frankly, negative and sometimes unfair depictions of them.

For example - when one read's David Breashears account of the tragedy - a far more experienced Himalayan climber than Krakauer, who was filming with Ed Viesturs for the IMAX expedition - the opinion he has of Sandy Pittman are in stark contrast to Krakauer's account, which paints her as a primadonna who had no real business being on the mountain. Breashears, by contrast, paints her as a competent veteran of high-altitude climbing, who had already twice before been on Everest, had scaled six of the so- called 'Seven Summits'(the highest mountain on each continent), and knew the risks and conditions she would face.

His treatment of the Ian Woodall controversy also was interesting - while most accounts do agree that Woodall's expedition was rife with tensions and that Woodall was not a popular figure - Krakauer's account mentions that Nelson Mandela called to plead with the team to hold together for unity sake, and goes on at length about the disunity in the team and it's machinations on the mountain; but it completely *fails* to mention that Nelson Mandela both called the team again after the tragedy (when they decided to climb anyway) to wish them luck, and that on their return they were rewa