Ryan Jerz :: Reno Blogger, Reno Blog

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Just your average self-absorbed, condescending talking head


Short Book Review: Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Author(s): Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Villard
ISBN: 0679457526
Amazon | ShelfariWhile I’ve complained a bit in my reviews of being a pretty slow reader, I’d like to give myself a prop or two here. I read this one as fast as I’ve read a book in some time. The way I appreciated Under the Banner of Heaven probably had a lot to do with how I went into this book. Based upon a few suggestions I decided to look into Krakauer’s other books, and this one was the first available.

I admit I only vaguely remembered ever hearing about this expedition up Mt. Everest, so I was learning a lot about what was once an actual current event as I read. That added a bit to the drama of the book, as tragic as it was. Knowing that what those guys experienced up there was real engulfed me far more than the story would have done had this not actually happened. Anyway, here is the Shelfari review I wrote:

This incredible story did several things for me. The easy ones are: it made me in no way want to take up something like mountain climbing, it made me understand how someone can easily be left for dead (intentionally or unintentionally) on a mountain like Everest, and it made me desperately ant to learn more about Everest, the region surrounding the mountain, and the people who live there. Like Under the Banner of Heaven, Krakauer got me. He pulled me in and made me want to read until I couldn’t stay awake. There was even a part in this when I felt like I was short of breath, just like he was as he went up the mountain.

Climbing Everest takes a certain selfishness and a certain insanity. Why would anyone want to spend that amount of time in misery—short of breath, tired, unable to move, and even teetering on the edge of death? I certainly wouldn’t. But every year, more people give it a shot. in 1996, when Krakauer’s story takes place, 12 people gave their lives to the mountain. A series of bad judgments and miscalculations led to a big tragedy. It had to have been horrible to be there, and even in a hypoxic stupor, Krakauer seemed to understand the predicament he and his team were in. All the training, all the preparation, and all the effort didn’t matter when a storm stranded 19 climbers in the open atop the mountain. It seems so wasted.

Luckily for us, down here where it’s much safer, Krakauer lived to tell the story to the best of his ability, and hopefully his story will be a warning to others that it might not be all it’s cracked up to be on Everest.

My thoughts on such things like climbing Everest did not change. Actually, I might be even more unwilling to ever embark on something even remotely similar. It just seemed like those guys put themselves through over a month of hell, only to watch some of their friends die directly because of that hell. It’s stupid to me. The book was fantastic. I read it wishing that I would have Into the Wild available as soon as I was done. It taught me, kept me interested, and I think it made me change the way I think just a little.


tags: adventure, climbing, disaster, himalayas, into thin air, jon krakauer, mt everest, short book review, tragedy
posted by Ryan Jerz on 09/18/2007

Comments

The Anon Guy, Sep 19, 04:35 AM #:

There is something incredibly exhilarating about reaching a summit. It’s a cliche now, but there is truth in the “because it’s there” creed. My brother high-pointed most of the West and despite the actual pain in the ascent he said it always washed away once the peak was conquered. But, as you well know from the book, that is only half the journey.

If you are still interested in the Everest disaster, you should try Anatoli Boukreev’s “The Climb”. It gives his point of view on what happened. Sadly, Boukreev died on Annapurna in ’97.

And, if you still are interested in the genre, give Krakauer’s “Eiger Dreams” a spin. If I remember correctly it was a series of short stories and a quick read.

kapgar, Sep 19, 09:18 AM #:

Krakauer is your current crack fix, isn’t he?

Ryan Jerz, Sep 20, 03:17 AM #:

@kapgar, I prefer crack to Krakauer, but he is good for reading.

@AnonGuy, while I believe you there on reaching summits, I doubt greatly that I have the climbing thing in me. A friend is reading Boukreev’s book right now so I might just do that.

Robert Payne, Sep 20, 12:30 PM #:

My review of Into the Wild – A depressed, self-centered kid seeking solitude gets killed doing some stupid shit that I could almost see myself doing. Ha!

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