|
|
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (Paperback) (Paperback)
by Jon Krakauer
| Category:
Adventure, Outdoors |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A true page-turner that combines interesting background elements with a well-told account of the events surrounding the tragedy and a humanity that could only come from the author's first-person experience. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
Detail |
Author |
Description |
Excerpt |
Reviews |
|
|
|
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition
Pub. in: October, 1999
ISBN: 0385494785
Pages: 368
Measurements: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BA00233
Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0385494786
|
|
Rate this product:
|
|
- Awards & Credential -
The #1 National Bestseller in North America, an adventure classic that have received rave reviews. Ranks #818 in books out of millions on Amazon.com as of January 29, 2007. |
|
- MSL Picks -
The story is about a young boy Christopher. He died in the mountain due to starvation. He went into the wild of Alaska with very simple equipment. The author wants to probe into his thinking and follow the trail of his venturesome track.
Perhaps timing is everything, but don't tell that to Jon Krakauer, an outdoors writer and mountain climber who was offered the opportunity of a lifetime to climb Mount Everest; only to find himself in the middle of the most notable catastrophe to ever strike the mountain. With the 50th anniversary of the successful assent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, there is renewed interest in Chomolungma (the Tibetan name for the mountain. Previous to the second half of the twentieth century, Everest was a forbidden monolith that crushed anyone who attempted to scale it's heights. But with it's invincibility shattered by Hillary and Norgay, Everest began to shed some of it's mystery, and bit by bit, the appearance (but just the appearance) of it's lethality. By the 90's, the primary requisite for a summit attempt was a bank account large enough to pay for an experienced guide. New problems like the litter of discarded oxygen canisters became a threat to the mountain, as the climbing ranks swelled with serious amateurs anxious to achieve various ego firsts like "first woman over 60," "first Lithuanian" to summit Everest, along with the highest mountains on each of the continents.
Outside magazine sent Krakauer on an expedition with Rob Hall, one of the most experienced of the new crop of guides, whose business it was to get climbers to the summit. Even with modern equipment and climbing techniques that's still a daunting task, not for the faint of heart or the expanded of waistline. However the professional mountaineers of Hillary's generation were being followed on Hall's expedition by a postal employee, a New York socialite and others. They were joined on the mountain by various teams, some so inexperienced as to be comical. Among the other teams was one led by Scott Fisher, another guide that was making a name for his ability to get people to the top and in a bit of braggadocio had even claimed that he had "found a golden staircase to the summit."
Krakauer outlines all of the minutia regarding preparation and execution of an Everest climb. You can almost find yourself wheezing as he describes what existence is like above the elevation that is known as the Death Zone. And he recounts in harrowing detail the storm that hit while Hall and Fisher's teams were near or below the summit, and the efforts of the others to rescue them. I had mixed feelings when I read of the final conversation between Rob Hall, as he sat helpless and dying on the mountain, and his pregnant wife back in New Zealand. Here is a man and woman exchanging their final words, both fully aware of his fate, and yet we mortals who will likely never be tested in this way are privy to his private thoughts and her quiet despair.
Moving from the role of dispassionate observer, into a deeper role of survivor, Krakauer anguishes over what he could have done differently, of the mistakes he believes he made and how he will ever reconcile his grief. Yes, he stood on the summit. Yes, he survived and returned home. But he has no satisfaction about conquering the mountain. And he questions why anyone else would even attempt it.
(From partly quoting Michael Meredith, USA)
Target readers:
Adventurers、mountaineers、explorers, outdoors and natuure lovers, hikers, any one else who is keen on outdoor adventures and experience, adventure readers, English majors, and advanced English learners.
|
|
- Better with -
Better with
Everest : Mountain Without Mercy
:
|
|
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1954, but moved to Corvallis, Oregon, when he was 2. At age 8, his father introduced him to the Northwest volcanoes and Smith Rocks back when this current climbing mecca was just a "trash heap." Krakauer never considered writing as a career until 1974, when a climbing magazine asked him to recount a first ascent in Alaska. He got more assignments, but had to supplement his meager literary income with work as a carpenter and fisherman. He started with Outside in 1980 and was able to quit fishing and building houses three years later. He is 42 years old and lives in Seattle with his wife of 15 years.
Krakauer is that rarity of rarities, an accomplished climber who can actually write about the sport - and the often-strange characters who do it - with depth and elegance.
|
|
From Publisher
Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions.
|
| View all 12 comments |
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
Having never understood why people climb mountains, and after seeing Beck Weathers on television last year, I bought Into Thin Air in order to gain more insight. Krakauer delivered.
Have some time on your hands, because once you begin reading Jon's story depicting the turn of events throughout his journey on Everest in the Spring of '96, you won't be able to stop reading until you've read the last word in his book. This account of summitting Everest is a page turner even though the outcome is old news. It will leave you wanting to know more about other attempts made on Everest, both failed and successful.
For those who don't understand why on earth anyone would want to do something as dangerous as climbing "Into Thin Air" on rock and ice... this book answers that curiosity. Because Jon introduces his readers to the backgrounds and personalities of the main characters in his book, we can better comprehend the different reasons people spend thousands of dollars and two or more months of their lives in "hell" on a mountain - freezing and injured - 'just to get to the top'. We learn through Krakauer why they continue their ascent even though the conditions are pure torture and more life threatening with each step; why they don't give it up once they've lost feeling in their extremities, separated their ribs, lost their vision, can no longer breathe due to oxygen depleted air, why they don't turn back even when they see the dead who've attempted to reach the summit on prior expeditions. You'll understand because of Krakauer's talent as a writer... his ability to replay his emotions, his thoughts, his experiences, and his opinions through writing.
You'll feel the frigid wind, the snow, the ice, the pain, the desperation, the sorrow, the regrets. The "if only's" will torture your soul just as they have and continue to torture Jon's.
He writes in such a way you will have no choice other than to join him on that mountain. You'll meet and get to know the members and guides of Rob Hall's team as well as Scott Fischer, his guides, and some of his team members whom you will respect even though you may not like. Unfortunately, not everyone on the mountain was a "good guy"... you'll be livid thanks to the danger the teams encounter due to the inexperience, egos, arrogance, and ruthlessness of the few "bad apples".
For the survivors, Jon's book is an avenue in which fathers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and other loved ones are portrayed as the heroes they were. Although some of the deceased's relatives were upset with Krakauer, it will seem unjust because of the respectful way in which he depicts his fellow mountaineers and the Sherpas.
|
J. Mullin (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
I found Into Thin Air, as well as Krakauer's excellent Into the Wild, to be two of the most gripping, emotional, unforgettable reads of my life. Into Thin Air tells a fascinating story of hardship, tragedy, heroism and perhaps lack of respect for nature, and unlike virtually all books of the genre the author was there, suffering through the storm and watching his comrades fall. Sebastian Junger, in his compelling book The Perfect Storm, pieced together information to try and imagine what it was like on the Andrea Gail out in the North Atlantic. Krakauer was actually on the summit of Everest in May 1996, and he takes the reader on one helluva ride.
Most of you who have gotten this far in the reviews knows the basic premise. Krakauer was sent to Everest by Outside magazine to join New Zealand guide Ron Hall's expeedition in the spring of 1996. He was there to write an expose about how anyone who is reasonably in shape, has some (and not a lot) of climbing experience, and who can fork over more than $60,000 could be taken to the summit of Everest while Sherpas and yaks carried most of your supplies, cooked your meals, and carried you when you collapsed. One climber even brought an espresso machine. He also wanted to comment on how Everest has become a virtual junk yard, with empty oxygen cannisters strewn all over the face of the mountain.
What he found changed his life forever. Krakauer was caught up in a deadly storm, that appeared virtually "out of thin air", leaving members of his and other teams stranded on the summit and on Hillary Step (a ledge just below the summit) with little chance of making it down. The story is gripping, suspenseful and ultimately deeply moving. The reader may think humans, especially those with pregnant wives at home, have no business at the summit of Everest, but you cannot help being deeply moved as you read about Rob Hall talking to his wife on the other side of the world, via satellite phone, to discuss the name of their unborn child while Hall is stranded on the mountain. The book kept me up nights as few others ever have.
A point about the "feud" with Anatoli Boukreev is worth mentioning, since, in my opinion, this has been blown out of proportion by others. Krakauer recognizes that each climber has his own way of doing things, but he took some shots at the Mountain Madness expedition led by Scott Fischer, and at his guide Boukreev in particular, for climbing without supplemental oxygen and for descending ahead of the group's clients. I think he made some good points there. Boukreev was no doubt a great climber, and his death in an avalanche the next year makes the whole debate a little pointless, but I think a client if I were to fork over $60,000 I have the right to expect that the guide will be out on the mountain with me as I descend, not warming up in the hut drinking tea. Boukreev is credited by Krakauer with a heroic trip back up the mountain during a blizzard to reach Fischer, and he may have been told earlier by Fischer to descend (we'll never know for sure), but those tactics are surely open to debate. Some reviewers here on Amazon have taken personal shots at Krakauer's actions during the storm, but he was no paid guide, and he rightfully takes some blame himself in his book for abandoning Beck Weathers and for giving some false info to the family of one of his guides, Andy Harris that added to the confusion in those first days of the incident.
In any event, if you want to get caught up in the whole Krakauer v. Boukreev debate, be my guest - you can read both of their accounts of what happened on that fateful trip. For my money, Krakauer's account is the definitive, well-written story, which should at the very least be used as a starting point for anyone interested in the 1996 Everest tragedy. And for most people (like myself) with little or no interest in climbing, read Into Thin Air on its own as a gripping, unforgettable account of a very public tragedy which you will not soon forget.
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
Jon Krakauer's narrative of the 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest is excellently written and extremely engrossing. Although the events are true, the book reads like a top action/adventure thriller, keeping us turning pages until the end. This is definitely a first-person account, though, and Krakauer makes sure the attention is centered on him, as he alternately extolls his virtues and reveals his faults. I felt extremely saddened when reading this book and I think we must look closely at how and why this tragedy happened. I cannot help but fault, in part, the two guides, Hall and Fischer. Both were experienced climbers and both had previously been on Everest. As guides, these men were running a business for profit and were desirous of satisfied customers - that meant making the summit. But these two men had also accepted the responsibility of caring for their clients' safety, as well as for the safety of those in expeditions not their own. The fact that they ignored self-imposed turn-around times simply cannot be forgiven. Ultimately, however, each person must take responsibility for his or her own actions. Technically, Everest is an easy climb, but the physical demands are enormous. The bulk of climbers were untrained, unfamiliar with their equipment, and simply not in the top physical condition needed to withstand the rigors of high-altitude climbing, a fact of which they certainly must have been aware. And if they weren't, then certainly Hall and Fischer were. Many of the previous reviewers have faulted the climbers for turning their backs on Beck Wethers and Yasuko Namba, but once you have actually engaged in high-altitude climbing, as I have done, you know Everest is not the place to become your brother's keeper. No one should have died and had Hall and Fischer turned around, as they should have, in all probability no one would have. Into Thin Air is a fascinating tale and one that poses many thought-provoking questions each man and woman must answer, not only on Everest, but in the course of his or her day-to-day life.
|
Christopher Calabrese (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-29 00:00>
I've been a Krakauer fan only for a couple of years and I quickly polished off Under the Banner of Heaven and Into the Wild shortly before tackling this masterpiece. I've read "Into Thin Air" several times, and I even picked up the made-for-tv-movie that was based on the book as well. (In case you're wondering, the acting is so terrible that it makes Keanu Reeves appear oscar-worthy! The action is terrible as well, but if you get obsessed with this book, and re-reading it doesn't do the trick, you can always pick up the movie to get your Krakauer-fix.)
After I had finished Into the Wild, I didn't think much could top it, but Into Thin Air is in a totally different league. I suppose one of the most amazing aspects of Krakauer's work is that it reads like fiction, while at the same time we know it is a true story. Most readers go into Into Thin Air knowing how it ends but we are still GLUED to every page and cannot seem to put it down!
I would hate to go too deep into the plot, because I wouldn't be doing it justice, although I've gone over the story time after time in my head, and I'm convinced of the following: Scott Fischer was the person to blame in this tragedy. The reason why there was a jam at the Hillary Step was because Lopsang Sherpa was too weak to work with the other sherpa. Therefore, when the climbers began to reach the step, it took an extra unforseen two hours to fix the ropes. The reason why Lopsang was so tired was because Sandi Pittman brought along a cappucino machine, laptop, and other luxuries. She was part of Fischer's group, and he saw Sandi as a free ride to future business. This is similar to how Krakauer and Outisde Magazine were Rob Hall's free ride as well. Anyway, Scott Fischer OK'd Sandi's extra supplies and it ended up partly dooming the climbing parties. I would say it is also Rob Hall's fault for not keeping to his 2pm turn-around time as well, but at $65,000 a pop, Hall was driven by the same motivation that drove Fischer - greed. I go back to Fischer, though, because if he had done the responsible thing, he would have made Sandi Pittman pay for an extra Sherpa, or Scott could have payed out of his own pocket, in order to get a return on investment for exposing his company through someone like Pittman. But then again, this is just my opinion.
I also feel strange when I think about this story... I feel close to it somehow; close to the characters as well. I cannot put into words how this book makes me feel. I'm not sure if it's just the story or Krakauer's writing style, but either way I believe everyone on earth should read this book. It would be well spent money.
|
View all 12 comments |
|
|
|
|
