Sam

Into Thin Air Book by Jon Krakauer Read by Sam Left: Mt. Everest-29,002 ft., the altitude of a flying jet. Right: Jon Krakauer

 Summary- Into Thin Air is a novel chronicalling Jon Krakauer's journey to the highest point on Earth,   [|Mt. Everest]  , and the tragedy and strength that arises from his experience. The story starts with an introduction of Everest. The 29,000 foot giant has killed hundreds of people who dreamed of reaching this heavenly point. Only the strongest and smartest could conquer it. And even then, bad luck has killed many who were well prepared. But this doesn't deter Krakauer, who'd dreamed of climbing the giant since he was a little boy. Over the years he had worked as a reporter //for// Outdoors maganize and still kept that dream alive, but never really pursued it. Then in May 1996, the chance comes for him to climb the mountain and share his experience with the world. Little did he know that this trip would have such catasphrophic consequences. From Kathmandu, Nepal, he hikes his way to base camp, the starting point for the expedition. Along the way he sees amazing scenery and starts getting used to the thin high-altitude air that makes climbing so hard. The expedition he is joined in is The Adventure Consultants group, comprised of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, highly experienced guides who had climbed the mountain safely multiple times. He realizes though that his team mates aren't really joined together by any bond, only that to reach the top. However, he does make a close friend with Doug Hansen. To get acclimated to the high altitude, the team makes several trips from base camp to higher camps, traversing some of the most rough terrain on Earth. But none of this has shown the true spirit of Everest they will later find. When they start the summit push, to actually reach to top, they make a specific plan to be on top or turn around by 2:00, May 10. At first, everyone seems to be in good shape, making steady progress along the top of the mountain. Krakauer reaches the summit ahead of schedule. But the rest of the team, moving slower, reach the top much later than the proposed 2:00 turnaround. Almost down to camp, Krakauer sees a storm building in the distance and is worried that the team will be caught high on the mountain. This comes true and only several people reach the tents before the blizzard hits. Many team members are caught high on the mountain in the bitter cold, without any more bottled oxygen or warmth. Extremely worried, Krakauer and the guides go to search for the lost people and eventaully find them 500 meters away from camp, hypothermic, frostbitten, delerious from lack of oxygen and too weak to make it back on their own. Sandy Pittman, Charlotte Fox, and Beck Weathers are the fortunate ones who make it back, barely alive. But many others, including Yasuko Namba, Doug Hansen, two sherpas and even the two main guides, Hall and Fischer, suffered a much more unfortunate fate. So how did all of these people, many highly trained and experienced die? A mixture of unorganization, selfishness, overconfidence, and plain bad luck caused 1996 to be the most fatal season in Everest history. In total, 19 people died. After the tragic ordeal, Krakauer is overcome with pain and feelings that he could've helped his teammates from dying. Also, many families of the victims lashed out at him with grief and anger. But over time, a sense of strength arises from the experience and ultimately creates him into a stronger person.

Theme- I think the main theme that Into Thin Air puts across is to follow your dreams. And to keep pushing on is hard, like climbing Everest is. But Krakauer kept pushing on through the hardships and panic that arised and conquered the mountain. Another underlaying theme in this book is survival. You have to be tough and smart to survive. It's very difficult sometimes, but if you stop, the only good it's going to do is let you get killed by all of the dangers. So its important that he survived to tell this tale, so that the reader can learn from it.

Opinion- Personally, I thought at times Into Thin Air was a little boring, repetitive and too detailed. But when it got to the exciting parts, it was really compelling. Krakauer is a very good writer, in that he uses lots of description and imagery and pieces the parts together nicely. How he describes the horrors of the blizzard and the dying victims are bone chilling and really add suspense to see how everything will end up. Before, I knew nothing about Everest, so it was interesting to hear about such a magnificant place. And it shows how extreme it is to survive in a place like that. Overall, I think its a great book and I would definitely recommend it. Left: Map of the climbing route. Right: Krakauer's team ascends into the danger zone