Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

Well damn. I don't know what exactly I was expecting when I picked up this book. I knew it would be tragic but nothing could have prepared me for how graphically and vividly Krakauer was able to portray the failed expedition. Even though it was hard to remember who was who in the long list of people on the mountain, I still felt deeply saddened by every death. This is an incredible accounting of such a traumatizing experience. This book really makes you think deeply about human mortality and the psychology behind those who are willing to jeopardize their lives to accomplish the most dangerous exploits. It also makes you think about humanity's respect (or lack thereof) for nature, the inability to admire great beauty from afar to the point that beauty is destroyed. On a lighter note, I learned a lot about climbing and there's much more still that I couldn't quite grasp. Maybe once I recover in ten years, l'll read again to try to understand more about the geography and climbing techniques the author did so well in attempting to describe.

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caidyn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.5

Damn, what a sad book. There was a great buildup from the author to introduce people and the conditions of that year. Very sad, but also a very good book.

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danimacuk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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nimeneth's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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hols_s's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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aspenpastore's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

This was tense. Jon wrote a well-researched confessional about the 1996 Everest disaster. The writing is thorough and excellent, almost chilling in his matter-of-fact description of what came to pass. I came to care about all those who either died or survived. Wild to imagine the suffering they all endured and how it all happened. and yes, as jon wrote, mountaineering is exciting because of the danger, not in spite of it. the reality of what that danger means is what this book lays out in detail. there are no villains, and hardly heroes, only some heroic actions.

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a_reader_of_book's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.75

I've never wanted to climb Everest, and now I for sure never will. I just don't have that in me. But Krakauer helped me to understand what could possibly compel people to summit this monster of a mountain. Do you want to be shocked? Do you want to be scared? Do you want to feel utterly baffled as to why anyone would put their bodies through this? This book has all of that and a lot more. There were a lot of moments where I found myself reading with my mouth open and eyebrows raised as Krakauer recounted nearly unbelievable experiences. It was an eventful read and a heartbreaking story.

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