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A review by pineapplebunnies
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account Of The Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Non-fiction that reads like fiction, Into Thin Air is at it’s best when it explores the culture of mountaineering and Everest, the hubris of the men who pursue it, and yet the thrill and wonder of the sport. Where it could’ve improved is the actual description of the events and the people involved, I definitely felt a bit lost and confused until I watched the movie, after which the names and faces clicked for me.
I never felt that Krakauer portrayed himself as a hero, or anything more than a man who was severely out of his depth. In fact, I don’t know that I liked him for much of the book, as he judged and condescendingly analyzed his teammates’ decisions. It does set himself up for a moment of character growth, however, and by the end of the book, you get the sense that the events have weakened his self assured, almost arrogant nature. Whether that’s actually true (especially considering how he responded to the Boukreev controversy) is hard to say. That said, the controversy surrounding these events and each survivor’s perspective only serves to exemplify that each person has their own truth about what happened at 29000 feet.
In any case, though this book was meant to serve as a warning for amateurs, I feel a sudden urge to go climb a mountain.
I never felt that Krakauer portrayed himself as a hero, or anything more than a man who was severely out of his depth. In fact, I don’t know that I liked him for much of the book, as he judged and condescendingly analyzed his teammates’ decisions. It does set himself up for a moment of character growth, however, and by the end of the book, you get the sense that the events have weakened his self assured, almost arrogant nature. Whether that’s actually true (especially considering how he responded to the Boukreev controversy) is hard to say. That said, the controversy surrounding these events and each survivor’s perspective only serves to exemplify that each person has their own truth about what happened at 29000 feet.
In any case, though this book was meant to serve as a warning for amateurs, I feel a sudden urge to go climb a mountain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death