May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less See less

FREE delivery August 1 - 14. Details

Usually ships within 3 to 4 days

$$24.95 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

The enhancements that you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller that you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Ships from USA and sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas US.

Other sellers on �鶹��

New & Used (45) from $13.28 & FREE Shipping

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Colour:

To view this video, download

Follow the author

Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster Paperback – Illustrated, Oct. 19 1999

by Jon Krakauer (Author)

22,671 ratings

4.3 on Goodreads

550,000 ratings

#1 Best Seller in Sports Journalism

See all formats and editions

�鶹��

' + '' + decodeURIComponent(encodedIframeContent) + ''+''); doc.close(); } } this.iframeload = function () { var iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframe.style.display = ''; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(initialResizeCallback); }, 20); } function getDocHeight(doc) { var contentDiv = doc.getElementById("iframeContent"); var docHeight = 0; if(contentDiv){ docHeight = Math.max( contentDiv.scrollHeight, contentDiv.offsetHeight, contentDiv.clientHeight ); } return docHeight; } function setIframeHeight(resizeCallback) { var iframeDoc, iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframeDoc = ((iframe.contentWindow && iframe.contentWindow.document) || iframe.contentDocument); if (iframeDoc) { var h = getDocHeight(iframeDoc); if (h && h != 0) { iframe.style.height = parseInt(h) + 'px'; if(typeof resizeCallback == "function") { resizeCallback(iframeId); } } else if (nTries < MAX_TRIES) { nTries++; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); }, 50); } } } this.resizeIframe = function(resizeCallback) { nTries = 0; setIframeHeight(resizeCallback); } } return DynamicIframe; });

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$24.95","priceAmount":24.95,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"24","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"95","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RyZKDQQq9CgalgU%2FdfQvmrUYonIYOaT6H60qB%2BwUWxxNCQPWdc3cRy3lADc0l9JEsk%2BdoFRz7YLJ8I8%2FwU2EJJC%2Bbxe1EcyxBtdj1M3Lsj1x1Yx00xTIlPamXLAeo0Rq","locale":"en-CA","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$13.28","priceAmount":13.28,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"28","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RyZKDQQq9CgalgU%2FdfQvmrUYonIYOaT6d4e9uPs%2BPJNkNvCmbjtUiWmnZ8p5OcTCHHcvlEhpQk69VjhKsSCzGQcfOropJGRFBYS3DErEzDxr8OvYpzp635EK6%2BEYvyiKzbGj1LgRPW3xY4jELPe5DSkgc%2Fu41GOo5DOPEj7NAKIGJJiUTXojvg%3D%3D","locale":"en-CA","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

National Bestseller��

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.

By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself.

This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy.��"I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.

In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment."��According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer.��His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

�� Report an issue with this product

Reading age

8 years and up
Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Lexile measure

1320L
Dimensions

13.21 x 1.91 x 20.32 cm
Publisher

Vintage
Publication date

Oct. 19 1999
ISBN-10

0385494785
ISBN-13

978-0385494786

See all details

Great on Kindle

Great Experience. Great Value.

Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.

View Kindle Edition

This item: Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster

$24.95

In Stock

Ships from and sold by �鶹��.ca.

Into the Wild

$20.00

In Stock

Ships from and sold by �鶹��.ca.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

$25.00

Only 8 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by �鶹��.ca.

Total price:��$00

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Popular Highlights in this book

What are Popular Highlights?

I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace.
Highlighted by 3,453 Kindle readers
My hunger to climb had been blunted, in short, by a bunch of small satisfactions that added up to something like happiness.
Highlighted by 2,791 Kindle readers
But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.
Highlighted by 1,977 Kindle readers
And thus, shortly before noon on May 29, 1953, did Hillary and Tenzing become the first men to stand atop Mount Everest.
Highlighted by 1,448 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

From Brand

Since its formal inception in 1993, Vintage Canada has become Canada’s best recognized and bestselling paperback list, renowned for its world-class authors, top-notch design, high standards of quality and excellent value. Vintage Canada takes its name from the New York-based trade paperback publishing house, Vintage Books, which was formed in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Vintage Canada publishes in quality paperback editions, selecting its books primarily from titles originally published by Knopf Canada and Random House Canada.

Product description

Review

"... he has produced a narrative that is both meticulously researched and deftly constructed. Unlike the expedition, his story rushes irresistibly forward. But perhaps Mr. Krakauer's greatest achievement is his evocation of the deadly storm, his ability to re-create its effects with a lucid and terrifying intimacy." —Alastair Scott, The New York Times Book Review

"This is a great book, among the best ever on mountaineering.��Gracefully and efficiently written, carefully researched, and actually lived by its narrator, it shares a similar theme with another sort of book, a novel called "The Great Gatsby." —The Washington Post��

"Into Thin Air ranks among the great adventure books of all time." —The Wall Street Journal��
��
"Krakauer is an extremely gifted storyteller as well as a relentlessly honest and even-handed journalist, the story is riveting and wonderfully complex in its own right, and Krakauer makes one excellent decision after another about how to tell it.... To call the book an adventure saga seems not to recognize that it is also a deeply thoughtful and finely wrought philosophical examination of the self." —Elle��

"Hypnotic, rattling.... Time collapses as, minute by minute, Krakauer rivetingly and movingly chronicles what ensued, much of which is near agony to read.... A brilliantly told story that won't go begging when the year's literary honors are doled out." —Kirkus Reviews
��
"Though it comes from the genre named for what it isn't (nonfiction), this has the feel of literature: Krakauer is Ishmael, the narrator who lives to tell the story but is forever trapped within it.... Krakauer's reporting is steady but ferocious.��The clink of ice in a glass, a poem of winter snow, will never sound the same." —Mirabella��

"Into Thin Air is a remarkable work of reportage and self-examination.... And no book on the 1996 disaster is likely to consider so honestly the mistakes that killed his colleagues." —Newsday��

"A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —People

"In this movingly written book, Krakauer describes an experience of such bone-chilling horror as to persuade even the most fanatical alpinists to seek sanctuary at sea level." —Sports Illustrated

From the Back Cover

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.
By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself.
This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guideAnatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.
In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation afterchallenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

About the Author

Jon Krakauer is a part-time mountaineer and a full-time writer. He is a contributing editor at Outside magazine and writes for many national magazines and newspapers. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

From the Paperback edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

In March 1996, Outside Magazine sent me to Nepal to participate in, and write about, a guided ascent of Mount Everest. I went as one of eight clients on an expedition led by a well-known guide from New Zealand named Rob Hall. On May 10 I arrived on top of the mountain, but the summit came at a terrible cost.

Among my five teammates who reached the top, four, including Hall, perished in a rogue storm that blew in without warning while we were still high on the peak. By the time I'd descended to Base Camp nine climbers from four expeditions were dead, and three more lives would be lost before the month was out.

The expedition left me badly shaken, and the article was difficult to write. Nevertheless, five weeks after I returned from Nepal I delivered a manuscript to Outside, and it was published in the September issue of the magazine. Upon its completion I attempted to put Everest out of my mind and get on with my life, but that turned out to be impossible. Through a fog of messy emotions, I continued trying to make sense of what had happened up there, and I obsessively mulled the circumstances of my companions' deaths.

The Outside piece was as accurate as I could make it under the circumstances, but my deadline had been unforgiving, the sequence of events had been frustratingly complex, and the memories of the survivors had been badly distorted by exhaustion, oxygen depletion, and shock. At one point during my research I asked three other people to recount an incident all four of us had witnessed high on the mountain, and one of us could agree on such crucial facts as the time, what had been said, or even who had been present. Within days after the Outside article went to press, I discovered that a few of the details I'd reported were in error. Most were minor inaccuracies of the sort that inevitably creep into works of deadline journalism, but one of my blunders was in no sense minor, and it had a devastating impact on the friends and family of one of the victims.

Only slightly less disconcerting than the article's factual errors was the material that necessarily had to be omitted for lack of space. Mark Bryant, the editor of Outside, and Larry Burke, the publisher, had given me an extraordinary amount of room to tell the story: they ran the piece at 17,000 words -- four or five times as long as a typical magazine feature. Even so, I felt that it was much too abbreviated to do justice to the tragedy. The Everest climb had rocked my life to its core, and it became desperately important for me to record the events in complete detail, unconstrained by a limited number of column inches. This book is the fruit of that compulsion.

The staggering unreliability of the human mind at high altitude made the research problematic. To avoid relying excessively on my own perceptions, I interviewed most of the protagonists at great length and on multiple occasions. When possible I also corroborated details with radio logs maintained by people at Base Camp, where clear thought wasn't in such short supply. Readers familiar with the Outside article may notice discrepancies between certain details (primarily matters of time) reported in the magazine and those reported in the book; the revisions reflect new information that has come to light since publication of the magazine piece.

Several authors and editors I respect counseled me not to write the book as quickly as I did; they urged me to wait two or three years and put some distance between me and the expedition in order to gain some crucial perspective. Their advice was sound, but in the end I ignored it -- mostly because what happened on the mountain was gnawing my guts out. I thought that writing the book might purge Everest from my life.

It hasn't, of course. Moreover, I agree that readers are often poorly served when an author writes as an act of catharsis, as I have done here. But I hoped something would be gained by spilling my soul in the calamity's immediate aftermath, in the roil and torment of the moment. I wanted my account to have a raw, ruthless sort of honesty that seemed in danger of leaching away with the passage of time and the dissipation of anguish.

Some of the same people who warned me against writing hastily had also cautioned me against going to Everest in the first place. There were many, many fine reasons not to go, but attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act -- a triumph of desire over sensibility. Any person who would seriously consider it is almost by definition beyond the sway of reasoned argument.

The plain truth is that I knew better but went to Everest anyway. And in doing so I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage
Publication date ‏ : ‎ Oct. 19 1999
Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385494785
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385494786
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 kg
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 years and up
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.21 x 1.91 x 20.32 cm
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1320L
�鶹�� Rank: #15,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Mountain Climbing
- #1 in Mountain Climbing in Outdoor Sports
- #1 in Sports Journalism
Customer Reviews:
22,671 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jon Krakauer

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

In 1999 Jon Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the award citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."

www.instagram.com/krakauernotwriting/

http://www.jonkrakauer.com/additional-reading

https://medium.com/@jonkrakauer

www.facebook.com/jonkrakauer/

Customer reviews

22,671 global ratings

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Customers say

Customers find the content amazing, well-written, and unforgettable. They describe the story as captivating, poignant, and researched. Readers describe the book as engaging, interesting, and inspiring. They mention the author tries to be fair and present all points of view.

Select to learn more

Content Story Engaging Objective

69 customers mention "Content"64 positive5 negative

Customers find the content amazing, well-written, and unforgettable. They say the author captures the readers attention from beginning to end. Readers mention the book is very descriptive, interesting about mountain climbing and the hardships the climbers face. They also say it provides more detail on the lives of the survivors following the traumatic events.

"...I would recommend this book to everyone, it is so well written that I am now seeking out his other work." Read more

"Great book" Read more

"An amazing read, I'll come back and read this one again and again...." Read more

"Good book. Provides another version of the events of that disastrous day than provided by climbers on another team...." Read more

18 customers mention "Story"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the story amazing, captivating, and poignant. They say it's well-written, researched, and heartbreaking. Readers also mention the book is pretentious but vivid, and the pictures give the reader a better perspective of the topography of Everest, the path, and the route.

"...This is a true story so there is tragedy. This is an excellent take of the events that unfolded." Read more

"Very gripping and detail oriented..an amazing story of a terrible human tragedy which brings you to the icy slopes of Everest...." Read more

"Read it in a day.... Amazing story." Read more

"...is due to the nature of the sport – the book is well written and captivating...." Read more

14 customers mention "Engaging"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book extremely engaging, well-written, and interesting. They say it's inspiring, enlightening, and puts them right in the moment. Readers also mention the book is gripping, hard to put down, riveting, and unforgettable. They also say it'll make them cry and rejoice.

"Loved it!..." Read more

"A compelling and enjoyable read which I would recommend. Not that I needed any convincing, but I don't plan to climb Mount Everest!" Read more

"Great read, captivated me from cover to cover...." Read more

"Riveting and unforgettable! One of only about 15 books I just had to keep in my personal collection." Read more

9 customers mention "Objective"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thorough, thoughtful, and objective. They say the author tries to be fair and present all points of view. Readers appreciate the factual portrayal of the events of that fateful day. They also say the book gives one a better understanding of the motives and reasons why people climb Everest.

"A very well written, objective view of what happened in 1996 from someone who was actually there...." Read more

"...the good ? great critical assessments, great writing, thorough, thoughtful and a very objective account by a man who lived through it...." Read more

"...into the heart of the 1996 guided Everest expedition, and he is very frank about his own experiences preparing for and summiting Everest on a day..." Read more

"...Overall, it gives one a better understanding of the motives and reasons why people climb Everest...." Read more

Reviews with images

See all photos

Top reviews from Canada

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

Shelley Phillips
Extremely well written
Reviewed in Canada on January 10, 2025
Verified Purchase

A very well written, objective view of what happened in 1996 from someone who was actually there. Mr Krakauer offers an honest analysis of the events, his fellow climbers, guides and himself. You know you've done a good, honest job when not everyone is happy with the story. People tend to hide their shortcomings and tell only the parts of the story they want others to know. Mr Krakauer tells it how it is, regardless of who will like it and who will not. This includes admitting his own shortcomings, which is both admirable and courageous. I don't for one second think he was to blame for anything, but honesty about how one feels and views themself is important not only in the storytelling but also in the healing process. I hope Mr Krakauer has found some healing and meaning in his life from this experience. I would recommend this book to everyone, it is so well written that I am now seeking out his other work.

Read more

Helpful

Report
Yvon Maurice
A rather depressing book
Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2019
Verified Purchase
Like many other readers, I found Into Thin Air very depressing. It gives the impression, rightly or wrongly, that there is no fun in climbing tall snow-covered mountains, especially those that reach beyond 8,000 metres, into the so-called Death Zone, even under ideal conditions. And because conditions are rarely ideal during an entire climb, which can last several weeks, I don't understand why human beings risk exposing themselves to the kind of torture described in this book. I suppose that there are valid reasons, but to me, they cannot be valid enough when lives are in peril. The death toll was exceptionally high during this 1996 Mount Everest expedition with eight lives lost and several others sustaining life-changing injuries. The author, Jon Krakauer, was able to provide a detailed and accurate account of the event as he was a journalist tasked with reporting on the climb in addition to being himself a member of one of the climbing teams who made it to the summit.

Despite being rather slow pace – which is due to the nature of the sport – the book is well written and captivating. Although a bit confusing at times, due to the large number of people involved from different groups, each individual is identified in a comprehensive list of names and functions at the very beginning. The author also takes a considerable amount space in the book to inform about the background and experience of each participant, which allows the reader to connect with individual climbers.

I will not go into the details of the climb itself nor of the tragedy in this review – just read the book! But it may be beneficial to other readers to know that, as I was going through the second half of the book (when the going was particularly tough), I watched the movie that was made right after the events entitled Into Thin Air – Death on Everest, available on YouTube. This gave me a better perspective on the challenges facing the climbers than I would have had from reading the book alone. Therefore, I strongly recommend watching one of several movies that were made about this expedition, while reading the book or soon after!

I found the Epilogue particularly moving as it provides an account of how some of the survivors have recovered from the tragedy, many of whom will never enjoy a normal life again. But what puzzled me the most was the reaction of some of the victim's relatives, almost blaming Jon for what happened, all because he was cautious enough not to let himself become a casualty. Particularly disturbing is a letter from the sister of Scott Fisher, one of the team leaders who died on his way down from the mountain. The letter, which is reproduced in the book, throws all kinds of accusations that Jon acted selfishly in total disregard to those whose lives were in danger. This coming from a person who was thousands of miles from the scene when the drama unfolded is outrageous, to say the least. I admire Jon for having had the honesty and the courage to include these accusatory statements in his book.

Read more

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report
scott
pretentious but vivid
Reviewed in Canada on November 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
i like jon overall. i’ve listened to his talks and read his work. “into thin air” is a work that had eluded me for some time as i once worked in a bookshop in my youth and found myself weary of all the people who came in asking for it. however, my obsession with everest stories led me to it once again. the book is vivid and well written but suffers from some pretentious turns of phrase.
but, the guy survived everest, so him getting up in his feelings and thesaurus about it isn’t such a terrible sin.

Read more

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Report
Chuck E Cheese
Good book
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2023
Verified Purchase
I kind of don't like Krakauer's negativity, but I didn't have to suffer the horrors
of that awful event. I dislike Sandy Hill Pittnan the most. Even if she wasn't to blame, why was she trying to be a diva up there. Do you want to climb? Or be diva? Make up your mind! Furthermore, the delay was caused by Lopsang not bringing the ropes and helping Ang Dorje set them. He was busy helping Sandy be a diva. So I do blame her. It's possible Namba and Weathers may have fared better if Boukreev had helped more on the descent. But everyone would have been hours earlier if they hadn't been held up because the ropes didn't get set.

Read more

Helpful

Report
Claude
Fast shipping
Reviewed in Canada on January 1, 2025
Verified Purchase
Received the book in excellent condition

Read more

Helpful

Report
Alex
Slow Paced
Reviewed in Canada on February 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
The pace is much slower relative to other titles in the action / adventure genre. This is not bad in itself, but if you are expecting a straight to the point recollection of the author's journey on Mount Everest you will be disappointed. The book spends at least +50% of it's time describing in intricate detail the background of every individual that was remotely connected to the story . Although typically additive - in this case it can simply feel overwhelming as a result of the sheer number of people described and how few actually had a direct involvement in the story. The experience of reading this book is somewhat akin to watching a movie that has a pop-up ad every 5 minutes. The main story line probably accounts for 3 chapters of the entire book.

The author meant it to read this way (as described in the introduction) which is fine - but, the book is being marketed as a thrilling adventure biography when it reads closer to a history book. Hopefully the above provides additional clarity on what to expect prior to purchase

Read more

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Kerrie Dodds
Good Read
Reviewed in Australia on May 17, 2022
Verified Purchase

Good read well worth reading. Good factual insight into an ardeous life changing climb. I liked how the author was true to his story. Thank you for sharing

Read more
Report
Ricky
Harrowing but fascinating
Reviewed in Japan on November 5, 2019
Verified Purchase
A fascinating and informative story. A few photographs would have been a nice addition to help understand the terrain but that is s minor quibble. Highly recommended for anyone who would like to understand what it might be like to climb Everest.

Read more

Ricky

Harrowing but fascinating

Reviewed in Japan on November 5, 2019
A fascinating and informative story. A few photographs would have been a nice addition to help understand the terrain but that is s minor quibble. Highly recommended for anyone who would like to understand what it might be like to climb Everest.

Images in this review

Report
Mr. Dardelle Matthieu
Un récit captivant
Reviewed in France on March 3, 2018
Verified Purchase
Un récit captivant sur une ascension de l’Everest dramatique. Le détail des événements tout au long de l’expedition permet de mieux comprendre le fonctionnement d’une telle ascension guidée et les raisons derrière son issue tragique. L’ecrivain et alpiniste amateur Jon Krakauer parvient à faire passer la beauté mais aussi les difficultés et absurdités de cette quête, qui est devenue un business avec toutes les dérives associées. Ce livre me laisse toutefois une impression positive de tous ces hommes et ces femmes poussés par leur rêve, aussi vain et prétentieux soit-il. Je n’ai pas perçu d’animosité excessive envers l’un ou l'autre des protagonistes et le récit des événements m’a semblé juste. Je recommande donc ce livre, et fuyez le film Everest inspiré des memes faits : je n’ai pas pu aller au bout après avoir lu le livre !

Read more
Report
Translate review to English
Francisco Molero
Absorbente. Se lee de un tiron
Reviewed in Spain on June 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
Muy bien escrito, explica de manera lineal la expedición al Everest del 96. Te mantiene en vilo la mayor parte del libro y da un sinfin de detalles sobre las expediciones comerciales. Al final describe la polemica que el autor tuvo con el guia de otra expedición, pero es menos interesante. A mi me entretuvo durante una semana, en la que leia cada vez que tenía un rato libre

Read more
Report
Translate review to English
prashant kumar tiwari
Into Thin Air or Injustice (of many kinds) on the Mountain.
Reviewed in India on April 15, 2015
Verified Purchase
Until almost the end this
book was exactly as I
expected it to be with just
one exception. It was the
story of a journalist
climbing Mount Everest
both as a journalist and as
a mountaineer. Ideal
getting paid to do your
hobby! It was interesting
because Krakauer is a damn
good writer and because its
fascinating to see the
details of how the mountain
is climbed. Its also
disappointing because few
individuals do it by
themselves, without a major
support, like the guy who
bicycled all the way around
Europe to Nepal and then
climbed the mountain alone
(I would have liked to have
read his story but it was
only alluded to in the
book). For everyone else its
a package tour for the fit
and not-necessarily
experienced who want to
climb Everest and have an
awful lot of spare cash.
Transport is arranged, tents
are set up, luggage is
carried, there will be
steaming hot tea awaiting
the climbers on their return
to their tents after an
expedition, and if they
really can't climb well, they
can be short-roped and
pulled up. Short-roped is
the climber roping
themselves with a less-than-
one-metre rope to the waist
of the would-be-climber and
literally hauling them up.
Still, even with all this
portering and pampering I
was surprised that the first
climbers of the season
(using last year's ropes)
fitted ropes up Everest so
that the climbers didn't
have to set their own. More
than that, the really
difficult bits got ladders
installed! But no matter
how many shortcuts and
easements they are able to
achieve there are two
things that can neither be
predicted nor controlled.
One is altitude sickness
which in some forms can kill
very quickly, and in others
causes mental delusions
that led one of the team to
his death. And the other is
the weather. 15 climbers
died the year Krakauer
climbed.
At the beginning of this
review, I mentioned there
was one exception to my
expectations for this book
based on several books I
have read by this author.
The exception was one
extraordinary chapter full of
the most vituperative
nastiness against a socialite
climber. I didn't know why
it was there. He didn't get
any nicer towards her as
the book progressed either,
but then he said that when
he was writing the book he
had a 75 minute phone
conversation with her.
Either she didn't know what
he'd written - I would never
bother wasting time on
someone who had that little
respect for me and intended
to tell the world - or he
didn't write it until after
the phone conversation. My
only reaction to the chapter
was thinking that the
author was such a damn
bitch.
The last chapter was
tremendously interesting.
Krakauer had not had much
respect for another of the
climbers - the guide and
tour leader Anatoli
Boukreev. He felt that
Boukreev was more fulfilling
his own ambitions of
climbing than in sticking to
his job of helping others to
climb and looking after
their safety. Boukreev wrote
his own book saying that
Krakauer had not
mentioned certain incidents
somewhat detrimental to
himself and that he had
made some observational
errors, either through
oxygen deprivation or
wilfullness, and gave his
own version of the climb.
This argy-bargy went back
and forth in print and on tv,
and this chapter is Krakauer
defending himself. Sadly
Boukreev, a climber par
excellence, was buried
under an avalanche on
Annapurna the following
year, in 1997, so we will
never get to hear what he
thought of Krakauer's
defence.
The book is worth reading
because the Sherpas have
always been sidelined in
stories of climbing Everest.
As if it is somehow more
praiseworthy for a White
man to climb the mountain
and its nothing really for
the Sherpas who can just
hop up and down like
monkeys carrying all the
loads while the white man
Climbs. This book sets the
record straight. The
mountain could not be the
business it is without the
Sherpas. The tour
companies and guides have
enormous respect for these
men and their abilities and
form as firm friendships
with them as they do with
anyone else in their lives.
Its a shame that this
respect doesn't extend to
paying them more than the
one-tenth they earn
compared to the tour
guides but of course its
justified in the traditional
way - this is local wages,
this is a lot of money for
the locals, the locals don't
need the things the guides
from America, Australia etc
do... Oh YAWN, I've heard it
all before. Why can't people
just put their money where
their mouth is. You can't
pay bills and put your kids
through school on respect.
Reduced by 1-star to four
stars because of this.

Read more
Report

See more reviews

Buy new:

Save with Used - Very Good

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster Paperback – Illustrated, Oct. 19 1999

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

From Brand

Product description

Review

From the Back Cover

About the Author

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Product details

About the author

Jon Krakauer

Customer reviews

Review this product

Customers say

Select to learn more

Images in this review

Reviews with images

Very poor quality!!!

Top reviews from Canada

There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read

5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing but fascinating

Harrowing but fascinating

Images in this review

5.0 out of 5 stars Un récit captivant

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbente. Se lee de un tiron

5.0 out of 5 stars Into Thin Air or Injustice (of many kinds) on the Mountain.

�鶹�� Business

�鶹�� Drive

�鶹�� Photos

�鶹�� Resale

�鶹�� Renewed

Good Read

Harrowing but fascinating

Un récit captivant

Absorbente. Se lee de un tiron

Into Thin Air or Injustice (of many kinds) on the Mountain.