Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
“It took a few months in my case for the positive aspects to begin to develop. But they have. Everest was the worst experience in my life. But that was then. Now is now. I’m focusing on the positive. I learned some important things about life, others, and myself. I feel I now have a clearer perspective on life. I see things today I never saw before”
Reading this book gave me an almost reckless desire: to climb a mountain. Not necessarily Everest (let’s be realistic) but still, why not? I have no skills, no real experience, so whether it would actually happen is another matter… but the longing itself felt very real. I may start by going uphill here downtown first lets see how that goes…
This book sprang from a personal curiosity. I’m a huge fan of Jon Krakauer, and I’m equally drawn to subjects I know nothing about. I love exploring territories far outside my usual knowledge via a book and this one fit that curiosity perfectly : it ticked all the boxes for my personal reading pleasure.
I enjoyed the way Krakauer told us about what happened: yes, there are many names and details that can feel overwhelming at first. But he never leaves the reader behind: he repeats when necessary, provides reminders, situates each person clearly within their expedition and role several times. Slowly, everything clicks into place and if not, it doesn’t take away the main interest of the book.
It also offers a compelling history of Everest ascents, which adds a certain context to the tragedy that unfolds.
I wholeheartedly recommend this read (and the film Everest) to immerse yourself even more deeply in this astonishing true story. It leaves you sad for the victims and their families, but also with a profound understanding of how a chain of small decisions, human irrationality in extreme circumstances, and the sheer physical and mental challenges of altitude can escalate into catastrophe.
“Until I visited the Himalaya, however, I’d never actually seen death at close range. Hell, before I went to Everest, I’d never even been to a funeral. Mortality had remained a conveniently hypothetical concept, an idea to ponder in the abstract. Sooner or later the divestiture of such a privileged innocence was inevitable, but when it finally happened the shock was magnified by the sheer superfluity of the carnage: all told, Everest killed twelve men and women in the spring of 1996, the worst single-season death toll since climbers first set foot on the peak seventy-five years ago”
A gripping account, I can’t recommend enough.
“I grew up with an ambition and determination without which I would have been a good deal happier. I thought a lot and developed the far-away look of a dreamer, for it was always the distant heights which fascinated me and drew me to them in spirit”
