Taking On a World of Words

I remember in High School the movie version of Krakauer’s book Into the Wild came out and there was a lot of hype around it. I vaguely recall reading the book, but I might have just seen the movie. I knew Krakauer was well respected but hadn’t read anything by him as an adult until I devoured Under the Banner of Heaven last year. I was intrigued to see how he tackled other topics and went for Into Thin Air.

Cover image via Amazon

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Other books by Krakauer reviewed on this blog:

Under the Banner of Heaven (5/5)

Summary from Amazon:

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.

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.

I became momentarily obsessed with Everest while reading this book. I watched a YouTube series about trekking to base camp that some of the creators I follow had made before I started watching. I was reflecting back on stories and images from the mountain. It’s so far removed from my life and where I live that Everest seems like a fairy tale. I think my partner is now sick of me saying that climbing Everest seems like the most selfish thing a person can do. “You’ve done an Ironman and people die doing that.” But this is different. This is a desire to reach the upper echelons of what humans can endure and to lean on others to help you get there without putting in the time and effort needed to be successful doing it. I should look up the article Krakauer was researching with this trip: I expect I’d agree with it. And I wonder how in the past (almost) 30 years it’s gotten even worse.

I think Krakauer was really fair in how he characterized everyone. There are, of course, some people with a more negative portrayal than others. But that’s life- some people are better humans than others. There did seem to be some bias against the other expeditions and their leaders, however. I wondered how much of that was warranted and how much was colored by Krakauer’s trust in his own guide. Retrospectively, it’s easy to be critical given the outcomes of the expedition. Though I wondered how critical he would have been if the outcome had been less catastrophic.

I thought Rob Hall was a really well-defined character in this book. As the leader of the expedition, Krakauer had a lot of interaction with him and was able to portray his personality well. I liked how methodical and controlled he was and I think, given normal circumstances, that would be the best guide to be with on the mountain. He showed a lot of care for the others in his party and in what he was trying to do which I really appreciated.

My husband’s comparison to my triathlon participation stuck in my head while I was reading this. Endurance sports and mountaineering do seem to share some personality overlaps. Both are folks pushing the boundaries of what a normal human should be able to do and trying to excel anyway. I could relate to the desire to keep going when everything around you told you to stop and to try and excel through extensive training and fighting uphill every step. I think those summiting Everest take it to an extreme that I can’t imagine, though. Gambling with the environment and terrain and not having a way to get out if things get bad are beyond my comfort zone and I don’t think I could ever push myself to that extreme.

Jon Krakaur. Image via Wikipedia

I thought Jon took a lot of care in how he wrote about the summit experience. It was clear he talked to as many people as he could to get a full picture of what had happened. There were great details about moments he wasn’t present for and I appreciated seeing things from all angels.

My copy of the book had an afterward that was responding to allegations that another member of the party, Anatoli Boukreev, was unfairly portrayed in the book. I had thought he was a bit irresponsible, but I didn’t feel Krakauer unfairly blamed him for the tragedy. It seems Boukreev helped author a book in response to this one defending himself and contradicting some of Krakauer’s points. This section at the end felt a little petty to me and I wish I had skipped it.

When something terrible happens, it seems natural to ask ourselves how it could have gone differently. Krakauer admits this book was therapeutic for him to write. He doesn’t shy away from the regret he has, the trauma he experienced, or the survivor’s guilt he lives with. Processing trauma is different for everyone and this was his way of doing it. I honestly don’t think he was trying to write a best-selling book or cash in on what he’d seen and experienced. I hope writing this book did help him process what happened and helped him find some peace.

Writer’s Takeaway: One thing about writing from experience is that you have a single point of view. Jon knows what he saw (or thinks he saw) and wrote from that point of view for much of the novel. I think he did great work to research what others had experienced and find a way to weave those stories together into a single narrative. Especially given he could not interview the members who passed, it is remarkable how cohesive of a story he was able to put together from what he and others saw and remembered.

This book fascinated me and has solidly cemented that I have no desire to climb mountains. Five out of Five Stars.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at [email protected]. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Some of the links on this post may be affiliate links. Taking on a World of Words is a participant in affiliate programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to products. If you purchase a product or service through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but Sam will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Related Posts:
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer | loudbookishtype
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer | Mad Musings of a Bibliophile
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer | Friends of Atticus
Krakaur: Into Thin Air | All Manner of Things
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer | A Good Stopping Point

Tags: Book Review, Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer