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In my youth, I could have handled the ascent but now, I have to settle for a well-told documentary of an adventure that should be a part of a lot of people's fantasy. A beneficial, side affect might be to keep the average person off the mountain. It put me on the mountain with the author and other climbers. Sometimes he over does the descriptions and he might send you hustling for the nearest dictionary but I found it exciting. He appeared to be "well read" with a varied background (great food, top shelf beverages, business, and travel to name a few) so I accepted his recommendation (along with his suggestion that I might find "The Perfect Storm" equally enjoyable). I bought the book on the recommendation of a drug company executive I was transporting to the airport. I enjoy non-fiction and this book is pure adventure although it oozes the personal torment of the author as he attempts to deal with not only nature, but the loss of companions. I seemed to experience the cold, the hunger, the primitive conditions, and most of all, the danger.
Wow, What an ordeal. I have great respect for the author and the impact his experience had on his life and many others. This book was recommended by my son and I read it and gained a whole new insight into mountain climbing. If my son ever considers it, I will lock him up, tie him up, sit on him, or whatever it takes to keep him off a mountain like that.
The only misgivings reading `Into Thin Air' was that in effort to show this great mountain in all of its grandeur & magnificence, its death-gripping power had to be explored.Without doubt, a tremendous read. I can't explain it, but Mt. --- Picture my expression as I read. And anyone who has a deep passion for climbing, or who craves an amazing adventure, or seeks a better understanding the gripping allure these mountains hold, and why climbers are drawn to them will appreciate this account too. Reading `Into Thin Air' was like being on a flight from say. Akron, Ohio to New York, flying at a cruising altitude of say 29,028 ft., to look out the window and see someone standing out on a cloud, smiling and waving looking eye-level back at me. Everest has always been a subject of awe and fascination for me.
Krakauer grabs your inner advemturer's spirit on page one and doesn't let go. Well written and very descriptive, the author makes you feel what climbing Everest is really like, from the brain haze of high altitude to the bone chilling cold, its all there.
A friend loaned me this book and I couldn't put it down. It captures you from beginning to end, even though I had read what had happened at Everest during that year's expeditions.
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