Into Thin Air

You will not complain about how cold you are during winter after reading this.

In Jon Krakauer’s second book, Into Thin Air, Jon elucidates upon a previously written article for Outside, a magazine. He writes about his ascent to the top of the world, Mount Everest. His preceding book, Into The Wild, was already a hit, spending two years on the New York Times best seller list and it was made into a movie in 2007. However, this was not even close to surmounting Into Thin Air, which hit number one on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller list, was honored as ‘Book of the Year’ by Time, and was one of the three finalists considered for the General Non-Fiction Pulitzer Prize in 1998. This personal account of his Mount Everest disaster keeps you on the edge of the mountain and away from the protection of a tent.

The fact that Krakauer is a reporter is evident from his writing style, he includes third party quotes, quotes from climbers present, historical information, his opinions, and information from interviews with other climbers. This puts on the crampons you need to navigate the icy context of the climb, past and present. In addition Krakauer tries to pin point every point in time; each chapter begins with a location, date and height. Even the fact that he begins with telling us that six people will die is reflective of his reporter style of writing, a hook.

As far as hooks go, this whole book is a hook, one whose pages fix the ropes that guide you up the mountain. There is barely a moment to become sidetracked because bad luck is the standard, even as they are climbing up. Fortunately for the reader, Krakauer sets up 21 well placed “camps” where the reader can take a breather and take in the preceding chapter while an illustration provides a setting for the next chapter. Even without these illustrations, everything is described well and is embellished to a point where envisioning people, places and hardships are easy, yet they do not take away from the story.

After all of this, the reader will know why the book deserves and received the merits it did. Krakauer’s reporter like writing style really works and is not only interesting, but actually arouses feeling, wether that be of adventure, excitement, or most importantly, morbid despair.

So next time you want to complain about how your hands are cold in 30 degree weather, imagine -40 degrees without gloves and having to climb down a mountain.