Into Thin Air is a nonfiction first-hand account of the 1996 Everest Disaster, told by Jon Krakauer, a journalist for Outside magazine, who had been sent with Rob Hall’s expedition to reach the summit. It tells a harrowing story of confusion, hysteria, and death, bringing the reader into the midst of the unclear happenings at the summit of Mount Everest on 10-11 May 1996. What is clear is that eight people died in the blizzard, but the differing accounts of what actually happened vary from person to person. The chaos is further accentuated by the long disappearances of characters (particularly the unknown fate of Andy Harris after he disappeared somewhere near the South Summit) and how little knowledge many of the expeditions on the mountain at the time had (the Taiwanese team and South African teams had, by the time they were ready for their bid for the summit, no accomplished mountaineers with them). Krakauer has interviewed the other survivors and brings their respective stories into a cohesive narrative often accepted as truth. However, Krakauer notes that it is important to remember that these events were related and retold by minds muddled from lack of oxygen and hypoxia. His own analysis of the situation is an interesting read because he critiques the actions taken by his fellow climbers and speculates on why events may have occurred. Krakauer is particularly harsh on Anatoli Boukreev, who descended ahead of his clients without supplemental oxygen, and his apparent abandonment of Martin Adams after promising to go down the mountain with him to Camp IV. Boukreev has written his own book recounting the events at the top of Everest, particularly in defense of his own actions. However, that book was written after Into Thin Air and, according to Krakauer, devotes most of its contents to criticizing Krakauer’s book. Into Thin Air additionally informs readers of mountaintop conditions such as High Altitude Pulmonary Edema and High Altitude Cerebral Edema. As a warning, the book includes somewhat graphic death scenes, which some may find disturbing. - Jiyu K., eighth-grade teen volunteer
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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.
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