Adventures in Reading: "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Matt suggested this one to me. The book is a detailed version of the events of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster in which 12 people were killed, as remembered by Jon Krakauer, a mountaineer and journalist on the trip.

This book is fascinating. Krakauer prefaces the story by saying that he's writing as a kind of therapy. He is attempting to make sense of what will surely be the most terrifying and tragic event of his life. Krakauer writes about himself and others in a really honest way, something he's taken heat for since the book's release. Human error is mainly to blame for the accident, and no one person is completely at fault. His refusal to gloss over mistakes, even those made by himself, is what gives this book it's depth and believability, as well as its controversy. Krakauer's telling has a great pace that keeps the reader interested, and gives enough detail about mountaineering to ensure even someone with zero climbing experience understands what he is talking about. In fact, he is extremely detail oriented throughout, which is an necessary trait for someone wanting to tell a story of this magnitude.

I would reccomend this book to anyone who is looking to read a compelling story. Some details of the story are fairly graphic, and the focus is on a very tragic event, so bear that in mind. It isn't a difficult read in the sense that Krakauer's writing is smooth and engaging. What is difficult is making sense out of such a tragic event.