Author:
Jon Krakauer
Genre:
nonfiction/ adventure
3
Words: Intense, Tragic, nerve-racking
Rating:4/5
Quote:
“I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about
enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium,
and suffering, that most of us were seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace”(140)
The Gist:
Looking
off from the highest point in the world Jon Krakauer’s primary thought is how
difficult the journey down will be as he sees the storm clouds moving in. #1 National Bestselling author, Jon Krakauer,
starts the book with a glimpse of the top of the mountain at which point he
jumps back to the beginning of the journey that led him there. Working as a
writer for a magazine, Krakauer convinces his employer to pay for him to climb
Everest and write about it. Krakauer is an avid climber and has climbed on many
treacherous mountains, but nothing can prepare him for what he will face on Everest.
As he meets his team and they start their hike towards base camp, the
characters backgrounds are elaborated on as well as stories of other people who
have climbed the mountain.
Once they reach base camp and begin the acclimation
process it seems that every moment is one of misery. As the elevation increases the amount of
problems follows. Characters getting
sick, hit with falling rocks, living in places with human feces all over the
ground, and yet these are the more minor issues that occur. With each assent
more and more health issues and tragedies occur increasing in both frequency
and magnitude.
Dead bodies can be seen laying in the snow along the
trail and it appears to have little effect on the climber’s goals to reach the
top. When the climbers make their attempt at the summit nearly all of them are
exhausted, sick, and suffering from lack of oxygen. At that altitude a multitude of disease can
strike even the healthiest of individuals.
Through team competition, pressure to get to the top,
cognitive impairment from the altitude, over-exertion previously in the climb,
and bad luck, disaster is inevitable. The only question is how bad will it be?
My thoughts:
The negatives:
·
Slow start
·
Constantly
depressing mood
The
beginning of the novel was not very plot oriented with many asides and back
stories being enlightened upon in detail.
I felt that some of the details to each character’s back story and some
of the stories regarding previous climbs could have been left out or at least
shortened. The detailed background stories do make the reader feel more
connected to the characters, and the stories of previous climbs help to
increase intensity and interest. I still feel they could have been left out.
I
understand that this story ends in tragedy and that in writing down the details
after the fact lead to it being remembered as more depressing than it may have
been. That being said the author must have felt joy and excitement at some
point during the expedition, which was seldom shown. I cannot fault the author
too much since the mood matches the plot well and is consistent throughout.
The Pros:
·
Very detailed
·
Insight into his
thinking
·
Tone setting
·
Foreshadowing
The
author’s account of the events and everyone involved was very detailed. He knew
the facts of each individuals back story, the clothes being worn by seemingly
insignificant characters, and each situation was described in a striking,
sometimes overly, detailed way. Krakauer defiantly put a lot of time and effort
into this book and it shows in the clarity, which is presented through the
surplus of detail.
I
felt that the author did a phenomenal job portraying his thinking during the
actual events, which were being described. I am sure it was painful and
difficult to try and put himself back into that mindset to recreate the event,
but the end result is fantastic. The reader gets a clear glimpse into the mind
of someone on the mountain, and that, combined with the detail, makes the
reader feel as if they are on Everest with him.
At
the beginning of every chapter a black and white picture is depicted as well as
a short outcrop from other authors about Everest. These two added features do
wonders for setting the tone of the novel. The pictures are in only two colors
and drawn jagged and dark, giving the impression of tragedy, suffering, and pain.
The outcrops are nearly almost equally as depressing. Those two elements
together at the start of each chapter help to keep the tone consistent and
fitting throughout the novel.
The
main, and most effective, literary tool the author used was foreshadowing. It
can be seen throughout the entire novel from the book starting at the top of
the mountain to the pictures and outcrops at the beginning of each chapter. The
author gives a reader a glimpse of what is going to occur next, causing the
reader to plunge deeper into the book to find out the details of the problems
to come.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books or books focused around tragedy. I probably would not read this book on the beach or on vacation as it will probably put you in a somber mood. All in all I enjoyed the read and appreciated the literary skills of the author 4/5 pens. Let me know what you think of the book? Do any of the readers like mountain climbing?
For some thought provoking questions that came up from the novel go here (possible spoilers)
- Krakauer, Jon, and Randy Rackliff. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. , 1999. Print.
Buy the book on amazon here:
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