Into Thin Air Blog 1

Into Thin Air By Jon Krakaur

This is a book where the reader knows the ending at the beginning.  The person telling the story survived a near death climb to the peak of Mount Everest.  Four people in his group died in the story. This was in 1996.   He was writing a article for a magazine. He got to the top, but bad weather moved in quickly and the trip turned into a mess! Jon had no idea that every minute was important to their survival. As I read this story I think Jon is going to suffer. He says  that he is the only survivor. He needs to write this book so he can try to understand what happened. I like survival stories because it's interesting how people survive terrible situations. 

Jon, the author, talks about the culture of mountain climbers. For example, I didn't know how expensive it is. It costs $70,000.00 to join an expedition. He talks about the leaders of the groups and why they decided to become guides on mountain adventures. It also describes how Mount Everest captures their imagination. When Jon was on his way to Everest, he was in a plane. One line from the book read, "...it occurred to me that the top of Everest was precisely the same height as the pressurized jet bearing me through the heavens. That I proposed to climb to the cruising altitude on an Airbus 300 jetliner struck me, at that moment, as preposterous, or worse. My palms felt clammy" (32). This is foreshadowing that his adventure may be dangerous!