Jon Krakauer: Into Thin Air.

[Guest cda]

Jon Krakauer: Into Thin Air: a personal account of the Mt. Everest Disaster.

 

At first, I was fascinated with this book. I knew nothing about mountaineering before reading it, and was horrified to learn about the various effects that climbing at high altitude can induce. Other than frostbite, I never realised that such endeavours could lead to the life-threatening conditions HACE and HAPE. The descriptions of both are gripping, though at times I had to stop reading and pull myself together before continuing.

 

The writing style is adequate but I became confused occasionally due to the number of climbers involved in the incident and the complexity of the events as they unfolded. Also, Krakauer dispenses with the chronological narrative at times, flitting back and forth between thought, action, and background and historical information. This did nothing to help the flow of the book.

 

As I have said, at first I

[Kell]

My Dad used to work in Mountain Rescue & I'm now wondering if this might be an idea for him...

[Kell]

I don't need an extra excuse to buy my Dad presents - I may get him it anyway. Althought I do kinda wish I'd heard of it before the weekend - LOL!