Into Thin Air Commentary

Title of the book: Into Thin Air
Author’s Name: Jon Krakauer
Name of publisher: Random House, Inc.
Copyright date: 1997
In this book, Jon Krakauer uses detailed sentences in order to give the reader a feel of what it is like to go through a very perilous journey, climbing Mt. Everest. He gives every passage a personal feel and there is enough suspense on each page to keep the reader interested. There is so much detail on every page, which allows the reader to jump into the book and see what the climbers are experiencing, “My worst problem, though, was my chest: the dry hack I’d picked up weeks earlier in Lobuje had gotten so bad that I’d torn some thoracic cartilage during an especially robust bout of coughing at Camp Three.” (p.141) The author introduced many characters in the book and he successfully presented each of their point of views for the reader to get a sense of their personalities. Krakauer gives you enough information to make you feel like you are one of the climbers; he describes the features of Mt. Everest and the tools he uses throughout his journey very clearly, “I grabbed a fresh oxygen cylinder, jammed it onto my regulator, and hurried down into the gathering cloud. Moments after I dropped below the South Summit, it began to snow lightly and visibility went to hell.”(p.9) The story that Into Thin Air is a riveting story of courage and strength. Krakauer showed how dangerous the climb to Mt. Everest was and how the people who dared to climb the massive mountain were betting their lives in order to reach the summit.