In the book Into Thin Air I've read through chapter seven (pg. 105). After reading through this amount of the book, I was most curious about the conditions of the lodgings that the travelers stay in on their way up Everest. In one of the chapters in the book, they describe a filthy, dilapidated shack they had to stay in, that even made some of the travelers sick. In another passage, Krakauer describes a very nice and clean village, with fresh water, food, and heating. After some research, it was confirmed that the lodging on Everest ranges from respectable to derelict, very much like in the book.
 ("Mount Everest." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.) 

("Mount Everest Map." : Explore Evanston on TripAdvisor. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.) 

  

Blog post 1....

Throughout the whole book they have been keeping the reader updated with the heights of the mountain and telling stories of peoples adventures throughout Nepal. When the book first starts off actually they state how they are on the summit of Mount Everest on may 10, 1996 and that they are 29,028 feet above sea level. (page 5 cover)
        When they would get into details it made me wonder about breathing. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to breathe at such a high altitude. Even though they have special things to help them with breathing it would still be difficult especially since they have an old woman shooting to be the oldest person to climb. A person would have to have strong lungs to be able to do this climb over and over so I give props to the people who run camps and give tours as an everyday job. According to list25 there are over 200 dead bodies on mount Everest which is really freaky to think about.

Comment 3

Comment 3- Ryan

In response to Lucas,

I definitely agree with most of your claim that the tone of the final part of the book is a frantic, sorrowful, and confused one. Jon Krakauer really captured the essence of an unfolding mountain disaster using this tone. It feels like you are right along side the climbers, watching as they fight to survive. In all fairness, the climbers have every right to be frantic and worried about their own survival. They are in the middle of a blizzard on top of the tallest point in the world, and their brains are starved from lack of oxygen. Who wouldn't start freaking out? However, it's after the IMAX team gives the climbers oxygen that panic really starts to sink in. They realize how lucky they were to make it back to the tents, and they realize that others weren't so fortunate. As the climbers start to look for their lost comrades, each of them is plagued with intense guilt and sorrow. While they were huddling in their tents, their friends were simultaneously suffocating from lack of oxygen, and freezing from the 100 mph winds and sub-zero temperatures. "Below, the steep gray ice of the Lhotse Face dropped 4,000 vertical feet to the floor of the Western Cwm. Standing there, afraid to move any closer to the edge, I noticed a single set of faint crampon tracks leading past me toward the abyss. Those tracks, I feared, were Andy Harris's"(Page 229).  However, where I would have to disagree a little with your claim is that it seemed to me that horror was a huge part of the tone in the final section of the book. The climbers have just experienced the worst climbing season on Everest, in terms of deaths, in 50 years. The horror of what happened to them is just starting to surface. The climbers that are alive are grateful, but they also feel incredibly guilty that they had contributed to the deaths of others. The horror that they felt during the disaster is nothing compared to what they now feel, realizing that people they had come to be good friends with were dead. Lopsang especially had trouble with dealing with Scott Fischer's death. "I am very bad luck, very bad luck. Scott is dead; it is my fault. I am very bad luck. It is my fault. I am very bad luck"(Page 272). There is not a single climber from that expedition that walked away from Everest unchanged. Every single one of them, even if it was involuntarily, contributed to the deaths of others, and this will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Comment 3- Lexie

In response to Mac,

I definitely agree with your claim that the most prevent themes in the third half of the book include reflection and somber feelings. Practically the entire third half of the book was focused on the deaths of 12 innocent climbers who lost their lives on Everest. As the book continued on, it became more and more somber as things began to get worse. It wasn't until the very end that Jon began reflecting on what he experienced, as well as his emotions. Krakauer also seems to feel guilt when he says, "of the six climbers on Hall's expedition who reached the summit, only Mike Groom and I made it back down: four team mates with whom I'd laughed and vomited and held conversations with had lost their lives. My actions, or failure to act, played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris... The stain this has left on my psyche is not the sort of thing that washes off after a few months of grief and guilt ridden self reproach"(283). The sadness and somber feelings that occurred on Everest never failed to leave Jon, forever scarring his life. The book ended on a sad and somber note that never faded away. 

Into Thin Air, Tragedy and Helplessness Strike

Nearing the end of Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer continued to develop an increasingly vexatious telling of the events that were unfolding on Mt. Everest. I found myself swaying and cringing with every detail of the book. Throughout the last third of the book, as Jon and the rest of the climbers began to ascend Everest even further, more dangerous situations begin to arise and inspire more skepticism within the climbers, but at the same time, encourage them further to push on and accomplish what they have been striving for. "... I only wish I could have gotten more clients to the top"(195).  Remarked Rob Hall on his way up to the summit. It seemed that although the obvious goal was to reach the summit of Everest, there were many hidden challenges that each individual went through and discovered throughout their trying journey. Yes, there were tragedies and the horrible feeling of helplessness as Krakauer watched the capable people he set out with to endure this peregrination with dwindle in numbers and hope. But, those who did arise on the other side of the expedition came out stronger more knowing people, making up for those who were lost. "Everest seems to have poisoned many lives. Relationships have foundered" (299). Many would say that the tone of this book is a very grim and tragic one, but on the flip side to all this loss, regret, and pain that has been had and made from this mountain, something else can rise from that. The ones who have survived that great feat of scaling Mt Everest and living to tell about it can benefit not only themselves, but others as well; "It took a few months in my case for the positive aspects to begin to develop. But they have. Everest was the worst experience in mu life. But that was then. Now is now. I'm focusing on the positive. I learned some important things about life, others, and myself. I feel I now have a clearer perspective on life. I see things today as I never saw them before"(295). There will always be controversy over this expedition and the outcome of it, but one thing is for sure, the world will never look at Everest the same way again.

All in all this book was an interesting read, the author, Jon Krakauer, is actually the author of my favorite book, Into The Wild, so that connection may have swayed my initial apprehension to put the book down and not read it in the beginning. The book started out slightly slowly and confusingly, but as it progressed and the characters developed, along with the author and it became hard to put down. Especially towards the end of the book, when Jon and his team started encountering many obstacles and Krakauer had to do investigative work to figure out what had actually happened during their time on the mountain, that made the book really engaging for me.

How Somber-Third post

             The tone of the final third of "Into Thin Air" took on a much more somber and reflective feeling. especially the final chapters when the author is reflecting on the enormity of what he had just experienced.  And it seems entirely justified as well, anyone that had to go through the same thing that Krakauer or any of the other climbers that survived went through would most have to deal with substantial amounts of grief and sorrow, and is possibly forms of PTSD. "With so many marginally qualified climbers flocking to Everest, a lot of people thought a tragedy of this magnitude was overdue. but nobody imagined that an expedition lead by Rob Hall would be the center of it. Hall ran the tightest, safest operation of the mountain, bar none. A compulsive, methodical man, he had elaborate systems in place that were supposed to prevent such a catastrophe. So what happened? How can it be explained. not only to the loved ones left behind, but to a censorious public? Hubris probably had something to do with it. Hall had become so adept at running climbers up and down Everest that he got a little cocky, perhaps." (p. 284) This quote shows how Krakauer began to really reflect on what had happened to him on the mountain, especially when he had to write about it for his magazine article.

              Over all I enjoyed reading "Into Thin Air", It was slow to start but once all of the set up was out of the way then Krakauer does an excellent job of portraying what it was like to be on the mountain, wondering if you will make it down alive.

Post 3-TONE

The tone in the end of the book takes a sharp turn into intensity, sorrow, and alarm. The last stretch of the mountain was very dangerous and difficult, leaving many of the group members in rough positions. Some of the climbers become ill and don't get to finish their journey. Many of them have frostbite or other injuries, barely making it through to each camp. My heart was constantly beating as I read one person after another falling of the mountain, becoming too sick, freezing, getting lost. Many beloved characters did not survive. It was difficult for me to read about these amazing people dying, I can only imagine how hard it must have been on Krakauer. He may not have been utterly close with every person, but losing Doug Hansen and Rob Hall was not easy on him. "As I turned my head to the side, my ear brushed against a wet spot; tears, I realized were running down my face and soaking the sheets. I felt a gurgling, swelling bubble of hurt and shame roll up my spine from somewhere deep inside. Erupting out of my nose and mouth in a flood of snot, the first sob was followed by another, then another and another" (281). The saddest part is that Doug began having health issues early on in the book and although everyone was concerned about him, they all had faith that he would be able to make it to the end…also hoping that he would since he was unable to the first time he attempted. Poor Krakauer will live the rest of his life feeling like there was maybe something he could have done to keep Hansen, Hall and the others alive. But truth is, no one can ever be blamed for their deaths.

Into Thin Air was an extremely fascinating book. Mt. Everest has always been something that I wished to one day learn more about and this book taught me tons of interesting facts about Everest that I would not have learned anywhere else. I thought that it was a great book overall; it was factual, adventurous, exciting, sorrowful, and from time to time, a little bit humorous. My one complaint with the book would  be that sometimes the factual parts of the book took away from the actual story. I enjoyed learning about the history of the mountain and all the past climbers, but I would get really into the story and then  Krakauer stopped and went into a history lesson of Everest. It also just made it a little hard to read at times. It became a little boring and hard to follow along, but other than that Krakauer had and amazing journey and I'm glad he shared it with the rest of the world. There is absolutely no way that I would ever be able to have the courage to do what these brave men and women did. It takes such dedication and fearlessness, I really respect them for it.

Post 3

Throughout the last 1/3 of this book the tone was very reflective. Jon really looked into himself and in a way tore himself apart. He felt partly responsible for everything that happened the day of the disaster and he really took it hard. At the end of the book where the fellow survivors were saying how they had gotten over it, but Jon had thought about it every single day, even stating that he dreamed about it. This horrible disaster had occurred and he had survived, but then he had to write about it for his magazine which made it even worse. For one, he had to relive all of the horrible times in his head, but to make it even worse he started receving hate letters from family members of some of the victims of the disaster. This made hi feel even more like it was his fault. The image that is put into my head when reading the book is I see him bent over on the couch just thinking about what happened, over and over again. This is why I think he was using a reflective tone throughout the book. He even said at the very end that this was his apology to everyone that he had hurt after the disaster.

My favorite part pf the book was when Jon made it back to camp four after reaching the summit. It was the last happy part of the book which is probably why it was my favorite. It made me really happy because Jon accomplished his biggest life goal, to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. I was glad to see Jon finally accomplish that after having to go through so much in the previous months getting there. What happened after that was very depressing and rough to read, but overreal I still enjoyed the book a lot because it was very exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Post 3- shocking

As the book progressed the tone of the book slowly turned to shockingly horrifying. As Krakauer heads down the mountain hes mind starts to get disorganized and lax. He so exhausted that it gets hard for him to think straight. So much so that he lets his own friend Andy Harris walk straight into a snow storm without thinking of checking on him. The next morning the horrifying truth comes out. Krakauer woke up to Stuart Hutchison shaking him awake telling him the horrifying news that Andy Harris isn't is his tent. "I realized, however, that if he hadn't turned left but instead continued straight down the gull...Standing there, afraid to move any closer to the edge, I noticed a single set of faint crampons." (228) In the last chapter everyone seemed fine but in this chapter it took a huge turn. The second the reader reads this part the tone is supposed to make everyone feel shocked and intrusting in what the main characters sees, leaving everyone with the question is what we read the truth of not. When Krakauer reflects back on the past summit at camp four, the aftereffects really hit Krakauer and the reader. "After having spent an hour scouring the South Col for Andy Harris; the search left me convinced that he was dead...Rob Hall on the South Summit made it clear that our leader was in desperate straits and that Doug Hansen was dead.....Yusko Namba and Beck Weathers were dead. And Scott Fischer and Makalu Gau were believed to be dead." This is unbelievable, pretty much every main character except for Krakauer were either dead or on the verge of death. The book just hits where it hurts. While reading the book its hard to keep track of just how many people died but when this book tallies it up, its terrifying.

As I had read the last third of the book, the winds became a huge deciding factor for the whole team. In the book the winds are described as being fierce. According to Mt. Everest Informtation(http://www.teameverest03.org/everest_info/) the winds at Mount Everest are as strong as a hurricane and are up to 118+ miles per hour. This jet stream is constant at 4-6 miles above Earth leaving the top of Mount Everest with a stream of ice crystals blowing off from the summit. The winds change direction and depending on the direction of these winds and how strong they are people choose when they want to climb Mount Everest. That's what happened with Krakauers crew, the winds changed and brought in a storm, a storm that they weren't ready for. The winds on Mount Everest can be unpredictable and dangerous and in the case of Krakauers crew the winds were just to powerful.

Blog Post 3

Throughout pages 200 to 333, the end of the book, Krakauer captures emotions and the feelings of others and himself in the situations that they were in through tone. He seems to use a combination of frantic, reflective, sorrowful, and confused. As the group faces the aftermath of the summit push everything goes to hell when a powerful storm wrecks havoc on the climbers who are already suffering from high altitude and exhaustion. In the morning when Jon Krakauer visits Beck's tent he is overwhelmed: "I was so shocked by his hideous condition- and by the unforgivable way we'd let him down yet again-I nearly broke into tears." This sentence truly captures the amount of mental and physical stress that the climbers were under. Climbers faced extreme exhaustion, frostbite, hypothermia, friends drying right and left, personal traumatizing near death experiences, and much more. Krakauer is also is shaken by his experiences when he gets to base camp and breaks down crying and suffers through the funerals/eulogies/reporter questions. This story included all of the key elements of a traumatic experience. The tone showed the chaos that ensues in the event and the horrible recollections and memories that follow.

Anatoli Boukreev rescuing Pittman, Fox, and Madsen was the favorite part of the book. Boukreev's strength and endurance appears to be superior to everyone on the mountain, not even including the fact that he wasn't using supplementary oxygen. This went along with one of the themes of the book that was perseverance and determination. Boukreev was criticized by Krakauer for not wearing an oxygen mask, but Boukreev managed to reach the summit safely and was out rescuing people in the middle of the night while Krakauer was sleeping like a baby. The Russian not only preformed this one rescue he also went back for people found Fischer and did much more all with no oxygen. His rescue shows that he is never willing to give up and that he would do anything to save them. Boukreev takes multiple trips out into the storm and doesn't stop until he finds Madsen and the others. Boukreev's rescue was sincerely my favorite part of the book because it showed showed how determined he was and how he was capable of pushing himself so much further than his fellow climbers to guarantee the safety of others.

Post 3: Tone

              Jon Krakauer uses a very vivid way of describing the location and situation in the Himalayan Mountains.  His list-like accounts make his book seem like a report card of the expedition. The paired with his use of imagery, choice of words and how he expresses his emotions all add to the intriguing, colloquial and respectful tone of Into Thin Air.  To render mountain climbing and the “Everest experience” more comprehensible to his readers, Krakauer provides a plethora of background information that includes: explanations of the history of Everest and its early conquerors, climbing techniques, and logistical information regarding the climbers on his team as well as those from other expeditions. Krakauer weaves in these bits of information in his paragraphs and uses footnotes as well.              Largely colloquial in tone, Krakauer relies heavily on imagery in order to accurately depict the Himalayas. He brings the realities of the expedition to life, sparing no descriptions of the feces and sickness that plague the various camps. Krakauer’s detailed descriptions of wind, snow and ice, help the reader create an image in a their head making them feel like they are a part of the group. His description of weather like “biting wind” (128), “swirling waves of powder snow” (129), and “blizzard inside the tent” (128), depict the intense levels of cold and also almost surreal images that Krakauer experienced.
            Krakauer’s main strategy takes shape in his scheme that he uses to climax the drama that took place on the upper reaches of the mountain. As he chronicles his journey from India all the way to his return to base camp after summiting, Krakauer’s tone and diction reflects his evolving sentiments throughout his journey. For example, the tone of the early chapters is one of excitement and anxiety. In the beginning of the book, Kragauer was asked if he still wanted to summit the mountain. “When he asked if I was sure I wanted to go through with this, I said yes without even pausing to catch my breath” (28). His enthusiasm quickly fades into exhaustion and discomfort as he realizes the magnitude of the task before him.  When Krakauer reaches the top he says, “Any impulse I might have felt toward self-congratulation was extinguished by overwhelming apprehension about the long, dangerous descent that lay ahead” (219). This quote presents Krakauer’s worries about a long dangerous climb down the mountain, which keeps the frightening mood of the book throughout and further foreshadows the danger of the expedition.  By briefly documenting his summiting of Everest in chapter one, Krakauer sets an underlying sense of foreboding throughout the entire book that climaxes as the tragedy unfolds.


Plot Summery:           In the book Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer described the events leading up to his eventual decision to participate in an Everest expedition in May 1996, despite having mostly given up mountain climbing years before. The original magazine story was to have Krakauer climb only to base camp, and report on the commercialization of the mountain. However, the idea of Everest reawakened his childhood desire for climbing the mountain. Krakauer asked his editor to put off the story for a year so that he could train for a climb to the summit. From there, the book chronologically moves between events that take place on the mountain and the unfolding tragedy which takes place during the push to the summit.After reaching the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, Jon Krakauer, began his long, dangerous descent.  Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. Hall, Hansen and Fischer got stranded.  They all end up dying, from either lack of oxygen or the cold. Fischer also gets stranded, and when he is finally found, he is dead. Beck Weathers, actually makes it back to camp and miraculously survives the ordeal. He eventually undergoes a number of amputation and surgeries for his injuries. All told, a dozen people die on Everest that season, and Krakauer, originally there to report on the business of taking people up the mountain, cannot forget what he sees there.  Krakauer struggles with survivor's guilt and a redefined view on mortality and addresses questions about events on the mountain that perhaps don't have answers.    Kayla Augustine

                                                                                                                                                 Sage Mace
                                                                                                                                                  SoulRattle

Into Thin Air: Blog 2

             Jon Krakauer ends "Into Thin Air" reminiscing about his experience on Mt. Everest.  Krakauer states "of the six climbers on Hall's expedition who reached the summit, only Mike Groom and I made it back down: four teammates with whom I'd laughed and vomited and held long, intimate conversations lost their lives."(pg. 283) In this excerpt of "Into thin Air" through Krakauers words the reader can tell that he is mournful over the deaths of his former teammates and it seems that he feels a sort of guilt over the fact that he survived when many of him teammates passed away during the climb up to the top of Mt.  Everest.

Final Post- Devan Wilson

Devan Wilson

Espirit

March 20th, 2014

              Final Posting

For the remaining of the book there is one common theme and tone. Unfortunately this would be anxiety and sorrow, with a splash of relief. Reaching the summit is very exciting, and is all of the climber's common goal, although after completing this, only bad things began to happen. As the narrator explains in chapter 14, "Not only during the ascent but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the goal seems to me, the more indifferent I become to myself." This quote was said by Reinhold Messner, in an interview. Not only does the narrator express his fear for descent, but he doesn't celebrate for reaching the top, the goal that he had been trying to accomplish since he was just a boy, "...stayed on top of the world just long enough to fire off four quick shots of Andy Harris and Anatoli Boukreev posing in front the summit survey marker. Then I turned to descend". As a reader, this comes across as anxious event, and scary! As soon as you think that all of the hard work is over, and they have had success, it is just the opposite. This introduces the sorrow and melancholy tone. Oxygen begins to run out, illnesses begin developing, loss of direction due to poor weather, nothing is worth celebrating. Relief comes in small packages, for example when the narrator is back at camp, reflecting his time at the top. This pattern of emotions tends to repeat as the story comes to a close.

My favorite part of the book would be when the main character, Jon Krakauer, reached camp after he reached the summit. This was moving to me, because at the start of the novel, he talked about how that had been his goal for the longest time, and I can't imagine how amazing that would feel to reach that long-lived goal. Also, that moment escaped the craziness that surrounded him, and captured the main reason why people climb the crazy and horrifying mountains. Learning all about climbing and the dangers it can have on a person, it was mind blowing to me that people were so determined to risk their lives to be on top of the world for a couple minutes. This may be a negative way of looking at it, but if I worked my entire life to reach a certain height and then died on the way down, seems crazy. But the thought that people have survived and can share their story is magical, and that is what Jon Krakauer did.

POST 3 Sophia Miller

As Into Thin Air winds to a close, the author uses a somber, honest, and reflective tone. The people in this book are real people, and he used the appropriate tone when talking about something as serious as their death. He tells of the great tragedies and overwhelming confusion that occurred on Everest that dreadful night. The author is looking back on all the events and recalling the fear, anguish, guilt, and delirium that took over his body. However, in the midst of all of these strong memories, he tries to understand the events to his best ability, and reflect on them in an utterly honest way. This is why we often find him fact-checking himself and using lines such as 'in truth,' and 'what actually happened.' He recalls his own dangerous mistake with this same somberly honest tone, as he describes how he mistook one man for another and ended causing confusion and upset. "For two months I'd been telling people that Harris has walked of the edge of the South Col to his death, when he hadn't done that at all... How had I made such an egregious mistake?" (p231). The author reflects on his mistake in an honest and regretful way. Throughout the many tragic moments of this book, he remembers that as well as a tragic book, this book is a true story, and getting too into emotions could do more harm than good. He tends to be more factual and less emotional about serious topics, such as the death of some of his teammates. "Twelve days later, when Breashears and Viesturs climbed over the South Summit on their way to the top, they found Hall lying on his right side in a shallow ice hollow, his upper body buried beneath a drift of snow" (p247). Like a reporter, he adds specific details and tends to make the book less personal. He does bring a more personal and somber tone in at some reflective points, talking about his interactions with fellow climbers and his feelings around the whole event. He describes the pain he felt when arriving safely back down the mountain, "I cried for my lost companions, I cried because I was grateful to be alive, I cried because I felt terrible for having survived while others had died” (279). Overall, the last third of the book is filled with honesty, remorse, and a reflection on the past. The author captures the events accurately, and intermittently disperses personal feelings and views. 

Although slightly factually overwhelming, I found Into Thin Air to be an interesting and overall well done book. Towards the start of the book, the author has a tendency to fill complete chapters with facts and facts about past events or people, some of which prove to play no further role as the story progresses. This can cause some confusion and feels a little overwhelming. However, as the heart of the tragedy begins and the story unfolds, the author does this less and less. He begins focusing on the real meat of the story and does an extremely factual yet somberly enthralling job of recounting the truth about what happened on Everest. For those who do not know the story, it is fascinating to read. It truly is a tale that puts the underestimated power of nature into perspective, and a caution that even when everything seems to be going perfectly, it can turn into a nightmare. It is humbling and enjoyable to read.

Post 3: Tone

As Into Thin Air concluded, the tone was guilty and horror.  Through the first two-thirds of the book, the tone was very ominous.  For example, on page 11, at the very beginning of the story, Krakauer writes, "None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh.  Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter."  Also later, Krakauer mentions to Beck Weathers that Mike Groom was on his way down and Weathers stays.  This would apparently become a mistake as Krakauer says, "In a day of many mistakes, this would turn out to be one of the larger ones," (199).  By the end of the book, all of the foreshadowing that happened earlier became real.  As Krakauer learns of the perils of the other climbers, he becomes horrified and guilty.  After Krakauer learns that Andy Harris had gone missing and his confirmation of his safety may have been a horrible mistake, "I fell to my  knees with dry heaves, retching over and over as the icy wind blasted against my back," (228).   Months later, when Krakauer realizes that the man that he had mistaken to be Andy Harris was Martin Adams, he became even more guilty, "How had I made such an egregious mistake?" (231).  Krakauer, despite having little to no control over the disaster, felt extremely guilty because he made some small errors while barely being able to put one foot in front of another.  Part of the guilt stemmed from the horror of having friends of his dying or being very close to death all around him.  "I kept imagining Rob up on the South Summit at 28,700 feet, his oxygen gone, exposed to the full savagery of this storm with no shelter whatsoever-but it was so disturbing that I tried not to think of it," (266).   Imagine some of your best friends dying and you are completely helpless.  The amount of despair and anguish must be unbearable.  While Into Thin Air begins as an adventure story, it quickly becomes a catastrophic story of agony and disaster.

After finishing the book, I remembered the first scene that also happened to be the first chapter.  The book begins at what seems to be a huge moment in the story; when Krakauer summits.  Being on top of the world seems like a huge deal so it really brought me into the story...it was a fantastic hook.  Also, the scene reveals some problems that arise later in the story like altitude sickness.  "At 29,028 feet up in the troposphere, so little oxygen was reaching my brain that my mental capacity was that of a slow child, " (8).  This shows the effects of altitude sickness, which is when the lack of oxygen makes your body begin to shut down.  Furthermore, at the end of the chapter, as stated in the beginning of this post, Krakauer puts a large clue that foreshadows the imminent disaster.

Into Thin Air Post 3

As the incredible book Into Thin Air sadly comes to a close, there is a definite tone change. It changes from a tone of horror and helplessness, to one of grief and guilt, and this has a huge impact on our narrator. Jon Krakauer was a very ambitious climber and journalist, who bursted with joy at the chance to climb Everest. This is clearly evident by his writing in the first half of the book. On multiple occasions, he speaks well of the other climbers when he tells their backstories, laughs with them, congratulates them while climbing. He even feels good enough to stomach being friends with Sandy Pittman! But then in the second half of the novel, disaster really strikes, and the tone changes to one of grief and loneliness. Jon is shock from witnessing the deaths of twelve climbers he had gotten to know so well over the course of the expedition, and it takes a dreadful toll on him. "The thing I knew I was sitting on the ice with my face in my hands and tears streaking down my cheeks, weeping like I hadn't wept since I was a small boy. Safe now, the crushing strain of the preceding days lifted from my shoulders, I cried for my lost companions, I cried because I was grateful to be alive, I cried because I felt terrible for having survived while others had died"(Page 279). Jon clearly has survivor's guilt, and it is ripping him apart. His emotions are finally catching up with him. He didn't allow himself to feel anything while the disaster was occurring, and now it's all flooding back in. It's clear that the trip to Everest has completely changed Jon. When he returns home, the guilt and the waves of bad press just proved to be too much. He can't hold down a job, his marriage becomes incredibly unstable, and he can't even go five minutes without thinking about what happened up there. On top of that, he feels trapped, and above all else, lonely. "I felt a gurgling, swelling bubble of hurt and shame roll up my spine from somewhere deep inside. Erupting out of my nose and mouth in a flood of snot, the first sob was followed by another, then another and another"(Page 282). Reading this kind of tore me up inside. I couldn't believe how Jon was being treated by himself and the press, after he helped prevent so many more deaths on the mountain. This man is a hero, and he deserves to think of himself that way, and have others think of him that way. But while Jon and his survivor's guilt are the main focus of the last part of the book, it is clear that many of the other members feel just as bad as him or worse. One of these people is Lopsang Jangbu, a devoted sherpa in Scott Fischer's team. Jon caught up with him when the Sherpa paused halfway down the descent to cry his eyes out. "I am very bad luck, very bad luck. Scott is dead; it is my fault. I am very bad luck. It is my fault. I am very bad luck"(Page 272). Not one of the expedition members came away from this climb without being changed, and this is especially true for Lopsang. He thought that he was responsible for many of the deaths, and he couldn't be told otherwise. I think that this is the main reason that he died while climbing again soon after the expedition.
To be perfectly honest, I was really bored when I started this book. I thought that it was just going to be some dumb nonfiction book that went on for too many pages. But the story had me hooked just after fifty pages. I laughed when the climbers laughed, and I was devastated when yet another character that I felt I knew really well, thanks to Krakauer's narration, died. But my favorite part was when the storm blew in, trapping the climbers on the summit, and causing a snowball effect of bad things to happen. I know that this section of the book is covering the disaster, and all the bad things that came with it, but it pulled me deeper into the book. I was amazed at how something as a few bad coincidences like low oxygen and a bad storm could cause a situation to go so haywire. I was astounded by how many mistakes every climber made due to an oxygen depleted mind. To be honest, I'm surprised that more people didn't die. When you run out of oxygen at 8,000 meters, all bets are off.

Section Three

 

Savanna Young

Heart Roll

March 20, 2014

 

The last third of Into Thin Air is tragic and full to the brim with adventure and obvious pain; yet it has a sense of calm. Krakauer tells about his journey down, he mistakes one man for another, the snow blurs his vision and the lack of oxygen clouds up his mind. When he was traveling up to and down from the summit he had his mind set on one thing; getting there and getting back. I think this section has two very different tones, one is oblivion and delirium and the other is anguish. These tones are seen at different times in the last couple chapters. Delirium as well as oblivion wash over every person climbing on that mountain. The lack of oxygen and the high altitude physically effect them but from the perspective of those climbing they had no idea they had lost their stable mental status at the time. Just at the beginning of the descent Krakauer already is losing stability. "Negotiating the puzzling, infirm terrain demanded unceasing concentration, an all-but-impossible feat in my punch-drunk state" (p199.) The way he explains how he feels at that point is worrisome, its hard to imagine how out of his body he must have been by the end of that night. Krakauer was able to find more oxygen after his ran out, even than his mind was in a state that would not be changed till he got back down to base camp. "I pulled the mask from my face, left it hanging around my neck, and pressed onward, surprisingly unconcerned" (p200.) After the trek was over, a different heavy regret and anguish fell over those on the trip. Family members feel ill with depression from losing loved ones, Krakauer explains the trip like a horror story. "Everest seems to have poisoned many lives" (p199.) He says it was the worst time of his life but he tried to focus on the positive aspects of the trip. The deep pain the effected all those on the trip is something that can never go away. The lack of mental stability may have lead to some of the mistakes that happened that day, however without the numbness that came along with the altitude saved those descending from feeling and understanding more; which may have made them do reckless things in order to save their colleagues.

 

Into Thin Air is a adventure with a twist, the twist is the sense of unknowing. Because of the circumstances the whole descent was a jumbled up mess with a huge amount of ignorance. Krakauer is able to put what he experienced into the perfect words. I understood what was happening, how he was being effected, how the others where being effected, how his family and the other loved ones of climbers felt. He took the images he couldn't get out of his mind and wrote them down so precisely I felt like I could have been there. There were many characters in the book, sometimes it would be hard to follow because of all the names but by the end of the book not only did I know who Krakauer was talking about; I knew that persons personality. The many adventures that led to the summit of Everest included, death, injury, new friends, conflict and a frenzy of preparation for what was ahead. I enjoyed reading this book because every page was full of information, I learned about Tibetan territory, the Sherpa culture, altitude illness and much more. Krakauer was able to be completely honest, it is nearly impossible to read this book and not be moved or effected in some way.

Post #3~ Tone

Genevieve Castle 

Joy Roll / Zest ?

3/20/14

With the plot of the book being about the Everest climb disaster, the tone of the book has to be one that is honest, sincere and reflective. The last third of the book is extremely sad and truthful about coming down the mountain and realizing how many people are gone and how hard it is to deal with the pain of knowing what happened around you. Jon Krakauer documents his emotional distress by writing, "When I wobbled back to Camp Four around 7:30 Saturday morning, May 11, the actuality of what happened- of what was still happening- began to sink in with paralyzing force. I was physically and emotionally wrecked..." (pg. 257) After realizing that Andy Harris was gone, Krakauer feels emotionally drained, especially when he finds out about the rest of the people who were gone as well. 

He later goes in more detail about his distress saying, "...my mind balked and retreated into a weird, almost robotic state of detachment. I felt emotionally anesthetized yet hyperaware, as if I has fled into a bunker deep inside my skull and was peering out at the wreckage around me through a narrow, armored slit." The amount of detail and honesty shows that the tone is obviously something of a reflective and sincere account of how he had truly felt at that point in time. 

My honest review of the book is that it is a factually accurate depiction of the incident on Mt. Everest, and how it affects a survivor. Through out the book, I found myself constantly wondering what would be around the corner. The physical pain that the climbers went through but prevailed through was shocking to me. I couldn't honestly imagine myself having that amount of drive to just keep going and climb. The people who risked their lives to save others inspired me so greatly. All of the climbers who continued to try to reach summit despite medical issues simply because they didn't want to give up on their chance were so so so inspirational to me as well. I also give great applause to Jon Krakauer for writing the novel despite how hard it can be to write about a traumatic experience like that. Overall, The book was truly what it was worked up to be, and I'm glad I read it.

Post 3: tone of into thin air

          As the book Into Thin Air winds to a depressing ending, the tone transitions from terror and hopelessness to a very subdued lonliness. Jon Krakauer is a strong-willed, capable man as we can pick up from the beginning to middle of the Everest recount. His ability to stay on top of things while simultaneously taking the time to make real friendships and personal growth is impeccable while the course of events remains positive. When things begin to take a downward spin, however, his outlook and his writing really start to play with your heart. I felt that most of the book prior to the fatal descents was very matter-of-fact and exciting. As more and more personal descents start to go awry, so does the reader's outlook. While the actual recount of the mountain's perils is heart-wrenching and terrifying, what really screamed "helplessness" and "lonliness" was Krakauer's retelling of the personal battle he went through after arriving home from the expedition. On page 281, Krakauer tells, "As I turned my head to the side, my ear brushed against a wet spot; tears, I realized, were running down my face and soaking the sheets. I felt a gurgling, swelling bubble of hurt and shame roll up my spine from somewhere deep inside. Erupting out from my nose and mouth in a flood and snot, the first sob was followed by another, then another and another." This particular passage struck me as lonely especially. This being because he didn't bother to drag out the emotion and heartthrob, but rather stated the depression he felt as if it were simply uncontrollable and he had no choice but to bathe in the indescribable pain. While Jon Krakauer is obviously the focus of the book (him being the author and therefore having the most insight on his own experiences), the tone of loneliness carries over to most of the other characters towards the end of the book. What struck me as one of the most heart wrenching parts of the ending was on page 289. Krakauer explains Ed Viesturs' later summit attempt and his account with Scott Fischer's dead body on the mountain. "Instead of collecting any keepsakes, Viesturs sat down next to Fischer during the descent and spent a few minutes alone with him. 'Hey Scott, how you doing?' Ed sadly inquired of his friend. 'What happened, man?" This passage really took its toll on my emotions, and is what I think is the loneliest part of the whole book. Simply the way that Viesturs speaks in this passage screams helplessness and loneliness. All of the survivors from the expedition surely went through their battle with some form or another of depression, as they all desperately tried to rid themselves of guilt, sadness, regret and other awful emotions. While the book begins as an adventurous expedition, it ends slowly and leaves a lonely tug at the reader's gut.
           On a whole, this book spoke to me in ways I would not expect it to. I absolutely loved getting into the story and it definitely played with my emotions. When I first picked it up, the initial mountaineering speak and countless names didn't stick in my head, and I found it hard to get through even the first 100 pages. I do think it was necessary for Jon Krakauer to give all this information prior to beginning the story, however I found it a bit tedious and could be a reason for other readers to put down the book. Lucky for me, I had to keep reading and had the opportunity to really immerse myself into the plot, when it got off and running. Krakauer does a great job connecting the current events to history, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the names and faces of the Everest history and community. I believe that Krakauer's passion for the great mountain shone through in his writing, which was an absolute bonus. Since I am a sucker for emotional stories, I really could not put the book down once he began to retell the events on that fateful day of May 10 (and the tragedies to follow). The foreshadowing and buildup that Krakauer offers throughout the pages is much appreciated, and helps to catch the reader's attention. What got me insanely hooked were the gruesome details of the deaths and frostbite and horrible mishaps prior and following these events. To think that these horrible situations actually happened to real people is horrifying, and was definitely a reason that my emotions were so attacked when reading. The last fifty pages or so will stay with me for a while, and Krakauer's amazing writing was so perfect for accounting the summit and descent. Overall, I would give the book two frostbitten thumbs up any day, and would recommend it to anyone with a thirst for adventure or emotion.

Graham Vert Presents: The Third of Many Scintillating and Morally Questionable Blog Posts About the Spectacular Novel "Into Thin Air!" (Sponsored by BMW)

The novel Into Thin Air is well-written, but I also found it to be extremely depressing. The book becomes more and more brooding and dark as it progresses, and although there is a minor uplift in tone when the climbers reach the summit, the rest of the tale is extremely dreary. Those who already know the story of what happened in the Mt. Everest disaster will read the book with the knowledge of the impending doom. But even though we all already know the outcome, we're still hoping that something, anything will happen to prevent the turn of events that we know all too well will come.

Krakauer says "We were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality." Here he demonstrates the truly hellish circumstances under which the climbers found themselves, as well as the harsh reality of the fact that some of them had to abandon their own moral codes in order to escape the mountain with their lives. It must be a truly hellish thing to watch other people perish trying to accomplish the same thing you are. As far as Krakauer knows, it was just by the luck of the draw that he made it out alive instead of the several climbers who didn't. Cheating death can make a person feel alive, but when one cheats death in a way that leads others to die in their place, it gives the story a far darker and more sinister aspect.

    << The power of German engineering.

MINI-REVIEW:

Into Thin Air definitely has a story worth telling, and I'm certainly interested in seeing how the upcoming film adaptation of it handles the source material. However, the writing of the book often felt a little too cold (no pun intended) and detached sometimes, making it feel more dictatorial than emotional. The characters were sympathetic, especially Rob Hall and Krakauer himself. I believe that a lot more suspense and intensity could have been thrust into the story if the minor characters were given a little more development. A lot of them felt more like stereotypes and cookie-cutter characters than people we should seriously be worried about in the story. Of course, they were based on real people, so this isn't really a complaint... however, it's possible that in his short time with them, Krakauer never became very close with them and therefore didn't have much to say about them in general.

FINAL SCORE FOR INTO THIN AIR: 6/10 stars.

This isn't really a great book, but you could do far worse. I know I didn't get bored with it, which is really saying something, as I have the attention span of a goldfish. Certain parts of it could have been greatly improved, but altogether I thought it was a fascinating and realistic portrayal of an Everest expedition gone wrong. Even if it did sometimes feel more like an after-school special than an emotional or personal story.

Post 3: Tone

Although the last third of Into Thin Air is etched with tragedy and peril, Jon Krakauer describes the chain of events in a way that gives it a sophisticated, somber and matter-of-fact tone. Words such as "survive," "severe," "fatigue," "worse," and "help" jump out at you from almost every page as you read your way through this tragic storm. Krakauer foreshadows this somber gloom from the beginning, when he says, "Training my lens on a pair of climbers approaching the summit, I noticed something that until that moment had escaped my attention. To the south, where the sky had been perfectly clear just an hour earlier, a blanket of clouds now hid Pumori, Ama Dablam, and the other lesser peaks surrounding Everest" (8). The blanket of clouds is a literal symbol of what is to come: one minute, the sky is blue and people's minds are clearly set to reach the highest peak in the world with nothing standing in their way; the next, a thick layer of dark clouds bring danger to the mountain as despair engulfs the minds of its climbers. Although climbing Everest is never anywhere near safe, the rest of the first two thirds of the novel are relatively low key. It's not until later, on summit day, when the events fall into somber gloom. Krakauer is the first to notice the incoming thunderclouds, and gives us the first sign that something is really amiss when he describes clients and guides alike still trekking towards the top of Everest hours after Rob Hall's initial turn around point. As Krakauer continues towards Camp 4, the gloomy conditions turn from bad to worse. "Around 3:30 pm I left the South Summit ahead of Mike, Yasuko, and Andy, and almost immediately descended into a dense layer of clouds. Light snow started to fall. I could scarcely tell where the mountain ended and where the sky began in the flat, diminishing light; it would have been very easy to blunder off the edge of the ridge and never be heard from again. And the conditions only worsened as I moved down the peak" (197). Once he himself stumbles into camp, the first wave of somber ominousness over, the real magnitude of the tragedy sets in for Krakauer, as "Tears welled in my eyes, instantly freezing my eyelids shut. How could Andy be gone? It couldn't be so" (227). Yet, as heavy as everyone's hearts are at this time, Krakauer continues to also give important matter-of-fact information as he shares the story: "I realized, however, that if he hadn't turned left but instead continued straight down the gully - which would have been easy to do in the whiteout even if one wasn't exhausted and stupid with altitude sickness- he would have come quickly to the westernmost edge of the Col. Below, the steep gray ice of the Lhotse Face dropped 4,000 vertical feet to the floor of the Western Cwm. Standing there, afraid to move any closer to the edge, I noticed a single set of faint crampon tracks leading past me toward the abyss. Those tracks, I feared, were Andy Harris's" (227-228).  Somber, tragic, realistic gloom. The accuracy and precision of Krakauer's story and the perfect tone he sets it in gives me the feeling that I, too, am experiencing the Everest Disaster. Suddenly losing so many people right in front of your eyes is very hard. Jon Krakauer had to deal with the pain of losing people he'd come to trust and love, the pain of seeing others suffer, the pain of living while others hadn't, and the pain of always wondering - What else could I have done? Most people, although it might take a while, would be able to deal with that pain. But Krakauer never will get the luxury of putting that May behind him. Because it's his job, as a survivor of that mountain, to share it with the world. Every time someone reads his book, every time he receives questions or comments or complaints, he relives the most tragic part of his life over and over. He had to recount the hard treks, the laughter, the pain, and the tragedy to everyone, everywhere. And he did a good job of it.

Looking back, the most exciting and intriguing part of the book for me came towards the end, in the aftermath of the Disaster. While the storm was taking place, Jon Krakauer precisely described the perils he himself went through, and I could barely put the book down. However, when Krakauer talked to the other survivors once they were off the mountain, he was able to get a much better grasp of what really happened that day, and that was when the puzzle pieces started to fully fall into place, both for him and for me as the reader. For example, Krakauer tells of meeting up with Andy Harris on his way down to camp - and even seeing him practically make it into camp - so the initial thought is that Harris is alive and okay. However, when the storm and minds on the mountain begin to settle, they realize that Harris is really gone. By talking to the head sherpa, Lopsang, and other survivors, Krakauer pieces together what really happened: Harris never made it past the South Summit. Krakauer, in his highly delusional state, mistook him for Martin Adams, a man with a completely different body build and a mistake you would never make in your right mind. This shows just how little of a story one single person actually knows, but when you piece everyone's tale together, it can really become something amazing.