Jensen Yamane
Elan
3/13/14
Jon Krakauer (Post Two)
Jon Krakauer, the author and narrator of the story, was strong mentally, physically, and was not just a journalist reporting from the mountain. Krakauer had been fascinated with climbing since he was a young boy. He writes "I was forty-one now, well past my climbing prime, with a graying beard, bad gums, and fifteen extra pounds around my midriff," (28) Yet, when approached with an offer to go to Everest to report for
Outside magazine, he "said yes without even pausing..." (28). He wasn't going to Everest to only write an article he also was on a mission to climb the infamous mountain. He says, "I wanted to climb the mountain as badly as I'd ever wanted anything in my life. From the moment I agreed to go to Nepal, my intention was to ascend every bit as high as my unexceptional legs and lungs would carry me," (88). Despite his "unexceptional legs and lungs," Krakauer was actually extraordinarily strong. No average person can just get out of bed and climb Everest. Krakauer had to train for a whole year "which would give me time to train properly for the physical demands of the expedition," (27). As stated by Sophia Miller in her first blog post, the best way to prepare for Everest is to "begin a dedicated training program and give yourself plenty of time (8-12 months)." This allows your legs, core, upper body, and heart to be in their peak condition when you climb Everest, as they need to be. Summation of Everest does not just require physical strength, one also needs to be extremely mentally tough to cope with all of the challenges of climbing Everest. For 57 hours Krakauer didn't sleep AND was suffering from the effects of altitude sickness. While at Base Camp Krakauer would "wake up three to four times gasping for breath," (72) each night. Base Camp is only 17,600 feet above sea level; the summit is at 29,029 feet. Reaching Base Camp on its own was an accomplishment for Krakauer, because he had never climbed that high before. Furthermore, reaching the summit was truly an astounding feat for him and it showed his grit and determination to climb the tallest mountain in the world.
I agree, Krakauer clearly goes above and beyond the call of duty for this story. Even though he has "unexceptional legs and lungs," he's clearly extremely dedicated to his writing, going all the way up Everest (when he had no experience with mountains that high) just for Outside magazine. Also, if I may say so, he's a very good writer. His other book, Into the Wild, was made into a very good film (wow, this guy likes the word "into"), and Into Thin Air is going to be a movie as well.
ReplyDeleteThis post is really accurate. The main character, Jon, is really inspired to climb Everest and the book is simply shadowing his miraculous journey. He is so determined to get to the top, and he endures some drastic and life changing experiences, like the people that get deathly ill and the falls that occur. Taking on such big risks, like the ones that go along with climbing, just goes to show how serious he is about his goal, and what makes him such a strong character.
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