Week Twelve Annotations: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Title:  Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

Author: Jon Krakauer

Publication Date: October 19, 1999
Number of Pages: 368 pages
Type: Memoir
Geographic Setting: Mount Everest
Time Period: May of 1996

Subject Headings:

- Mount Everest Disaster

- Natural Disasters

- Mountain Climbing
- Survival
-Adventure

Plot Summary:
In 1996 journalist Jon Krakauer was given the opportunity to write an article about climbing Mt. Everest.  Somehow, he managed to persuade his bosses to fully fund his own expedition, so that he can have the first-hand experience for his article.  Krakauer joined Rob Hall’s expedition, slowly climbing the mountain over a period of weeks (and witnessing a lot of illness and death along the way), and on May 10th their group begins their summit down Everest.  This is the start of what is now known as the Mt. Everest Disaster of 1996, and Krakauer was there to witness it firsthand.

Nonfiction Elements:

1. Narrative: This memoir is a mix of narrative and fact-based.  There are highly narrative descriptive points throughout the book, with facts interwoven.  It is a good mix of the two.
2. Subject: The subject of the book is the Mount Everest Disaster that took place in May, 1996, and claimed the lives of twelve climbers.
3. Type: This book is a memoir written by a journalist who was climbing Mt. Everest when the storm struck.
4. Appeal: This is a quick read for a non-fiction because it is highly descriptive and engaging.  The story is depressing, dark, as well as thrilling and will captivate readers from the very start.

If you enjoyed Into Thin Air, you might like these titles:

1. The Ledge by Jim Davidson
2. Alive by Piers Paul Read
3. Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (fiction)
4. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer