cranea653's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional

2.25


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rockymtndad's review

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adventurous dark informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Exciting adventure tale.  Author does a great job of offering details that allowed me the perspective to feel like I was present. Intense and alarming first hand account of the life/death that i  Mt. Everest.

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nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I was already a fan of Krakauer, having been at various times in my life obsessed with Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven.

Well, this time he really broke me. I can't stop thinking about Mount Everest and about high altitude disasters.

What Krakauer and his companions endured in 1996 is one of the most harrowing things I've ever read. His reflections of his own grief, the other survivors' reactions, the true misery that they endured during the disaster...I'm honestly haunted by it. It had me sobbing.

Krakauer was clearly deep in his own trauma when he wrote it, and you can tell.

My respect for him as a journalist, a mountaineer, and a human being is higher than it's ever been.

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jillianlovesbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

WOW and OUCH
that book was a little intense but such an important read 
it hit me right in the gut 
loved it tho!

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karism576's review

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Engaging account of a disaster on Mount Everest. Sometimes a little hard to follow all the characters' names and the overall timeline of the disaster, but overall a very compelling read.

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albon's review

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adventurous dark

5.0


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mollyb13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

In a 'perfect storm' type of situation, journalist Jon Krakauer found himself in the middle of one of the deadliest events in Everest's climbing history. He was in an extremely unique position to use his writing skills to cover the expedition and successfully interview a majority of the people involved after the event. I can't imagine the pain of being tied to this event in any sort of manner - and I'm glad that he turned his original Outside article into a full book. He seemed to have a good balance of telling his own story in a vulnerable way while also reporting the situation in a factual manner. This one is going to stick with me for quite a while.

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hellavaral's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0


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emiliegrace's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Given the genre of book, I should have had more pause going into this but I was truly sold by the sheer intrigue that was brought about by one of the most coveted journalists happening to be on one of the most disastrous Mount Everest Expeditions in 1996. (I later read that it was considered a somewhat average death/success rate for the mountain, however it was not expected for guided expeditions of that caliber. And at the time, it was the deadliest season on the mountain.)
The sh*itstorm that Krakauer and his fellow mountaineers endured on the summit was genuinely one of the most intense things I have ever read. The countless decisions and mishaps that led up to the expeditions disastrous end (taking a total of 12 lives) are detailed and explored in such great detail. It really felt as if Krakauer left no stone unturned in dissecting the traumatic experience he had gone through. 
I particularly enjoyed his discussion and exploration of the commercialization of Everest, and all the ways in which that influenced the people on the mountain that day and the decisions they had made (ex. Hall feeling pressure for his business from having failed his previous expedition, Fischer feeling pressure from having the presence of media - Sandy Pittman - as a paying client) 
Krakauer takes such care in detailing the background and context of each individual on Everest with him in 1996 - guides, fellow clients, and sherpas alike. He pays deep respect towards every person and event he chronicles. While it would seem easy to lose track of who he is discussing, each event is set up with a beautiful description of the people involved (ex. the death of Ngawang Sherpa or the controversial nature of the South African and Taiwanese teams). 
It’s truly such an awe-inspiring tale of devastating consequences yet tenacious heroism. I couldn’t put it down - and I even purchased a copy to more thoroughly annotate. 

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kittkattsnacck's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0


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