Into Thin Air
by Jon Krakauer
This brilliant book is the third book written by Jon Krakauer. After releasing his collection of essays, Eiger Dreams, Krakauer took the bestseller list by storm releasing Into the Wild and Into Thin Air in back-to-back years in 1996 and 1997. Despite being a young high-schooler at the time of release, I was fascinated by both stories of adventure and demise in the outdoors.
“Once Everest was determined to be the highest summit on earth, it was only a matter of time before people decided that Everest needed to be climbed.”
“Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics and others with a shaky hold on reality.”
“…I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of use were probably seeking, above else, something like a state of grace.”
“With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill…The trick is to get back down alive.”
“We were too tired to help. Above 8,000 meters is not a place where people can afford morality”
“But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.”
“The plain truth is that I knew better but went to Everest anyway. And in doing so I was a party to the death of good people, which is something that is apt to remain on my conscience for a very long time.”
Sticky Books are those that you just can’t get out of your head. They stick with you long after you have put the book down and have moved on to something else. These are some of my Sticky Books. I don’t enjoy reviewing books myself. I find I am either full of far too much praise for the book because I know how difficult it can be to write a book, or I am far too negative about a book because, well, I guess I was just in a bad mood. So instead of reviews, I have pulled some of my favorite quotes from each Sticky Book.
Find more writing and publishing tips at Nothing Any Good.