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Originally Posted by SeattleUte
I regard "Into Thin Air" as a contemporary classic... I think he tastefully and appropriately deals with his own role in the tragedy, a tall order for any writer...
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Unfortunately, Krakauer is mostly full of crap. All of his books "Into the Wild," "Under The Banner of Heaven," have been entertaining but do not hold up to any sort of challenge when brought before those who have any real knowledge of the situation.
"Into Thin Air" should be regarded as a novel based loosely on actual events.
Krakauer was stumbling down a mountain so stupid from lack of oxygen that he couldn't even remember who he was standing next to and who he watched walk off a cliff.
Many parts of the story are true but they are told from a VERY dramatized and biased point of view. Krakauer wanted to sell books not tell the story.
Fortunately for Krakauer, most of the people who actually knew what was going on (the ones he blames for most of the problems) are now dead. Anatoli Burkiev (sp?) did manage to get a book out before he died on Anapurna II a year later. His side of the story is much different.
At the time of the tragedy on Everest I was fairly involved in the climbing world. The season after there was a horrible backlash toward Krakauer. The great majority of the climbing community looked at the decisions made by the guides and felt that they made the right calls under the circumstances.
Krakauer was a tourist being dragged up the mountain like all the rest but because of his one or two "noteworthy" mountaineering experiences, he tried to put himself on the level of the guides. His observations are those of a self absorbed, chest thumping, ego-maniac.
After reading the complaints about the innacuracy of "Into The Wild" and "Into Thin Air" I was not at all surprised to hear that Krakauer missed the mark with his latest book...