Readers Response Literary Criticism: Into Thin Air

Your hands grip the rigid crevice of ice, as you can only feel the sensation of air going in and out of your windpipe. You gasp for each and every breath, questioning as to whether you have enough oxygen to make it.  You cringe as you try and peer beyond the large masses of ice, as you are becoming blinded by the blowing snow. You feel your face tense up, as creases forms beside your temples, as you smile, and witness the peak of Mount Everest.

Approximately 4,093 people have encountered such feeling to this day. Almost 280, died trying.

“Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others with a shaky hold on reality.”

― Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

I am currently reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer for English this yea. I have read one of his previous books called Into The Wild while in grade 9 English.

Brief Overview

The novel; Into Thin Air reveals Jon Krakauer’s personal narrative of his ongoing journey through the treacherous Mount Everest, encountering what only some hope to never witness. On March 1996, the life of young man by the name of Jon Krakauer took an enthralling turn. Jon Krakauer, author and mountain climber, is hired by Outside Magazine to write an article about the commercialism on Mount Everest. Krakauer decides he wants to climb the mountain, and joins the most disastrous Everest expedition in history. In which eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a storm. For more of a different and detailed explanation visit Jon Krakauer’s website.

I found a movie not based off the book but in the same situation as this event of their took place the same day Jon’s group reached the summit. So this movie is a good watch to have an idea of how things went down at the summit. The movie Everest won’t disappoint.

Applying Reader Response Literary Theory

I came upon the title of this novel years ago, but never thought much of it. Being a young child, a book about a mountain and some climbers ideally wasn’t the first book I would choose to pick up.

Now, being a young teenager, I am more drawn to novels in which I can relate to. As Into Thin Air consisted of real events, captured by two eyes of one man, I knew I had to give it a try. My interest in rock climbing isn’t a huge one, even though I enjoy a thrilling adventure into the woods once in awhile. Although, there is something about true stories that gets to me. I don’t know if it’s the large amounts of information that allows your mind to get lost in its words, or just the utter connection you can have with a novel.

This idea of foreshadowing of impending disaster can also be supported by his use of words once he reaches the peak of Everest; “But now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care” (Krakauer 4). I was certainly surprised of his stance upon the mountain as I would’ve implied that his success would be more triumphant, by celebrating with the other climbers, or marking his success upon the mountain. Due to this lack of pride and emotion, this leads me to believe that Jon had encountered a horrendous journey during the ascent of the mountain to lack this expected emotion. My only dislike during the introduction was Krakauer’s past to present transition. It certainly got a little bit confusing trying to differ between the two, as it wasn’t very clear. The only helpful aspect of this transition was the an aid into helping me understand character’s past and their previous expedition journeys, as it discussed more of a timeline.

I was unsure to an extent the deadliness of Mount Everest before reading. Within the first few chapters statistics were shown; “Everest had killed more than 130 people since…1921—approximately one death for every four climbers who’d reached the summit—and … many of those who died had been far stronger and possessed vastly more high-altitude experience than I” (Krakauer 30–31). This really struck me as the severity of risk being taken is immense, as Krakauer is put into such a dreadful and life changing position. Also the fact that many commercial climbers aren’t qualified to be on the mountain, it allows for my fear for the climbers well-being to be increased as they aren’t as qualified as one’s who have died upon Everest.

Questions Arising

During reading the first quarter of my book there was questions arising that I was hoping to get answered in the remainder of the book. Throughout the book the atmosphere contains tension and worry. How does Krakauer show this tension through the actions and decisions of the climbers? What methods are there that would change the commercial mountaineering business to prevent future tragedies from occurring? Why did they intriduce Rob Hall the leader as great as the events taking place in the story do not reinforce this? Those were a couple of questions that came to mind that I shared.

Overall Reflection

I think the author presumed to have readers of all ages because of the fact he was into mountain climbing from a very young age and started reading book surrounding that topic. I learnt that trust is an important value as Jon had that relationship with his climbers. Trust is important because it is the basis around which all human relationships revolve.

My excitement for this novel certainly increases as I continue to read, it seems to allow me to travel deeper into the thoughts of the characters as well as the truth about Mount Everest. As I apply other literary theories to this novel, my understanding and opinions upon the text will expand greater.

Works Cited

Websites

“Jon Krakauer Menu.” Jon Krakauer. 10 July 2019 <http://www.jonkrakauer.com/books/into-thin-air-tr&gt;.

Butcher, Ben. “How deadly is Mount Everest?” BBC News. 21 Mar. 2019. BBC. 10 July 2019 <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47418215&gt;.

Images

“Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster: Jon Krakauer: 9780385494786: Books.” Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster: Jon Krakauer: 9780385494786: Books – Amazon.ca. 10 July 2019 <https://www.amazon.ca/Into-Thin-Air-Personal-Disaster/dp/0385494785&gt;.

“Jon Krakauer Menu.” Jon Krakauer. 10 July 2019 <http://www.jonkrakauer.com/books/into-thin-air-tr&gt;.

Morakabati, Yeganeh, John Fletcher, and PVC Research and Innovation. “On Everest, climbers pay to take risks while Sherpas take risks to get paid.” The Conversation. 08 July 2019. 10 July 2019 <https://theconversation.com/on-everest-climbers-pay-to-take-risks-while-sherpas-take-risks-to-get-paid-25951&gt;.

GIF’S

Funk. “Cold Snow GIF by funk – Find & Share on GIPHY.” GIPHY. 20 Feb. 2019. GIPHY. 10 July 2019 <https://giphy.com/gifs/gutearbeitoriginals-snow-winter-d3mlmtNPoxNrt4Bi&gt;.

Giphy. “Black And White Book GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY.” GIPHY. 23 Mar. 2018. GIPHY. 10 July 2019 <https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-girls-book-ESxVxc9HttIDm&gt;.

Giphy. “Elephant Questions GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY.” GIPHY. 29 Apr. 2019. GIPHY. 10 July 2019 <https://giphy.com/gifs/reactionseditor-reaction-l0IyjeA5mmMZjhyPm&gt;.