Stacked: A booklog

Into Thin Air

"People who don't climb mountains tend to assume that the sport is a reckless Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills. The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountains I'd been on. I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain."

--Jon Krakauer

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

Author: Jon Krakauer

Publisher/Publisher Date: Anchor Books, 1997

Library/Bookstore: Encore Books

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: October 2008

Rating: *****

What It's About: Jon Krakauer shares his version of the tragic events that occurred in 1996 as several groups simultaneously attempted to climb Mt Everest.  He was lucky enough to survive the catastrophic expedition while working on assignment for Outside magazine.  The other members of his team actually made it to the top as well, however, not everyone made it back down.  Despite the expertise of the Everest guides, eight people died due to the unpredictable weather, exhaustion, bad judgment, and the incompetence of most of the other people on the mountain. 

Why I Chose to Read It: I really enjoyed reading Into the Wild and I have a sick interest in disaster survival stories.

Notes About the Book:

1. Did you know that it costs around $65,000 dollars to climb Mt. Everest (actually, now I think it's up to $70,000)?  That floored me.  Who would pay that much money to experience altitude sickness, hallucinations, fatigue, frostbite, hypothermia, sunburn, the possibility of broken bones and/or plunging to your death?  Krakauer talks at great length of the absurdity of wanting to climb Mt. Everest.  Turns out it's really not that much fun.
2. I found it interesting how Mt. Everest is considered to be the world's highest garbage dump.  It's littered with empty oxygen canisters, tents, supplies, garbage and even dead bodies.
3. Dead bodies won't stop serious climbers from reaching their desired goal.  They'll just climb right over them.  Reading about that in the book really disturbed me.  It is estimated that there are 41 bodies on the north side of Everest.   
4. The real heroes of the story are the members of the IMAX film crew who shared their oxygen and radios to help rescue more people.  They put their own lives at risk by doing this.  Some of the other expeditions simply refused to help (bastards).

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  You can't help but be fascinated by the obsession these people have with reaching the summit despite the risks they face.  What drives them to want to do this?  I may have to pick up some more books about climbing Everest.

Links:

Everest News

Everest 50

Lost on Everest

Mt. Everest

A Walk Across America

"No more distractions.  The elation of finally being alone was total.  We walked straight west.  I had everything I needed in the world resting comfortably on my shoulders, and the entire country waiting to be discovered."

-Peter Jenkins, from A Walk Across America

Title: A Walk Across America

Author: Peter Jenkins

Publisher/Publisher Date: Perennial/2001

Library/Bookstore: Encore Books

Date Borrowed/Bought/Read: June 2008

Rating: ****

What It's About: Encouraged by a friend to get to know his country before rejecting it, Peter Jenkins decided to walk across America with his loyal half-malamute dog, Cooper.  It took him three years (1973-1975) to travel from Alfred, New York to New Orleans, Louisiana.  Along the way, he learned from a mountain hermit, bonded with an African American family, risked losing limbs working in a veneer mill, got drunk off moonshine, and found religion and love.  It's an amazing story, and an inspiring one.

Why I Chose to Read It: I've always wanted to travel across the country to discover rural America.  Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon is my favorite book.

Notes About the Book:

1. I don't think I could have done what Jenkins did.  The moment it started snowing on the trail, I would have said, "Screw this!"  Then I would have checked myself into a nice hotel room with a TV set so I could watch VH1's I Love Money.  Isn't that terrible?   
2. It was heartbreaking reading about Cooper's death even though I knew beforehand that he was going to die.  I had a hard time picking the book back up after that.
3. This book reminded me a lot of Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. 
4. One of the most interesting parts of the book was when Jenkins met George Wallace, the pro-segregation governor of Alabama.  He was dreading going to Alabama because he feared that he would encounter a lot of bigotry there.  The opposite turned out to be true.  The people were very warm and friendly towards him.

Do I Recommend It?  Yes.  You can tell that he was an inexperienced writer when he wrote this (the cliches get kinda annoying after a while).  However, the people he met during his journey make it a worthy read. 

Links:

• Exploring with Peter Jenkins