Key themes
- The 1996 Everest disaster — commercial expedition culture and its fatal pressures
- The summit as the wrong objective — when turning back becomes impossible
- Survivor guilt and the ethics of writing about others' deaths
About this book
A first-hand account of the deadly 1996 Everest disaster; tense, honest and unforgettable.
Published in 1997, Into Thin Air is Krakauer's account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster in which eight people died. It remained on the New York Times bestseller list for two years. Krakauer's depiction of guide Anatoli Boukreev was disputed in Boukreev's own account.
Discussion questions
- Krakauer was on the mountain when the disaster happened, and survived while others did not. How does this position — witness, survivor, journalist — shape the narrative?
- The disaster resulted partly from commercial guiding culture — clients paying to be 'taken' to the summit who were not strong enough to summit safely. How does Krakauer develop this critique — and how does it affect his portrayal of the guides who died?
- The summit turnaround time was not observed. How does Krakauer analyse the decision-making failures — and what does the disaster reveal about how humans respond to group pressure at altitude?
- Several accounts conflict with Krakauer's — notably Anatoli Boukreev's. How does Krakauer handle the fact that his own account is contested — and what does this say about the limits of first-person reportage?
- Into Thin Air is one of the most read pieces of long-form journalism ever published. What accounts for its appeal — and what does the disaster reveal about adventure, risk and the desire to be where almost no one else has been?
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