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Into Thin Air cover art

Into Thin Air

By: Jon Krakauer
Narrated by: Philip Franklin
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Publisher's Summary

One of the inspirations for the major motion picture Everest, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley.

This is the true story of a 24-hour period on Everest when members of three separate expeditions were caught in a storm and faced a battle against hurricane-force winds, exposure, and the effects of altitude, which ended the worst single-season death toll in the peak's history.

In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead.

Krakauer's audiobook is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads his listeners to ponder timeless questions.

©2011 Jon Krakauer (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about Into Thin Air

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Awesome book, very harrowing story - could improve

Only complaint was the accents were terrible, mainly the South African and New Zealand accents which sounded more like a botched Aussie accent than anything. Would have preferred no accents at all as it does distract from the story . Overall read very well and highly recommend this book !

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A personal account of a disastrous expedition.

An very candid and personal account of the expedition and the consequences of mistakes on high altitude mountaineering expeditions. Loved the detailed storytelling, however the narration wasn't that great, the attempt at using accents for the dialogue was a bit distracting but it didn't detract from the story too much.

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An emotional and engaging listen

A well written and paced book, deeply moving and sad (as expected) with a decent level of analysis of the whys and wherefores. Be warned, the narrator does accents and it’s not good.

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Excellent story and easy to listen to

Great narrator (the accents are fine and barely even noticed the switch back and forth) gripping story that is well written

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Excellent book and reading

Really, really enjoyed this book. An exceptional re-telling of a very sad story. Actually now one of my all-time favourites despite being so sad and somber.

I found myself unable to switch it off...kept needing to hear what happened next.

Unlike others who have reviewed the book, the narrator's accents didn't bother me at all. It helped me differentiate between the various individuals as I was getting to know them.

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great book

great book, loved it, very interesting I was hooked could hardly turn it off listened every spare second I could

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Riveting story

Even though I have read the book it was so well narrated truly compelling, felt like you were there

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The most INTENSE true story!

if you've ever wondered what it would be like to climb a big mountain or to summit mount Everest, read or listen to this book.

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Intense!

An interesting and riveting insight into the madness of Everest, and the dreams and consiquences that it brings.
Only let down was the narrator, whose attempts at accents could be jarring. Otherwise, it seemed to be well rounded by other's reminisces - even if a few voices were notably absent.

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an insightful account

an exciting review of the terrible events that unfolded in 1996. hats off to those who summit everest as everything about sounds terrible

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