TOW #8 - IRB

With one marking period down and three left, I have finished reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. In comparison to many reviews, I rather enjoyed Into Thin Air. Krakauer did a spectacular job at narrating a personal thriller. Though the real event may not have been as crazy and action-packed as it was depicted in Into Thin Air, I still appreciated his rendition. In the second half of the story, Krakauer finds himself facing an enormous storm, both literally and figuratively. A massive blizzard renders his expedition crew inoperative, and at the same time the other crew members are not being cooperative with Krakauer and each other. One thing after another, luck is not in Krakauer's favor as him and his team descend from the summit. Eventually, with the loss of several members, they make it down. Even though it is a non-fiction account, Krakauer writes Into Thin Air for the purpose of entertainment. He accomplishes this through the use of his diction. His word choice and tone emphasizes the intensity or melancholy in certain situations. For instance, when Hutchinson, one of the expedition's team members, recalls when Weathers, another team member, was blown off of the mountain by a strong gust of wind, his tone makes the story short and gloomy. This causes the memory to be depressing and the reader can only feel sad for the unfortunate death. Overall, I thought Into Thin Air was well written and recommend it to anyone. Krakauer was very successful in entertaining me with his personal account of his expedition on Mt. Everest.