Into Thin Air Reading Notes
v Introduction: background on the writing of the article and why JK went and is now writing a book about his adventure/ordeal.
v He is on a quest: 1) for the truth because people want to know. 2) to gain an understanding of what happened so that he can deal with the aftermath
v Will his novel be subject?
v Will it be objective?
v What has he done to ensure the integrity of his book?
Chapter One Everest
Summit May 10, 1996 29,028 Feet
Why do we start at the top on the fateful day?
Shipton Epigraph (epigraph: quotation usually related to a theme)
Scour these for themes.
This oneÉmountaineering is a fascination for some. 25, 000 feet is an invisible line.
Emotion of summitting: JK just doesnÕt have the energy to care.
57 hrs. w/o sleep, very little food, 2 separated ribs from coughing, diminished mental capacity
8-1:17 PM and he spends less than 5 minutes there. Why not hang out for a while?
Oh no, there are clouds rising up, shrouding the some of the lower peaks; weatherÕs coming
ÒLaterÓ a whole series of rhetorical questions. (Why did people march to their deaths?)
JK-I misjudged them, they looked harmless; he was more worried about getting more O2.
9 why are there so many people queued up? Foreboding!!
A little plot twist: JK runs out of O2. Why start with the personal anecdote?
11 he descends into poor visibility; a storm, and we wonder aboutÉ? Those above!
What does the first, small chapter accomplish?
Chapter Two Dehra Dun, India 1852 2,234 HUH?? Why are we here?
Everest recognized as talled mountain in world. People start thinking about climbingit. Lots die. It takes 101 yrs.
Mallory and Irvine die in 1924. Body of M discovered by Conrad Anchor in 1999.
1953 glory for Hillary and Tenzing.
WeÕre getting a sense of JKÕs romantic attachment to the mountain.
23 who are these climbers? What qualities do they posses?
The early romantic view of Everest changes as novices make the climb after dishing out big bucks to guides. WhatÕs the effect of commercial climbing operations?
Arriving and meeting the others in his climbing group
Seeing the mountain from the plane window
The Himalaya is a very alien placeÉlots of trekkers and tourist. A new culture and beautify landscape.
Chapter Four
Hiking up toward Lobuje, a filth stop on the way to base
camp. ItÕs spectacular
county. Very alien and
exotic. We get a lot back ground
on Rob Hall, whoÕs an outspoken Kiwi.
JK realizes how important hall is, considering the others on his team
donÕt have a lot of experience.
Many examples of great writing here.
Introduction to Scott Fischer
HeÕs an interesting contrast to Rob HallÉ.nice symmetry
His personality is reflected in the name of his company, Mountain Madness
He sayÕs heÕs more conservative now, yet he still seems to have an excess of pride
Building dramatic tension and people begin to wonder how theyÕll do
People are getting ill
The environment is so alien
The conditions are hard
Chapter Six
In the Khumbu Ice FieldÉfear!!! ItÕs a wild place. One senses how physically challenging this climb is going to be.
An interesting anecdote about NOT telling his wife the whole
truth when he went on the climb.
Ang Dorje: a respected sherpa
climbing to camp one and seeing bodies
visiting S. Africans
Ngawang Topche gets HAPE: does he get worse treatment because heÕs not a client? He dies.
Machismo from Sherpas, too. They donÕt want to lose their livelihoods.
A rich person as opposed to a poor one, Sandy Hill Pittman and bias: find an example of JKÕs an demonstrate it logically
Find phrases that demonstrate it and judge from the overall tone. Hint, the last lines in the chapter give it awayÉ
Coming Down, a Salon interview with Krakauer about the controversy of his book. Pittman is mentioned
http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/cov_03feature.html
LotÕs of foreshadowing
Attempt at camp III called off b/c of weather
Conflict between the teams over whoÕll set the ropes
Jiggy-jiggy on the mountain has sherpa worried
There are some great climbers there
140 religious aspect of climbing Everest
141 a Òsense of missionÓ
back down to base campÉhow ready is JK? Give examples of reasons to be hopeful and reasons to be worried?
Chapters 11 and 12
Éare chaps for the in-class essay. So what does Karkauer do to build drama as the climbers begin their summit attempt?
Traffic jams and delays (ropes not set by Sherpas)
Turnaround time and why people resist it
184 Yosuko, for example, is dangerously enrapt in her summit fever
Rules that help climbers and hinder climbers
Having to stick together
186 Benefits and challenges of using bottled oxygen and why some opt not to
Lopsang and Boukreev not using it
The mental effects of being at extremely high altitude
189 JK not even that excited to summit
195 Harris is hypoxic—insists thereÕs no oxygen left—the others canÕt argue with him, so they let it go. Oh no!
197 KrakauerÕs feelings about passing BeckÉtheyÕre mixed: relief and guilt. Beck has vision problems.
199-200 Factors that helped Krakauer get out of harmÕs way 1) he spent a lot of time studying the terrain so he would be able to find his way back.
Snow, snow, snow..a personal struggle to get back. JK assumes the others are behind him because of the turn around times, the quality of the guides, etcÉ but heÕs wrong.
back to the summit: a story in parallel to JKÕs but very different. Horrible instead of relief. ItÕs dripping with irony.
Read chapters fifteen and sixteen. Then chose a passage that you feel represents the most significant moment in these chapters, and write a detailed paragraph that explains your thinking. (DonÕt use the word Òsignificant.Ó Choose a word that more precisely describes the moment, such as ÒhorrifyingÓ or Òheroic.Ó) Please copy down the passage at the top of your page.
time
hierarchy
breakdowns/mistakes
radios
Fischer backstory
Missed signs
WhoÕs in trouble? Adams, weathers, Pittman
WhoÕs helping them?
Aha, they follow JKÕs tracks. OtherwiseÉ
6:45 and not back yet
216 the lost group has to hunker down and wait for a break in the storm. Should they have gone down the steep pitch? Had on go and return with a rope? EtcÉ
Boukreev heroic and dubious moves
Other sherpas canÕt help
He finds them,,,theyÕre dyingÉNamba is almost dead
It seems that Beck and Namba are gone.
20 the return to camp II
a haggard bunch
271-272 an anecdote about Stuart that showsÉ?
Nice structureÉintro and 3 specific examples: goggles, clip; ice ax
Conclusion idea???
Gau has horrible frostbite. Worst this Dr. has ever seen.
273 News that beck is on the way down.
A big group effort helps B down.
276 JK starts trying to make sense of everything
21
280 the media—mostly Japanese—starts descending
JK gets high because of the stress!!
JK begins to explain why the death hit him so hard.
Survivors guilt not felt by Klev
Reasons:
Hubris
Weather
Time
Money
Hypoxia
Other
288
lessons right after
Deaths, Bruce Herrod story, One triumph of Brashears group