Showing posts with label krakauer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label krakauer. Show all posts

32% Off Discounts: Special Prices for Into the Wild Review

Into the Wild

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Into the Wild Review

There is little suspense (in the traditional sense of the word) in Krakauer's Into the Wild, as anyone who reads the synopsis or picks up the book instantly learns that it is the story of a young man, Chris McCandless, who ventures into the Alaskan Wilderness and who never gets out. Chris' body is found in an abandoned bus used by moose hunters as a makeshift lodge, and Krakauer skillfully attempts to retrace his steps in an effort both to understand what went wrong, and to figure out what made McCandless give away his money, his car, and head off into Denali National Forest in the first place.
His book was one of the most haunting, unforgettable reads in recent years for me. I was mezmerized by passages in the author's other best-selling masterpiece Into Thin Air, such as the passage involving stranded and doomed guide Rob Hall, near the Everest summit, talking to his pregnant wife via satellite phone to discuss names for their unborn child. However, I was unprepared for the depths of emotion felt in reading Into the Wild - it literally kept me up at nights, not just reading but thinking about the book in the dark.
Some reviewers criticized the book because they thought McCandless demonstrated a naive and unhealthy lack of respect for the Alaskan wilderness. This is no hike on the Appalachian Trail - Chris was literally dropped off by a trucker into the middle of nowhere, with no provision stores, guides, or means of assistance nearby at his disposal. He had a big bag of rice and a book about native plants, designed to tell him which plants and berries he could eat. "How could he have been so stupid?", they ask.
Well, I certainly didn't feel compelled to give away my belongings, pack some rice and a Tolstoy novel and walk into the woods after reading the book, but the author does a remarkable job of exploring McCandless the person, including passages derived from interviews with the many poeple whose lives he touched in his odyssey as he drove and then hitch-hiked cross country from his well-to-do suburban home. Some of the more touching parts of the book involved tearful reminisces by some of these old aquaintances when they learned he had perished.
Krakauer also throws in for good measure an illuminating passage about a similar death-defying climb that he foolishly attempted at about the same age as McCandless, with little training and preparation, providing insight into what makes a person attempt a dangerous climb or hike. He even tells several fascinating tales, all of them true, of other recreational hikers who were stranded in the wilderness.
By the end of the book, I thought I understood McCandless' character, and I thought Krakauer was probably right in putting his finger on exactly what caused his death. I was moved by his plight regardless of his possible foolishness in venturing into Denali, and the final scenes involving Chris' family were emotionally devastating. You need not be an outdoorsman to appreciate it, and in fact unlike Into Thin Air the book is completely accessible to those who know nothing about the subject. I think this book is destined to become a classic.

Into the Wild Overview



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38% Off Discounts: Buy Cheap Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster Review

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

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

I first read "Into Thin Air" right after it was first published five years ago. It haunted me at the time, and it continues to do so today. By now, the story has been told so many times and by so many different people that it hard to remember that Krakauer's original account is the one that made it famous to begin with. Were it not for his incredible abilities as a storyteller, it is doubtful that anyone outside the world of mountaineering would remember what happened at the peak of Everest in that fateful May of 1996.
Krakauer's account is so compelling because it reads like a book length confession, which it is in a sense. The author worked through his very considerable feelings of survivor's guilt in the book's pages. His descriptions and not inconsiderable opinions have become legendary. For example, how many people read of AOL Chairman Robert Pittman's recent outster from the company and remembered him as the husband of Sandra Hill Pittman, who personified the rich amature climber who buys their way to the top of the world's tallest peak and who has no business being there? Krakauer's descriptions of Mrs. Pittman on the mountain are an example of his simple but devastating observations.
Krakauer's highly readable prose make the book read like fiction, probably another reason why it was so popular. He signed on for the Everest climb intending to write a standard mountaineering magazine article. That he chose the fateful May 1996 climb is simply a rare case of someone being at the wrong place at precisely the right time. Though it caused him plenty of personal torment, it also allowed him to write a story for the ages.
Overall, "Into Thin Air" fantastic storytelling make it one of the best non-fiction books published in the last decade or so.

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



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Lowest Price Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way (Kindle Single) Review

Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way (Kindle Single)

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Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way (Kindle Single) Review

In February, I embedded with the 101st Airborne division in Kandahar province to research a novel. I wound up writing my own Kindle Single, "Lost in Kandahar," about the obstacles our soldiers faced in fighting the Taliban. One reviewer wrote that that the piece offered a very different perspective on Afghanistan than "Three Cups of Tea." Now, unfortunately, I understand why. In this thoroughly researched piece, Jon Krakauer exposes Greg Mortenson as a terrible charlatan.
According to dozens of people who spoke to Krakauer, most of whom are quoted by name, Mortenson lied about the origins of his school-building project, lied about the number of schools he's built, lied about how much time he spends in Afghanistan, lied about his financial relationship with his charity, lied about how much he pays himself, lied about his "kidnapping" in 1996, and even lied about the fact that schools are mainly in relatively peaceful parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are probably a few other lies I've forgotten. For his own ego and financial gain, Mortenson took advantage of the goodwill of donors in America and all over the world.
As Krakauer points out, we are so desperate for good news out of Afghanistan that we latched onto Mortenson's story despite some of its obvious flaws (the Taliban didn't really exist in Pakistan in 1996, for example). Mortenson's efforts to defend himself at this point are pathetic, and if he is smart - and wants to avoid a criminal indictment - he will come clean and then slink away, never to be seen or heard again. And hopefully, the rest of us will be a little wiser the next time a Pied Piper comes along promising to solve the world's ills -- for just a few bucks down!
Lost in Kandahar (Kindle Single)

Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way (Kindle Single) Overview

Greg Mortenson has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children's crusader, and he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also not what he appears to be. As acclaimed author Jon Krakauer discovered, Mortenson has not only fabricated substantial parts of his bestselling books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, but has also misused millions of dollars donated by unsuspecting admirers like Krakauer himself.This is the tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong.100% of Jon Krakauer's proceeds from the sale of Three Cups of Deceit will be donated to the "Stop Girl Trafficking" project at the American Himalayan Foundation (www.himalayanfoundation.org/live/project/stopgirltrafficking).

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