Linda K. (Fluffycat6) reviewed on 12/31/2009

Helpful Score: 3

So the burning question is, what do people do after they have invested months of their time, thousands of their dollars, and superhuman effort to say they have reached the summit of Mt. Everest, and within a short climb from the top their very lives depend upon abandoning the summit? Well, they go on of course! And that is how it came to pass that eight climbers lost their lives in an attempt to reach the summit of Everest. This non-fiction account of that fateful trip comes to us from Jon Krakauer, who was there to chronicle the entire journey. Populated with a large array of characters, who although difficult to keep track of at times, Krakauer's account keeps us turning the pages if only to figure out how people can be so stupid. One society lady had to reach the summit so badly, one of the local Sherpas literally had to drag her up at the end of a rope, all but unconscious. Of those who died in the ill-timed blizzard, included were a professional Everest guide, who continued the climb even after his own established time to give it up had gone by. That's what you do when folks have paid you thousands of dollars to get them to the top! People certainly are strange. Throw in some egos and bragging rights motivations, and they become stupid. By the way - I LIKED this book! And I do recommend it. (Along with everything else Jon Krakauer has written).

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