Hello everyone, I was recently recommended Into Thing Air, by Jon Krakauer, which is about the Everest disaster in 1996. I’m not a particularly good reader but I couldn’t put the book down, and read it front-to-back in ~10 days. I’m trying to find similar books, however, the suggestions through GoodReads/my Kindle are all either about the same climbing season, or about other mountaineering expeditions.
I wondered whether you guys have any suggestions for other similar books, but outside of the climbing/mountaineering sphere? I really enjoyed the author’s recounting of the expedition, the depth/detail he gave the climb and on each of the climber’s backgrounds, and, of course, how gripping the story is.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you.
by Least-Chicken8254
1 Comment
*Touching the Void* by Joe Simpson is about climbing too. In this case, the climbers were talented. They summited a mountain somewhere in South America. They turned to descend. And then one of them broke his leg. Absolutely gripping read. Highly recommended.
*Alive* by Piers Paul Read is another cracker of a true story. A plane crashlands in the Andes. There are a lot of survivors, but no food and no one coming to rescue them. What happens next? It’s a dark tale, but told beautifully and fairly.
*Endurance* by Arthur Lansing – or for a first person version, *South* by Ernest Shackleton – tells about the planned crossing of Antarctica by Shackleton and his team in the early 20th century. The ship get stuck in ice and crushed. Everyone gets away with a lifeboat. What if a few of the crew try rowing from Antarctica to South America for help?
*The Ice Master* by Jennifer Niven has similar basics, but this time it occurred in the Arctic and there is a mysterious illness involved. Unbelievably well written.
Unsure whether all of this are quite what you’re after – they obviously stray from mountaineering – but personally ended up heading into them all after *Into Thin Air*. Incidentally, *Into the Wild*, also by Krakauer, might be worth a look, but it’s even further off the original subject.
Happy reading!