Into Thin Air – a quick revisit

A coworker of mine recently mentioned that she read Into Thin Air while on a flight to Alaska.  During our conversation we realized that she had an updated version of the book, one which included an afterward by Krakauer I had not seen.  I took some time today to read through it and was glad I did.

Like a lot of people, I was both shocked and intrigued by the events that took place during that tragedy back in 1996.  After finishing Into Thin Air I also took the time to read Anatoli Boukreev’s version of the events, The Climb. That book, along with Krakauer and Boukreev’s public feud, and then Boukreev’s death a few months later in an avalanche, added to the fog of what happened on the mountain that day.  But soon after my interest in the story ended.  Little did I know that Krakauer and Anatoli’s editor (Weston DeWalt) continued a very heated feud both in private and in public via additions to their books.

For anyone that, like me, only read the first editions it might be worth checking out the updated versions.  No need to spend money on them, the afterword by Krakauer is only a chapter long and can be tackled while sitting in a book store.  But I think it adds some depth to the story and raises a very interesting point about an author’s obligation to update his work and respond to criticisms.