Why read another book about the same incident described in Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" (ITA) ? Well, the answer to this question is a bit complex.
The whole drama that unfolded in the 1996 climbing season on Mt. Everest is perhaps very difficult to understand: the people involved were all under the effect of the hardships caused by high altitude, fatigue and terrible weather conditions. One hopes that Krakauer has done his honest best to describe what happened, but we have to take into consideration that he alone cannot portray all that really happened. In his book [ITA], he paints the side of the picture that could be observed from the perspective of those into Rob Hall's group. Boukreev, a guide for Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness group, obviously had a totally different perspective.
More than anything else, what motivated me to read this other title was the fact that in [ITA], Boukreev is described as a selfish, irresponsible bastard. This alone would have been enough to make me want to hear his side of the story. And indeed it's a much different one.
The book is very gripping and easy to read: DeWalt and Boukreev take turns narrating the events giving the book more of a "documentary" style than that of [ITA]. The reasons for Boukreev's actions take solid shapes, being more than the speculations made by Krakauer. If [ITA] sparked your interest or if you just want to read a good book about high-altitude climbing, pick this one up. It's a sad story, but it sounds honest and is a echo of the voice of a man who seemed very aware of what he was doing as a guide and as a climber.
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