(#29) / Into Thin Air / by Jon Krakauer / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Into Thin Air / by Jon Krakauer

ISBN: 0-385-49208-1 / Anchor Books  

p. 378 / $14.54 (Amazon)

1997

Body of Content

Summary: Jon Krakauer writes a first-hand account of the tragic events that unfolded in 1996 while climbing the world’s tallest peak.  Krakauer – who always possessed an interest in mountaineering – worked for Outside magazine at the time.  His employer arranged for him to travel to Nepal and write a feature story about various business ventures – how companies guided clients to the top of the Everest.  Krakauer finds himself at base camp – at elevation of over 17,000 feet – an elevation above his previous mountaineering experience.  At this height, the dangers are real – from bad weather to avalanches – from depleted oxygen level to sleep deprivation –from the severe cold to a lack of emergency medical aid.  But as Krakauer sets out in a guided attempt to the summit, the journalist comes to realize the most dangerous threat yet – human hubris.  

Critique: The novel speaks about – and at many times, against – the commercialization of Everest.  The first summit of the mountain occurred in the 1953 – and over subsequent decades, the mountaineering endeavor stands as a physical feat aided by a booming business that pairs wealthy clients with guides – in an effort to assist the clients’ ascension of the mountain and, in their opinion, ascend to a high level of human achievement.

The tourism fees alone – numbering tens of thousands of dollars that both Nepal and China require – demonstrate the willingness of many Western climbers to shell out monies for their attempt.  The book also speaks about the environmental effects – as Westerners leave their trash and oxygen bottles littered at base camp and along the mountain as well.  Such a practice stands in sharp contrast to many of the local peoples – who regard the mountain as sacred. 

But the consumerism and commercialism of the Westerners is painted in a different light, too.  The cost of the expeditions is not only in money – but in lives lost.  It is that dual nature of the book – painting the economic costs alongside the loss of human life – that creates a noteworthy commentary on adventure-seeking mountaineering.  For as the book unfolds, the two costs – of monies and lives – are directly tied together – they become difficult to separate: as the business guides reply on successful summits, they must take chances with human lives to do so. 

Into Thin Air provides a raw account of a survival story; but it contains social commentary – and leaves the reader with a rhetorical question: Is the payoff worth the cost?        

Teaser: A journalist gets the mountain climbing opportunity of a lifetime.  But as he ascends Mount Everest, more than a few stories develop from the journalist’s pen.

Information about the Author: Jon Krakauer is a journalist – whose early writing focused on outdoor activities in general and mountain climbing in particular.  Into Thin Air is the writer’s second novel, while another outdoor title (Into the Wild) is his first work.  Since his early works, Krakauer branched out into other journalistic-style novels – looking at Mormonism in the book Under the Banner of Heaven and researching military tales in his book about Pat Tillman titled Where Men Win Glory (Wikipedia, 2011).    

Supplemental Material

Genre: Nonfiction / Adventure

Curriculum Ties:  History – geography, commercialism, cultural customs  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) How much money would you spend – if you wanted the opportunity to climb the highest mountain in the world? 2) What is the highest elevation that you have personally visited – and how does it compare to the elevation of Everest’s base camp?

Reading Level: The reading level rests with older teens – likely 16-19. Younger readers may like mountain climbing tales like Banner in the Sky where less people die.

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book tells a raw and poignant account of mountain climbing.  Some language and general premise hamper the book – but not to the level of hamstringing it.  The book is well-written and the book’s popularity helps it – if ever challenged.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: The book takes the romanticism away from mountain climbing and thrill-seeking in general.  I believe that I liked the book – because it provided a cautionary tale against human hubris – against blind ambition.

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Jon Krakauer [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Krakauer

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Brooke Fraser / Album – “Flags” 

(#25) / Around the World the 80 Days / by Jules Verne / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Around the World the 80 Days / by Jules Verne

ISBN-13: 978-1936594610 / Tribeca  

p. 152/ $6.66 (Amazon)

Reprint 2004 / Original 1873

Body of Content

Summary: Phileas Fogg is a well-off Englishman who takes a bet from equally affluent friends.  The bet centers on a recent newspaper article which boldly states that rail improvements in India make it possible for a traveler to circumnavigate the world within 80 days.  His friends respond to the impossibility of the task, while Fogg holds the venture as viable.  After the settling of a handsome wager of 20,000 pounds, Fogg leaves London, England – traveling east.  As the story unfolds, Fogg must take railroad, steamboats, and even pack animals in his attempt to reach his home country within the 80-day wager.  But Fogg does not travel alone – as a personal assistant by the name of Jean Passepartout accompanies him.  As the clock ticks, Fogg must literally race around the world in an adventure that few people will ever attempt.   

Critique: While the novel is somewhat dated – having technology and customs set in the latter half of the 19^th century – the work still is a readable title – and a classic, too.  As the themes of travel, geography, and culture dominate the text, these themes bear interest, though, across a wide demographic.  Currently, CBS contains two reality TV shows – both long-term success over the better part of a decade – in Survivor and The Amazing Race.  The latter title is a modern-day adaption of the Verne’s novel – though with more emphasis on performing various feats, quests, games, tasks along the circumnavigation.  Also, the global contest is a personal contest – not only against the clock – but against other competitors – i.e. other teams.

Great literature embodies universal themes and invites copycats.  While The Amazing Race is a well-run show on its own merits, it does owe homage to the premise of Verne’s older work.  And both titles attempt to explore humanity as much as they explore the natural world – often doing so at the same time.          

Teaser: Phileas Fogg attempts to travel around the world.  But with the deadline looming, can he make good on his adventurous wager?

Information about the Author: Jules Verne was a French author during the 19^th century and early 20^th century – mostly writing in the science fiction genre.  Adam Charles Roberts termed Verne “The Father of Science Fiction” – alongside two other greats (Gernsback and Wells) in his work, The History of Science Fiction (2007, p. 48).   

His notable works include A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, The Mysterious Island, and The Archipelago on Fire (Wikipedia, 2011).  Many of his works focus on technology and modes of transportation – from balloons – to submarines – even to spaceships.  Overall, the author is heralded as the second most translated author throughout the world – only trailing mystery writer Agatha Christie (Wikipedia, 2011).  

Supplemental Material

Genre: Adventure / Historical Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Sociology/History – culture, travel, transportation modes, imperialism

Booktalking Ideas: 1) If you were to travel around the world, what person(s) would you decide to travel with?

Reading Level: The novel is a shorter work.  It allows more readers into the book given a low entry-level grammar, writing style.  The book is easily appropriate for younger teens (13-16).

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book is not very objectionable – but given the timeframe – as Verne wrote it in the late 19^th century – it represents some cultural and historical assumptions of imperialism.  The classic stature of the book helps a librarian defend it.  Any archive of Western culture likely contains Around the World in Eighty Days.  

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: This is a literary classic – and I included it for the purposes of adding more classics to the project.  The ending to the novel, in particular, represents a must-read experience for any teenager.

Last Thoughts

References:

Roberts, A. (2007). The History of Science Fiction. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Wikipedia. (2011). Jules Verne [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Jules_Verne

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Live / Album – “Live at the Paradiso (Amsterdam)”  

(#17) / A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider / by Ishmael Beah / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider / by Ishmael Beah

ISBN-13: 978-0374531263 / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

p. 229 / Price $9.60 (Amazon)

2007

Body of Content

Summary: The book “A Long Way Gone” tells the autobiographical tale of a young, 13-year-old boy whose life and country become saturated with turmoil and violence with the outbreak of civil war in the country of Sierra Leone.  After the destruction of his village, and the unknown fates of his family, Ishmael travels with a group of friends – trying to escape the violence that befalls his country.  But ultimately, Beah is captured by the governmental forces that are fighting the rebels – and they enlist him as a child soldier in the conflict.  Under the sway of political propaganda and the cloudy effect of powerful drugs (mostly cocaine and methamphetamines), Beah struggles through the story – committing violence and killings as a soldier.  The story is both commentary on violence and human rights – and ultimately, a struggle of a boy trying to reclaim his humanity.  

Critique: The story is gripping, heart-wrenching, and unapologetic in its description of wartime violence. [Spoiler Alert]  But, the story does not stop there.  Although the story provides undisturbed candor into the thoughts and actions of a boy soldier, Beah’s rescue from a horrific situation leaves the reader with a paradox – the insane evil resting within humanity – and the opposite – the innocent-laden goodness within humanity.  Beah literally commits dozens of murders within the wartime novel.  But, he finally flees to America – adopted by a journalist whom he had previous met at a UN conference – and now speaks on human right issues.

Beah’s portrayal (of an innocent child – turned into a killer – and finally able to recover his humanity) is a redemption story as much as it is a survival tale.  But the duality – the paradox of humanity – is a theme throughout the book.  And that paradox – of goodness and evilness – is a theme of a French theologian by the name of Blaise Pascal.  Beah’s story is one that explores the actions possible by human beings as a race – and as an individual person.  Like Pascal, there is both great concern and great hope for the human race within A Long Way Gone.  Beah’s story touches on many subjects throughout the book’s journey, but the philosophical issue of human ontology rests as a major theme – that turns a theoretical exercise into a first-hand account of war and redemption.              

Teaser: Ishmael’s homeland is devastated by a civil war.  Suddenly, he flees his home – only to find myself conscripted into an army – as a child soldier.  Can Ishmael hope to regain what he lost?  

Information about the Author: The author, now 31 years old, was born in Sierra Leone.  During a civil war in his home country, Beah fought as a child soldier.  After the war, an American journalist adopted him – and he now lives in New York City.  Currently, Beah works for the Human Rights Watch – within a committee specializing in issues related to children.  In his past work with the United Nations, he has met with notable leaders such as Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela (Wikipedia, 2011).

Upon the release of the book, Beah spoke with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.  The host reflects, “I’ve rarely read a book that’s made my heart hurt” (Daily Show, 2007).  The author responds to the fragileness of life and the ease of becoming a killer and the difficulty of returning to society (Daily Show, 2007).   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Autobiography / Historical Nonfiction / Adventure

Curriculum Ties: History – child soldiers, imperialism, African history, United Nations / Theology – ontology, paradox of humanity, Pascal, “Problem of Evil”   

Booktalking Ideas: 1) How could a child become a soldier in a national conflict? 2) Does Ishmael ever find other members of his family?  

Reading Level: This book is certainly towards the upper bracket of high school – but I contend that it is thoroughly a teenage-intended book – with a teenage protagonist, short length (229 pages), and simple writing style.  Thus, the book is best for ages 16-19.

Challenge Issues and Defense: The subject matter is raw and the premise is dark.  The best defense strategy looks at the intentions of the work – as it does not seek to glorify violence, but instead, expose it for the inhumanness that it represents.  The book also received numerous awards, including a number three mention in an article by Times for Top Ten nonfiction books of 2007 (Grossman, 2007).

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: “A Long Way Gone” is a powerful book in own right – a book that I had my high school juniors read for their European history class. 

Last Thoughts

References:

Grossman, L. (2007). Top ten nonfiction books [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.time.com

/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1686204_1686244_1691772,00.html

The Daily Show. (14 February, 2007). Ishmael Beah [Video]. Retrieved from

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-february-14-2007/ishmael-beah

Wikipedia. (2011). Ishmael Beah [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_Beah

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Sixpence None the Richer / Album – “Divine Discontent”