Eiger Dreams is a terrific collection of (mostly) previously published articles by mountaineering maestro, outdoorsman and internationally acclaimed writer Jon Krakauer.

I loved every one of these, there's not one single weak one. He writes about the summer when thirteen experienced climbers were killed on K2, about the glacier pilots of Talkeetna in Alaska who fly the climbers out to base camps under (a very risky business to be in!), and about the snobbery amongst the European mountaineering community of Chamonix. There is much humour, too ~ an amusing piece about the English Burgess brothers, Yorkshire 'scallywags' of the climbing world, and about the boredom of being stuck in a tent in inclement weather.

Best of all, at the end, there's a longer version of Krakauer's own experience, when he was twenty-three, of taking on the fearsome Devil's Thumb in Alaska ~ on his own (as opposed to the one included in Into The Wild). It's thrilling, funny and fascinating all at the same time, and the more I read all of these the more I wanted to know about the unusual people who become obsessed with this most dangerous of sports.

Very, very readable and highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book and its many harrowing tales of mountain climbing. While I can't see what these men and women find so alluring in this sport, I certainly can admire them for putting their lives on the line making these climbs. Mr Krakauer makes the telling of this story of the legends of mountain climbing very interesting and frightening for both these people and the mountains he himself has climbed. This is certainly more than a sport for most. It is more like an addiction and as in most addictions, it often results in one's death.

Indeed, Jon Krakauer is the master of the literature of Adventure...

I always hated literature. They are always boring. But Jon has his way in literature. It is completely impossible for me to write so many worlds about a mountain. A mountain is a mountain for me. But for Jon, it is more like a book of worlds. I am damn sure that make him walk a tiny hill, in the outskirts of your town and he could write a book about it. That too, very interesting one. Hats off to him.

About this book:-

The description of the book claims to reveal answer for the most significant question, - why would a normal want to do this stuff (adventure stuff)? I, myself, several times, wondered the same. Why would anyone want to do something so dangerous, so life threatening; which doesn't earn a penny. So that is why I picked up this book.

But the book doesn't give you the answer!

If I am not wrong (if I haven't missed the story), there isn't an instance in the whole book, I felt that I found the answer. Instead, the book is a collection of 12 stories - 11 published by author in different magazines and newspapers, and the last one - THE DEVILS THUMB - is exclusive for the book.

About the stories:-

EIGER DREAMS
It is a collection of stories related to the many climbers who tried to climb the mountain - The Eiger - when the author, himself, tried to summit it.

GILL
Personally, I enjoyed this story very much. It introduced me to the whole new new concept of 'bouldering'. The whole story revolves around John Gill, the person who first started 'Bouldering' and the concept of 'Bouldering'.

To read the whole review, click the below link...
http://booksreviewwala.blogspot.in/20...

Eiger Dreams is one of Krakauer's earlier books. It's a slim volume that includes essays about climbing: rock climbing, ice climbing, boulder climbing. Why do people do this madness? Because they can. Granted, there are some who really shouldn't. They are reckless and ill-prepared and they put their lives and others at risk. Those who have everything squared away and are in shape to do this very physical activity, usually come away with an extraordinary experience. However, weather at these crazy altitudes is never predictable and never forgiving. Some skilled climbers still come away injured at the least or dead.

Climbers are doctors, engineers or other professional types in their daily lives and others are only climbers and make their living climbing. In every case, true climbers work for and toward the next climb.

Eiger Dreams will scare you and make you want to climb - in equal measures. Why did I read this book or any book on climbing? I'm fascinated by climbing up a rock or piece of ice or boulder with nothing to hold me but my fingers, feet/toes, shoe spikes and maybe a pick. It scares me and makes me want to climb.

This guy knows how to write about mountains!

This book was, for me, reading about people I’ve always wished I knew and about a subject I’ve always wanted to intimately understand. Krakauer is the absolute best tour guide for it.

Awe inspiring stories? Horrifying stories? Listen to the audiobook, narrated by Phillip Franklin and just - imagine.

Imagine sitting on a rock ledge, no wider than a bookshelf, all night, in in Yosemite Park. Cold and wet and waiting for the howling wind and rain to stop.

Imagine hunkering in an ice cave, 17 thousand feet up on K2, wet, smelly and hungry waiting for the wind and snow to stop.

Imagine climbing up a frozen waterfall in Alaska.

These are just a few of the stories in Jon Krakauer's book of essays.

There is something extremely visceral in Jon Krakauer's writing, especially when he writes about mountaineering. Though I was aware of his love and (some of) his experiences on mountains, Eiger Dreams really drove home the point for me. It is this experience which add weight and reality to his writing and which turn an essay or story about climbing into something which feels life or death.

Eiger Dreams is a collection of essays written over the course of at least a decade, but treating subjects spanning multiple decades. Nearly 30 years after the publication of the book, there were moments where it felt dated. However, much of the book felt timeless and relevant even still. While mountaineering holds little personal appeal most times, reading books like this does make me with to stand atop a pinnacle and take in the views (it's the journey up and back I'm not interested in especially when it comes to crevasses and seracs). It was a good escape from the daily realities of a desk job and probably a good book to read for anyone considering a dash off to do something crazy.

Jon Krakauer is a lover of adventure, and he happens to be a fantastic writer. So I would read a grocery list if Krakauer wrote it.

That being said, I didn't LOVE this book as much as his other nonfiction. This is a collection of essays he has written for various magazines. His topics range from ice climbing in Alaska, to climbing city Chamonix in the French Alps. He touches on the history of climbing, and the elite clubs of climbers, and boulderers. He isn't shy about talking about the death that inevitably happens on these mountains.

It is obvious that he respects all of the people he writes about. It is also evident that mountain climbing is his passion. I couldn't help but wonder how many of the men (and very few women) he writes about are still alive today.

* A really interesting collection of different expeditions and hiking stories
* Each chapter focuses on one trip/adventurer so it’s easy to pick up and put down without having to worry about forgetting anything
* Krakauer does a really good job of explaining the different aspects, risks, and rewards (personal and commercial) that each different type of mountaineering entails

As always, Jon Krakauer delivers gripping mountaineering stories. This book is good because it’s a collection of independent works, each chapter being a different story. You can take you time finishing the book because each chapter is standalone. Each chapter delivers a fresh dose of mountaineering content with a different, new, refreshing perspective compared the previous chapter.

I failed to review this when I read this way back in 2008 -- in the wake of being thoroughly enthralled and bowled over by Krakauer's classic and un-put-downable, Into Thin Air. Eiger Dreams is a solid compilation of Krakauer's magazine pieces on different mountaineering adventures, with an emphasis on ice climbing. Pretty thrilling stuff, told with attention to detail and high drama.