I've been a fan of Krakauer's work since I first read "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air," and he doesn't disappoint with "Eiger Dreams."

I was expecting stories mostly about Himalayan climbs, but was pleasantly surprised to find stories about bouldering, canyoneering, waterfall climbing, Alaskan summits, and glacier aviation.

With his usual captivating voice, Krakauer teaches the reader (from seasoned climbers to those who've never stepped foot on a mountain) incredible things about both the physical and mental processes of climbing.

A collection of magazine pieces and essays about ice climbing, mountaineering, and the people who brave these dangerous adventures. I’ve been meaning to read this for ages so very much enjoyed dipping in and out of this over the last few weeks. I’m now a Krakauer completist! He’s absolutely one of my favorite nonfiction authors.

Krakauer is always a delight, and Eiger Dreams is Krakauer at his best: every word and phrase jaggedly action-packed, no dead space, just good writing. I listened to this on audiobook, and I'm glad I did: Krakauer is just laugh out loud funny, and always laughs at himself first.

Reading Eiger Dreams, I had the weird sense that this was my favorite Krakauer yet, and couldn't figure out why. Then I realized (and I'm sorry to any of you who have managed to not know how Into the Wild ends) that this is the only one of his books I've yet read that ends happily. This is a treat! If Krakauer occupies a role as our newest Jack London, our current incarnation of Naturalism, it's nice to see Man win out on the whole Man v. Nature struggle - or at least, to see man temporarily survive.

In all sincerity, I think Krakauer taps at some essential human characteristic: the desire to seek something deeply human about ourselves vis-a-vis Mother Earth. Of course, most of the time "vis-a-vis" turns "mano-a-mano": Eiger Dreams runs rife with larger than life characters who fling themselves into impossible ascents and against superlatively deadly mountains. The narrative thread that runs through all these stories is why? What do we seek, and why? Do we find it? What does it mean? Along the way, we get a fun sense of climbing culture and the crazies who populate the serious outdoor-sport world.

The collection trots the globe and encompasses numerous chapters on climbing/mountaineering, and a couple tangential topics. He talks about Eiger; he talks about the culture of extreme sport (and risk-taking) in Chamonix, France; he has a chapter on Denali, and a fantastic, deceptively laconic chapter called "A Bad Summer on K2" that digs right into the heart of climbing ethics. "Tentbound" is GREAT. I howled laughing. I'll bet you will, too. And "Devil's Thumb" is just classic, somehow stating (without being heavy-handed) the entire question that defines the book.

In many ways the men and women who populate these pages stand in stark relief to most ordinary people. Listening to their continually terrifying quests, my hands would sweat, my stomach would swoop, and I would think, I never, ever, ever could do this - but I sure wish I could. Krakauer in this sense serves as a go-between. But just because most readers (presumably) don't choose to tackle the Nordwand of Eiger, we still get the idea of the search for meaning. Who, after all, doesn't have some version of Krakauer's Devil's Thumb journey - some moment in which we believed some external accomplishment would align the meaning and intents of our lives?

Collections are a tricky business. They can feel slapped-together: an editor's starry-eyed money grab. Certainly there were a couple stories here that interested me less than the others, but the stronger ones more than made up. Overall, Eiger Dreams is an enjoyable jaunt with the ever-amusing, ever-sincere, ever-thoughtful, Jon Krakauer, complete with a relatively low body count, and I think it gets to the heart of some existential thread that's lined all his writing.

Honestly, I really don't care what Krakauer writes about, I will probably read it. He draws people and the mountains so well that the reader feels as if he knows these people intimately and is right there on the mountain with them. This series of essays is quite dated, but still a fascinating look into the wacky people who dare to climb the world's tallest mountains.

I'm a fan of Non Fictions and I have read Into Thin Air and Into The Wild by the same author who wrote Eiger Dreams, Jon Krakauer. But somehow I even could not finished Eiger Dreams.

I don't know why but the book never matches the narration with the plot, since I'm currently reading Under The Banner Of Heaven by same author which is extremely good just like Into Thin Air and Into The Wild.

A little disappointed with the book Eiger Dreams but still Jon Krakauer is a best non fiction writer in my opinion.

Eventually gave up on this book. I was really only interested in reading this as I have pretty much read all of Krakauer's work and I have immensely enjoyed them. Unfortunately for me, I just felt no connection between these pieces and myself. Like other says, you really have to know climbing to get why some of these pieces matter. He offers an interesting insight into the climbing world, however without being able to provide the depth that he can in his traditional books something is always lacking in the stories. Obviously if you were reading the articles in a magazine (a climbing magazine for instance) then they will probably be informative but if you want to read about mountaineering & Jon Krakauer reading Into Thin Air. It provides more depth and vision about the realities of climbing that I think all of these articles put together ever could.

pretty interesting stories but not my favorite of his books. a lot of the people seemed very unlikeable.

I like the author and the book was very good. But it was not what I had expected. And that was my fault. I bought it because of the title and did not really research what the book was about. I thought it was an adventure book about climbing the Eiger. I was headed to Switzerland for a vacation and bought this to read on the plane. It was actually a series of articles the author had written for magazines and other publications about mountain climbing. The story about the Eiger was only the first chapter of the book. I still enjoyed the book but was wanting some more about the Eiger. My mistake. However the more I read the more I enjoyed the book. And then finally the last chapter is probably my favorite.

Ik ging een week op vakantie naar Oostenrijk, dus dit leek me een ideaal boek. Krakauer probeert aan de hand van de meest bizarre bergbeklim-verhalen andere mensen te laten begrijpen wat deze mensen bezielen. Dat lukte bij niet. Desalniettemin zijn het interessante verhalen die een inkijkje geven hoe het leven als fanatieke bergbeklimmer eruit ziet.

Jon Krakauers’s Eiger Dreams is a must read for anyone that enjoys wilderness and adventure on any level. Most people turn to this book after reading Krakauer’s more famous book Into the Wild. Eiger Dreams tugs on the reader’s heart strings on numerous occasions, but nowhere near as strong as Into the Wild. However, it shines in the way that the author describes the scenery in such vivid detail allowing the reader to visualize what the characters were seeing in the moment. While the stories all revolve around rock-climbing and mountaineering they are all captivating and require no knowledge about either activity. Each of the stories takes place on great peaks littered around the world, but do more to explore the mindset of the character as they attempt to overcome the environment, injuries and personal limits. The collection of true stories offers a few life lessons that can be learned as well as gee-whiz facts about the places and historic events. Any person that enjoys or has an appreciation for the wilderness will love this book, it might even inspire an appreciation for the wilderness in those that do not. The use of short stories takes the reader though several emotions and the desire to know what happens next makes it difficult to put this book down.

Maybe 3.5. Some stories are pretty boring and drawn out but there are some others that are really good. Maybe I’m just not a fan of adapted magazine stories to book form. Much like Americana by Hampton sides.

Jon Krakauer makes it so easy to be an arm chair adventurer! He takes you straight to the crevasses and seracs, makes you feel the brutality of the wind, the disheartened attempts of losing a summit.
Fantastic book full of short stories. Easy read!