review by Bob Pavlik
Free Press contributor

Both Krakauer and Ambrose write in a style that reflects their own personal interest in and involvement with their subjects. The long-standing admonition of writing from the completely "objective" standpoint has given way to a more realistic recognition of the author's role in recounting a story. Each author has interjected himself into the scene by writing about people and places with which they have a close personal connection. In Krakauer's case, he traces the movements of a young man on a personal vision quest in Into the Wild. The author recounts some of his own experiences as a youth in search of wild, open spaces. It is an effective device since the subject of the book, Chris McCandless, is dead, and therefore cannot explain to Krakauer his own motivations for his actions. In the case of Into Thin Air, Krakauer starts out as a reporter and ends up as a participant and witness to the tragedy that unfolded at the top of the world. In that instance, it's a little hard to separate yourself from the action.

Stephen Ambrose has ambled throughout the Mountain West for some thirty years, in search of his own understanding of the enormous task and accomplishments of the Corps of Discovery. His intimate knowledge of the landscape, of the journals of Lewis and Clark, and the secondary literature combine to make Undaunted Courage excellent reading. He footnotes the text to describe what the country looks like now, where to go to see the places that Lewis and Clark traversed and described, and elucidates for the reader the feel of these places.

There is a thread that runs through each of these volumes. These are people in search of knowledge and self-gratification, and often wealth and glory. Their pursuits take them into wild places. Their level of preparation, skill, physical and mental fitness and equipment vary from time to time and place to place, but despite the advances in communication, transportation, equipment, and clothing, the inherent danger of wilderness travel is always there. It is the human element that provides the fulcrum on which success or failure teeters.

It is interesting to note that the most successful expedition was the earliest. Crossing the continent in 1803-06, Lewis and Clark led a group of men and one woman, Sacajawea, to the Pacific Ocean and back, using simple tools and lots of hard work. They made mistakes along the way, but their perseverance, ingenuity, and training enabled them to correct their course and learn from their mistakes. The leadership qualities of the two men whose expedition bears their name was perhaps the best reason why their undertaking proved successful.

Then there is the case of a young man who sets out on his own to explore the American West, only to die of starvation in an abandoned bus in Alaska. Krakauer's recounting of Chris McCandless' ramblings through the U.S. is both empathetic and emblematic. The author does not pass judgment on the young man who embraced his freedom with a passion unheard of in these days of comfort and conformity. That McCandless made some mistakes is acknowledged; his critics seem almost to quick to flame the young explorer for his lack of knowledge and hasty, impetuous actions. That the young man covered as much ground as he did, from the Gulf of California to the wilds of Alaska, all under his own power, is a credit to his strength and resourcefulness. His death, while tragic, is not without purpose. While he lived he burned bright and hot; perhaps life in the lower 48 living a more sane, sedate existence would have killed him more slowly, but with more pain and discomfort.

The tragedy on Mount Everest in 1996 has been recounted in magazine articles, in Krakauer's book, in film and on television. The underlying theme is one of recklessness and lack of respect: for the mountain, for leadership, for the rights of others. The quest for beauty, solitude, camaraderie, and nature study traditionally associated with mountaineering has given way to a competitive drive that eclipses all other considerations. A respect for the land, its inhabitants,. and one's fellow travelers quickly erodes in the face of a relentless drive for the achievement of the objective.

The trajectory from the Rocky Mountains to Mount Everest is littered with tragedies caused by the cult of the individual, causing a single person's rights to be elevated over group survival. The lack of a common purpose and poor judgment distinguishes events at the and of the 20th century for those at the beginning of the 19th. Yet a superior, cavalier attitude directed toward Native peoples seems a constant from century to century, continent to continent. Krakauer feels these issues deeply, and accepts more than his share of responsibility for what took place on these distant heights. And yet, in the wake of that gruesome event, the pursuit of fame and glory continue unabated.

Is it nobler to die alone, in a bus in the Alaskan bush, or on the world's tallest mountain? One comes to the conclusion that each and every one of the deaths could have been avoided. Each instance involved a series of missteps, poor choices, miscalculations, arrogance, and a lack of preparation that combined in synergistic fashion to overwhelm the unfortunates. These three books offer insights into recent and distant events that share similar themes, yet with drastically different outcomes.