Jon Krakauer

A writer’s style is exclusive only to him or her. It is what sets them apart from each other and makes them memorable. An author’s style can be a potent tool, but it is subject to change based on a number of factors. Jon Krakauer, a critically acclaimed writer, is praised for his journalistic and narrative writing styles in books such as Into Thin Air and Missoula. The polarity between these books required Krakauer to change his approach while still keeping the fundamentals of what makes him unique. A noticeable difference between the two pieces was the purpose Jon Krakauer had when he set out to write them. Into Thin Air was written to entangle readers in a first person account of the Mount Everest disaster 1996. Krakauer relives one of

In Missoula’s case, the topic of rape itself already gives the piece a darker, disturbing atmosphere. Because the author is limited to only a second hand account of the incidents and rape is already a sensitive issue, Krakauer’s diction was devoid of any emotion. This often resulted in dysphemistic word choice when describing a step by step account of what happened. “[she] woke up to Calvin repeatedly violently penetrating [her] vagina with three of his fingers...he proceeded to violently penetrate [her] anus with the same force and motion”(Krakauer 72). This is an example where the author uses graphic imagery but at the same time remains emotionally distant. The rape did not happen to Krakauer himself therefore he writes only what occurred and not what he might of felt at the time. On the other hand, Jon Krakauer is able to give a first person account of the events that took place in Into Thin Air. This causes the atmosphere as well as the mood to change throughout the novel. The emotion that he incorporates into his diction at times makes the reader feel suspense, relief, despair and frustration. For example, The author writes that when he was anxiously waiting for the tour guide Rob Hall to make it down to base camp he saw a “tiny speck moving slowly down the upper Southeast Ridge”(Krakauer 245), and wholeheartedly believed it was Rob. His

Specifically the hook that was used to grab the reader’s attention. Both begin with what seemede like an ending only to retell the entire story. In Into Thin Air, started with Jon Krakauer “straddling the top of the world”(Krakauer 7) and Missoula began with Detective Guy Baker, a Missoula rape investigator, telling Allison Huguet, a rape victim, that “[he] arrested Beau Donaldson...he’s in jail now”(Krakauer). Aside from their introduction, the books also shared some differences in structure as well. Into Thin Air is written in chronological order of the Mount Everest disaster with frequent interruptions ranging from facts about the history of mountain climbing to individual narratives of people present on the mountain. Missoula being more of an investigative piece jumps from case to case, the book was focused on one point at a time rarely straying from the topic. Krakauer ended this book with and observation he formulated based on the evidence he compiled from the research he did on the