Q2 Post 2

I read chapters 3 and 4 for my second blog. During these two chapters Krakauer tells more of his preparations for the trip, and tells of the very beginning of his journey and the main characters on joining him on his journey. The author introduces the main guide from his trip, New Zealander Rob Hall. Over the course of the past two chapters he has become my favorite member of the group. He has completed the "seven summits in seven months" challenge, which is climbing the tallest mountain on every continent in seven months. Hall is admirable to me because of all his experience as well as his personality. I really enjoyed a passage when he laughs at his own joke. "Launching into a story involving a French tourist, a Buddhist monk, and a particularly shaggy yak, Hall delivered the punch line with an impish squint, paused a beat for the effect, then threw his head back in a booming, contagious laugh, unable to contain his delight for his own yarn. I liked him immediately" (p. 31). I also feel I would've liked Hall immediately given the description by Krakauer. I like the fact that he can laugh at his own jokes, even when the others didn't. He seemed to be a person secure of himself, an admirable trait in my opinion. What is upsetting to me, however, is that I already know Hall will die in the end. Its part of Krakauer's journalistic writing style that I am going to have to deal with throughout the rest of the book.