How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I know I sound like the bastard for telling Rob to abandon his client," confessed Cotter, "but by then it was obvious that leaving Doug was his only choice." (17.28)
No matter how many people try to convince Hall to leave Hansen for dead, Hall refuses. That's probably why the guy made such a stellar guide. On a mountain filled with people numbed to the realities of death, Hall is willing to put his life on the line just to give his friend a fighting chance.
Quote #8
Confronted with this tally, my mind balked and retreated into a weird, almost robotic state of detachment. I felt emotionally anesthetized yet hyperaware. (19.4)
Krakauer, on the other hand, can't handle his brushes with death. The dude's a journalist, after all; he's never been through anything like this before. Although his initial instinct is to withdraw from the world, he eventually manages to deal with his trauma—by writing this book, in fact.
Quote #9
I cried for my lost companions, I cried because I was grateful to be alive, I cried because I felt terrible for having survived while other had died (21.3)
Krakauer will never stop second-guessing the decisions he made that fateful way. Could he have saved Andy Harris's life? Could he have assisted in the rescue of Yasuko Namba? In the end, though, these questions are meaningless—there's no way he could've known just how bad things were about to get.