Reinhold Messner, Free Spirit: A Climber's Life
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Product Description
He is known as one of history's greatest Himalayan mountaineers, a man who pushed back the frontiers of the possible for a whole generation of climbers. In his revealing autobiography Reinhold Messner (1944- )reflects on his remarkable career. His story is more than a recounting of firsts. Here Messner reveals the forces and events that have shaped him as an individual and as a climber-including his brother's tragic death on Nanga Parbat in 1970. Messner takes us from the days of his first climb of the Sass Rigais in the Dolomites with his father at age five to his later turning away from the overcrowded Alps and 8,000-meter peaks to find climbing fulfillment in the remoter parts of the world and in crossing the wastes of Antarctica. In between emerges the man as famous for his disciplined approach as for his innovative spirit. Messner evolved his philosophy of the single free-climbing line with its uncompromising purity of style in the Dolomites and, as equipment and technique developed, he was in the forefront of the transference of fast lightweight alpine methods to the great ranges. Reinhold Messner, Free Spirit puts the career of a mountain pioneer in full perspective.FeaturesMessner was the first to climb the 14 8,000 peaksThis highly personal account reveals the forces that shaped him as a climberOffers new information about his ascents of the Seven Summits
Spotlight Customer Reviews:
Summary:
The alpine icon
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Comment:
The achievements of Reinhold Messner are legendary. Among them, he is the first man to have ascended Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. He is also the first man to have climbed all fourteen 8000-meter peaks. Mr. Messner could rightfully be quite boastful and egotistic in his writing. Exactly the opposite is true. The book was panned by a number of reviewers for being "dry". This is precisely why I find the book so engaging and interesting. Mr. Messner narrates his achievements in a matter of fact manner leaving the reader to fill in the enormity of his spirit. Personally, I find the single-minded obsession of mountain climbers to be somewhat bizarre. Yet, I find reading about the tales of misery and death to be entertaining. I admire Mr. Messner for his unbridled enthusiam for mountain climbing and also for his restraint in narrating the tales.
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Summary:
Reads like a rapid overview
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Comment:
Messner's account of the early years of a remarkable climbing career skips over each individual ascent so quickly that the reader loses interest. While his writing in itself is not unskilled, the rapid descriptions make the book read like a laundry list. Also, while his puritanical philosophy of mountaineering must have its roots in this early period, he mentions its development only in passing. Despite some gorgeous photographs, this book does not approach the best of its kind.
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Summary:
A rather dry account of one of the world's best mountaineers
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Comment:
Free Spirit could have, potentially, been a incredible account of a brilliant mountaineering career. Instead, during the course of the book, one can picture Messner sitting down 20 years later in an attempt to remember exactly how he felt during his numerous expeditions and bold first ascents. Although the book starts out well enough with fond memories of his childhood in the Dolomites, it quickly degrades into a fact-fest of unemotional paragraphs that will disappoint. How anyone can describe their first ascent of Everest without oxygen, or the death of a brother in so few words is amazing; if not degrading. Your climbing collection will not miss this volume.
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Summary:
Disappointing
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Comment:
Hard to believe that one could write such a dry account of the amazing climbing life of one of the world's most ambitious climbers. Full of facts, and probably very accurate, it fails to capture much "magic".
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Summary:
Scintillating subject, but plodding narrative
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Comment:
Reinhold Messner may be the Michael Jordan of mountaineering, but his writing style is flat footed. In his exploits, Messner has the raw material for some of the most compelling adventure literature of all time, but instead he produces little more than dull climbing notes (although accompanied by some interesting photography). There was very little illuminating introspection (even the account of his brother's death was pedestrian). I place this at the bottom of the heap of mountaineering literature
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