Free Spirit: A Climber's Life

I note that various reviewers tend to use the words "dry" and "dull" when commenting on this book but then the man is commenting on a veritable lifetime of climbing events and, of some cogence, Reinhold Messner is generally not one for extended wordage embellishments where, how to put it, the reader is suddenly transported 'on the rope' with him or via the wordage [and well noting that it's translated from the German to begin with] 'feel the cold' or experience the elations/frustrations kind of thing. He relates the climb, comments on its joys or, conversely, its vexations and problems, and simply moves on. Now, on the personal side of things and noting that my remarks here are purely 'subjective' in nature: Mention the name 'Reinhold Messner' and you're bound to get a mixed bag input about the guy. But certain words or phrases do seem to keep popping up, viz., "the greatest climber of them all", "arrogant", "argumentative", "quick to temper", "unforgiving", "Nanga Parbat, 1970" [!], "the first 8,000'er" [** the first man to climb all the world's 14 highest mountains over 8,000 meters], "Yeti believer" [!], and one of my personal favorites and the erroneous 'accent' that goes with it, "What? An "I-talian" [!], you say? Ohhh, that can't be! He's gotta' be German or Austrian [pause] ... isn't he ... [another pause] ... isn't he? The name 'Reinhold' doesn't sound very 'I-talian' to me!" Bizzzz! He is Italian by birth albeit from the German speaking South Tyrol section of Italy. Hence German is his primary language. Ask Reinhold however about his roots and you'll probably get, "I'm a European!" [sic] and not to mention his known views on what "nationalism" per se, especially nationalism in its extreme form, has meant for Europe. This comment made when Messner was criticised for not 'producing the flag' when he solo-summited Everest. And to that, I would respond in German, "Der Stoff zum Nachdenken, was?" [** Basically, "Food for thought, what?"] I think the 'problem' here is that some folks simply don't like Messner and it bothers them when world-wide accolades come pouring in as to Messner being termed the 'greatest climber', well, Messner, in their view, is simply "not humble enough" to verbally play down such accolades. Shades of the "Patton" flick when ol' Georgie Patton grumbles, "Hell, I 'admit' I'm a prima-donna! What I can't stand about 'Monty' is that he refuses to admit that he's one too!" Needless to say that in real life, Patton had his share of detractors for his oft cited "lack of humility." Ditto Messner. But consider this -- for 35 years Messner had to defend himself against the 1970 'Nanga Parbat' climb and hear from various and sundry how he allegedly "left his brother Gunther to die" due to equally alleged "ego driven ambition" [sic] and it took until 2005 when the remains of Gunther Messner was found [subsequently DNA verified] where Messner said it would be [and the avalanche cause of death] to shut these critics up and

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.

It spans all the climbs of Reinhold Messner from his younger days in Alps to his fabulous Himalayan conquests. The book also has beautiful photographs of the great peaks of the world. The book is such that after the first few chapters you can skip back and forth to any climbs of your interest. His later climbs offer more gripping adventures; especially his climb to "Nanga Parbat" and his solo ascent of "Mt. Everest" without oxygen. A must for any person with a sense of adventure. -SAUMIL GANDH