Customer Reviews

All Fourteen Eight-Thousanders

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one the best books about mountaineering that I have and I do have a lot of them. It just has it all, about all the 14 eigth-thousanders and Messner's climbs on these mountains.

Lots and lots of excelent easy reading information about the eight-thousanders(historical highlights, geographical informations, technical informations, drawings of the most famous routes, etc); interviews(stories) with some other excelent climbers (Doug Scott, Chris Bonington, Hans Kammerlander, Kurt Diemberg, etc. ); filled with quotations; superb pictures of all the 14 eight-thousanders(really really great pictures - high quality paperprint).

Aside all that you also have some good "short" narrations (stories) about Messner's climbs on all the eight thousanders, some comments about mountaineering, about the critics made toward him, and others aspects of his career. For instance he talks about the death of his brother in Nanga Parbat, about traditional alpine style, about his partners, about solo climbings, about the use of oxygen and about much others subjects(traverses, new routes, human limits, etc). But don't expect to find a detailed, extensive narration about the climbings and I think that is because you would have at least 14 books inside a single book, it would be just to big for printing.

You won't find any other book with the climb stories of the first person(Messner) to climb all 14 and also with great pictures and information about the 14. This is a must have in any moutaineering collection.

The climbs decribed in this book show why Messner is one of, if not THE, greatest climber of all time. The book also shows how that description will probably not be used to describe his writing skills. The writing is OK, but it is a little choppy, and the short chapters (one per mountain) sometimes leave the stories feeling a little condensed. It's almost like reading a Reader's Digest version. However, the climbs are spectacular, and in some cases the events do overcome the narrative and shine through.

Back in the '70's and early '80's, I eagerly awaited each issue of Mountain Magazine. It was my link to the climbing world. Time after time, a small paragraph or two would appear about another 8,000 meter peak that Messner had summited - all without bottled oxygen, all in exemplary style. The editor of Mountain was no fan of Messners, so the write-ups were overly brief. Still, I knew I was witnessing the work of a master.

This book compiles Reinhold's views on his biggest alpine climbs and still, we are sandbagged. What this man and his partners achieved is difficult to fathom two decades later because his impact has been absorbed into the whole. Before Messner, oxygenless attempts on the big mountains had fallen out of style but now, few world class mountaineers would dare consider it's use. Before Messner, huge seige expeditions were the norm but today, many emulate Reinhold's gutty, stripped down approach and the environment has benefitted. Reinhold is the man !

This should have been a landmark mountaineering work. Messner, first to scale all 14 eight thousanders (including multiple ascents), had the opportunity to create a defining work. This work has spark in places, but also hints at the dry, self-absorbed style of writing that is found in more abundance in other Messner works describing specific climbs/expeditions. There is little in Messner's writing that inspire the reader. At the same time, one gets a hint of the world-weariness that must have dogged Messner as he "knocked off" the final few peaks in this quest to be the first to climb all 14 peaks. It was almost as though he was going through the motions at the end. Still, there is enough factual information here that warrants a place on any mountaineering enthusiast's bookshelf. This volume serves as no less than a summary highlight of Messner's Himalayan/Karakoram climbing career - the successes, the failures, the deaths of fellow climbers. For that purpose alone it is an important historical record of high altitude climbing spanning the 1970's through to the mid-1980's.

A must own! But how much better it could have been if Messner was as capable a writer as a climber. Without a doubt Messner is one of the best Mountaineer's of all times, I just wish he would have had someone articulate this book for him. He took some of the most exhilarating experiences anyone has ever known and made them almost sound just a little more exciting then a walk to the corner store. At any rate it is most certainly worth the money and no Mountaineering Library would be complete without it. I wonder if we could convince him to try this one again!

Certainly Reinhold Messner is one of the greatest living mountaineers, and his ascents of all 14 8000 meter peaks, and the fact that he did it first, are very inspiring. Has he done all of these peaks in, as he would like the reader to believe, the best style possible? Others have done these climbs as well, perhaps in better style, alpine-style - just take a look at Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables "Himalaya Alpine Style", and Messner's accomplishment can be judged in perspective. The Catalans on Annapurna I's Face, Loretan, Troillet, Kukuzcka, Profit, Doug Scott, Alex McIntyre... there have been other climbers pursuing the same goals, with the same style, and Messner was not all that far ahead, and often his routes were not as technically demanding as many other climbers.

He is a fascinating man, with a real ethos about what he does, and how he does it. But the man's ego is just too much often - and he is rather thin skined to boot, so he spends much of the book carping about his critics. And then thre are contributions from teammates, small side-articles, that are also usually a lot of fawning over Messner. The book constantly announces his importance and the uniqueness of the mighty Messner - it gets a bit nauseating after a while. For example, in one part, he describes some Tibetan jewlerey he wears, and how the Tibetans have come to regard him "as one of their own", and come up to touch him. Well, stricly speaking in Tibetan Buddhist concepts, were all are related, we are all one. He takes himself SOOOOOO seriously. The writing, as with most mountaineering books, is stilted, unimaginative, and filled with cliches. But at least you get the insights of a great mountaineer on some of his more interersting climbs - the Gasherbrum traverse, Kanchejunga, etc. The descriptions are all a bit truncated - put that together we the narcissistic qualities that marr the text, and you get an interesting but very uneven read.

This by far is the best compendium of eye-witness account, photographs, maps and statistics from the first climber who ever scaled all 14 highest mountains in the world. Maps, topography, geography and route descriptions are concise and up to the point. Messner is not at his best when he is trying to put a philosophical spin on things, but on the other hand, who is? In summary, a very good book.

the sheer achievements of reinhold messner make this book too good to pass. considering the drama and spectacle of what he went through on these numerous himalayan expeditions, this book should be a six star book. alas, the writing is dry as toast. he misses numerous opportunities to put us on the edge of our seats, opting instead to recite a few dull facts associated with truly gripping incidents. too bad; if this guy could write like krakauer, this book would have been on the new york times bestseller's list. still, as a chronicle of this man's superhuman death defying achievements on the world's highest mountains, this is an excellent book. if he could only write like he climbs.

I strongly disagree with comments about the writing of this unsurpassed mountaineer. His writing is clear. Someone expecting a minute-to-minute account of each climb will be disappointed, but Messner conveys a remarkable amount of emotion and wisdom in each short chapter. He inspires with the bare truth. Soloing Everest without oxygen: "My tempo had become so slow that I despaired of ever making it. I could not manage the last few metres--I crawled on hands and knees." In the chapter on Manaslu (two expedition members died): "After this experience on Manaslu, I decided not to go on expeditions with other people again. If I wanted to go, I told myself six months after I had recovered to some extent, then I must go alone." This is one of my favorite books, perhaps my favorite mountaineering book--and replete with insights into Reinhold Messner by people who know him well. I thank him for following his dreams and writing about his insights, which enrich us all.

This is a great reference and probably a must for every mountaineer or fan of mountaineering history's bookshelf or coffee table. Though Reinhold Messner has no shortage of critics, he is still the first man to make it up all the 14 8000m peaks. Hence, this book, with all its beautiful illustrations and photos, is a valuable historical reference.

This book also lacks a lot of the "clutter" that is characteristic of Messner's books. The articles are basically quite straightforward and to the point. There is a fair bit of background information and some digressions, but still very well-edited and organised. Read what interests you and leave the rest. The layout of the book allows the reader to do that.