Rating: 
Summary: Great story, poorly translated, and bogs down in details
Review: Great story, poorly translated, and bogs down in details you may not care about. Reinhold Messner is clearly one of the great climbers of all time and maybe arguably the greatest. Having climbed all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters by himself without supplemental oxygen, this is the story of the tallest-Everest. Like good fiction, the story has several dimensions that work together. The three basic themes include: ·The story of the opening of Tibet ·The story of climbing Everest ·The story of a waiting love one For the pure climbing enthusiast, much of this book is likely to be pretty boring. Approximately half the book is dedicated to the story of obtaining permission to climb Everest on the Tibetan side and his traveling through Tibet on his way to the mountain. Reinhold Messner has a deep love for Tibet and its people. For him this first trip through Tibet was as exciting as the assent of Everest. For someone less interested in this, the first half of the book is excruciating. Interwoven in this section is Messner's political agenda to free Tibet from Chinese domination. The story of the actual climb is amazing. Undeniably one of the most amazing ascents ever, he climbed Mount Everest, alone, without supplemental oxygen, during the monsoon period! Obviously crazy, the accomplishment is undeniable. What was especially great is getting a sense of what it was like for him to make the climb, the obstacles he faced, and the nearly robotic drive to the top of the mountain. It is both inspiring and daunting. During the ascent, he finds himself in impossible positions like his having fallen into a crevasse or crack in the glacier. You know that he survives but you still find your self on the edge of your seat in total suspense. It was difficult to put the book down during this part of the book. Throughout the story there are excerpts from the diary of his girlfriend. For the most part, I found this annoying and did not want to hear her story. At the same time, it was interesting to have the perspective of the loved ones who wait at the bottom to see if you come home. It certainly is hard for anyone who cares. At the same time, those climbing the mountain give the mountain everything and emotionally, mentally, or physically there is nothing left. Undoubtedly this is a major reason for Messner's previous divorce. While mountain climbing may be the art of suffering, this element of the book shows that it is also a part of the lives of the climber's loved ones. The worst part of the book is the writing. I am not sure if it is on the part of bad English by Reinhold Messner or poor translation by an editor. In either case, those familiar with working with the Germans will recognize the sometimes-strange sentence structure, phases that do not make sense, and the occasional struggle to figure out what the heck he is trying to say. I look forward to my German improving so that I can read the book in German. All in all, an amazing story and is well worth the time to read it. The reader that is able to skim through uninteresting parts will enjoy the book more. Otherwise it requires some amount of dedication to power through the parts that are of disinterest.
Rating: 
Summary: story of the first solo accent of Mnt. Everest
Review: I could not say anything less then that Reinhold Messner's "The Crystal Horizon" is a great book. It is not a usual climber's book, but rather a strange mix of history, politics, religion, geography, meteorology, personal history and world views of the man who is beyond doubt the greatest living mountaineer. The book deals with the first solo accent of Mnt. Everest, accomplished during the monsoon season. It is ravenously illustrated and photographed. It is an exciting adventure. It is a riot and a sad story of a man who escapes to the mountain to find peace. It is well worth you time. One should forgive Messner (or rather his translator) some awkward sentence structures, punctuated by the action and verbal phrases put at the end of sentence, and quite frequent exercises in the obscure mix of native religion, Buddhist witticisms and Central European Christianity. I do however, applaud the honesty and occasional beauty of those philosophical excesses, particularly when he talks about feeling akin to Sisyphus when climbing and when he exhibits the diary entries of his girlfriend which does not always portrays him in the best light possible. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot.
Rating:
Summary: story of the first solo accent of Mnt. Everest
Review: I could not say anything less then that Reinhold Messner's "The Crystal Horizon" is a great book. It is not a usual climber's book, but rather a strange mix of history, politics, religion, geography, meteorology, personal history and world views of the man who is beyond doubt the greatest living mountaineer. The book deals with the first solo accent of Mnt. Everest, accomplished during the monsoon season. It is ravenously illustrated and photographed. It is an exciting adventure. It is a riot and a sad story of a man who escapes to the mountain to find peace. It is well worth you time. One should forgive Messner (or rather his translator) some awkward sentence structures, punctuated by the action and verbal phrases put at the end of sentence, and quite frequent exercises in the obscure mix of native religion, Buddhist witticisms and Central European Christianity. I do however, applaud the honesty and occasional beauty of those philosophical excesses, particularly when he talks about feeling akin to Sisyphus when climbing and when he exhibits the diary entries of his girlfriend which does not always portrays him in the best light possible. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot.
Rating:
Summary: First person account of a solo climb of mount everest
Review: Messner does a creditable job of recounting his tremendous climb of mount everest solo. However, he spends much of his time whining about his efforts to escape his popularity and constant quarrels with his girlfriend who accompanied him on his trip. Beyond that the book is intruiging and of great interest for those who enjoy adventure. The pics are great too..
Rating: 
Summary: WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO PERFECT
Review: Messner manages to weave his way thru all the complex issues and logistics involved in a mountain climbing expedition. However, much of the narrative is spent detailing his inability to deal with his status as a world reknowned climber and constant bickering with his then girlfriend who accompanied him on the climb. Despite these shortcomings, the book is intriguing and a gripping account of a solo climb of the world's tallest mountain. The pictures are an added bonus.
Rating:
Summary: First person account of an historic climb of mount everest
Review: Messner manages to weave his way thru all the complex issues and logistics involved in a mountain climbing expedition. However, much of the narrative is spent detailing his inability to deal with his status as a world reknowned climber and constant bickering with his then girlfriend who accompanied him on the climb. Despite these shortcomings, the book is intriguing and a gripping account of a solo climb of the world's tallest mountain. The pictures are an added bonus.
Rating:
Summary: The climber as visionary rock star (no pun intended).
Review: Messner stays away from technical climbing terminology, which is probably good. He also stays away from detailed descriptions of the climbing, which is probably bad, since climbing details are displaced by fights with his girlfriend, world-weary whining about being a star, and boring quasianthropologic meanderings on the local Tibetan folk. But the story is compelling on the order of the first moon landing, and so survives the shortcomings of Messner's telling.
Rating:
Summary: Story is slow, climbing is good
Review: This book demonstrates that Reinhold is not a master of the writing craft even though he knows a lot about mountain climbing and other extreme adventures. The writing (or at least the translation) is wooden -- compare these books to those of Joe Simpson or Greg Childs. Still, there was much that was interesting in this book and many good photographs. Some of the details on the journey to Everest through Tibet were intriguing. All in all, this book deserves three stars and would be worthwhile recommending to someone who really enjoys mountaineering.
Rating:
Summary: A Diamond In The Rough
Review: This book is truly a mountaineering masterpiece, but it might not seem so to those unaccustomed to Messner's writing style. Much appears to be lost in the translation to any English first-time reader. But I've read nearly all of his books and have learned how to soak it all in. Hidden in the sometimes laborious writings are crystal-clear windows into Reinhold's experiences and thoughts. His solo, oxygenless ascent is generally considered one of the most impressive events in mountaineering history. Considering that the ascent was undertaken during the monsoon makes it all that much more incredible.
Rating:
Summary: A Diamond In The Rough
Review: This book is truly a mountaineering masterpiece, but it might not seem so to those unaccustomed to Messner's writing style. Much appears to be lost in the translation to any English first-time reader. But I've read nearly all of his books and have learned how to soak it all in. Hidden in the sometimes laborious writings are crystal-clear windows into Reinhold's experiences and thoughts. His solo, oxygenless ascent is generally considered one of the most impressive events in mountaineering history. Considering that the ascent was undertaken during the monsoon makes it all that much more incredible.
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