The Real Reinhold Messner
I'm only about ten years behind the times, but I figure better late than never, right?
I just read Into Thin Air, the account of the tragedy that occured in 1996 on Mt. Everest when 12 climbers perished in a single climbing season. It's a really good book by journalist Jon Krakauer, who was on one of the expeditions that lost five members. It's very well written and full of tension and such even though you know the outcome. Very sad, too, as he looks back and sees what could have been done differently and all the mistakes that lead to the deaths of so many people.
In the book, he mentions a lot of famous and important mountaineers from throughout history, and one of them is an Italian man named Reinhold Messner. When I read it, I realized I knew that name, and from none other than a Ben Folds Five album called The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I'm a huge Ben Folds fan, and I always wondered who Reinhold Messner was.
Well, now I know! He was the first person to summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen, initially with a partner and then, two years later, alone (read about it here). Quite an amazing feat according to Krakauer's description of the brutal conditions and tests of strength that characterize a "regular" climb, that is, one lead by guides and manned by Sherpas.
If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. If you've never listened to the album, I highly suggest you do that, too. It might not be Folds' and company's best work, but it's got some great songs on it. And it has nothing at all to do with the real Reinhold Messner. Turns out that was a name a lot of kids used on their fake I.D.s when the guys were growing up and they just thought it was a cool-sounding name.
Ben Folds Five--"Your Redneck Past" mp3 off The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (buy)
I agree it is a patchy, but occasionally brilliant album.
yes, i believe you heard it correctly. i always imagined that he was some
sort of slimy politician, naturally.
I got caught up in Ben Folds mania back when "Whatever And Ever Amen" was
the shit. Although I didn't care so much for "Reinhold," I found that some
of it was keepworthy, so I still own the cd. I, like you, never researched
Messner!
We almost bought the house of one of the expedition leaders who died in the
book who was with Krakauer on that fateful climb, Scott Fischer I believe,
who lived on Fauntley Hills in Seattle.... karma or kismet who knows. We
did not buy that house.
Thats wierd about the fake id thing....sounds like a good
book...agghh...i'm scared of heights, did it give you scary nightmares
about falling off of cliffs etc...holding on for your life...i'm sure thats
what would happen to me if i read it. I'm not in contrast today, boo
hoo...i was too lazy !!!
nat--whatever and ever is def. my favorite bff album. the only song i skip
nowadays is "brick" coz it was so overplayed. now you've got me excited
about the new soundtrack, though. i should read the book before the movie
comes out.
I own a number of Messners books and have read them carefully. I have also
read Into Thin Air. To see another side of the mountain, read Beyond the
Summit--the first work to dramatize the lives of the Sherpas in fiction.
They are the true heroes on Everest. One third of all deaths on the
mountain have been Sherpas but one rarely learns of this. To learn more
about this amazing tribe that makes climbing Everest possible, read Beyond
the Summit by Linda LeBlanc. Details of Sherpa culture and religion are
interwoven in a tale of romance and high adventure. The story has something
for everyone: a love affair between an American journalist and Sherpa
guide, conflict between generations as the modern world challenges
centuries of tradition, an expedition from the porter's point of view.
Gosh, thanks for that Linda. That was so helpful and interesting I'm going
to rush out and buy your book. Or, on second thoughts, nah maybe not.
yes, i suppose it is spam, but if you rate spam on a pertinence continuum,
at least it's relevant to the matter at hand. : )
Fuck her. She is trolling.
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