Art of Freedom: The Life and Climbs of Voytek Kurtyka

You know that the books is great, when one gets sad once is getting towards the end... Interesting and life-learning read also for non-climbers. Thank you Voytek for sharing your experience and Bernadette for presenting it in a most engaging way.

If you want to understand what true freedom of mountains is, this is for you. A great man shown through his extraordinary life experience and amazing passion for life free of limitations. Are you ready?

A fine book. Tales of a great climbing life, well told.

Amazing life story! The strenght's, fragilities, achievments, and the amazing drive of a true montaineer. Highly recomended!

Inspiring read.

Excellent read.

Excellent book for all those interested in Alpinism. Good photos.

awesome book!

Great job by McDonald to depict this gentleman's life. Voytek is a very admirable man, and I am glad I bought this book to learn more about his life and climbs. Anyone can read this book, whether you are a climber yourself, or just interested in the sport. Very interesting to read how things were done back then. I really liked the fact that it has pictures about the climbs we read about.

Es lo que esperaba

Another great book by Bernadette McDonald.

While finishing "Freedom Climbers" by Bernadette I ran to order this book.. A big thank for her work.. a truly mountaineering legacy!!

It is a splendid, captivating biography. I read it basically at one go when it first appeared as an ebook, and then got my paper copy and re-read it. All the awards are well deserved. My only regret while reading the book was that it wasn't longer, simply so that I could enjoy it a bit longer. I remember having exactly the same feeling a long time ago while reading "Upon That Mountain", Eric Shipton's first autobiography (and if you ever read it you'd realize how high praise that is). Different times, different alpinism perhaps, and Shipton probably wouldn't think of it as art, but certainly similar stress on simplicity and pure approach to adventure. Equally well reflected in the text.

Someone please translate Voytek's book into english!!!Didn't get into Freedom Climbers. Bernadette McDonald finally captivated me on this one. Voytek is a unique mind and his accomplishments speak for themselves. But his musings are so interesting, that we are fortunate to have them in print. McDonald's commentary on the history and culture are spot on and well researched.

Author Bernadette Macdonald has captured with perfection the intricacies, contradictions, and most or all the inner drive and spiritual journeys that comprise this very unique climber, Voytek Kurteyka. He has been in the forefront of creating and defining , and redefining “the new alpinism” for multiple generations of climbers for so long that he is iconic. And, of course, this is a very enjoyable and compelling read as well.

Fascinating account of both the climbing life and the philosophy of an Eastern European iconoclast. I struggled to put it down.

A well-written and very readable account of Voytek's climbing career. This was a guy who dedicated himself to pushing himself, in climbing by the purest ways and the purest routes he could. Attempting, and generally succeeding, in being brutally honest with himself, he pushed the limits of what was regarded as possible, while always staying (sometimes barely) on the right side of disaster.....

This book chronicles the life of a mountaineer who was in it for so much more than the ego side of climbing. A time worthy read.

Well written and interesting insight into one of the most significant climbers of the last forty years.

This book is as beautifully written and as beguiling as the subject matter himself. Bernadette gets to the heart of what makes Voytek tick and follows this thread throughout his life, elevating alpinism to so much more than sweat and machismo

A fantastic summary of the life one of the leading alpinists of the 70s-90s. Voytek is a brilliant climber and aesthetic.

Voytek and his pals: some of the best alpinists ever. Superb writing.

Great book! Amazing how plain and simple the description of the climbs are, however if you are into the climbing world, you can imagine how badass this guy was. Well done Voytek!