Ok, so the title perhaps has me going a bit native, pretty accurately, The Ascent of Rum Doodle, is a rum old affair. I was intrigued by it when I read the spine in the library: Vintage Bowman. Vintage who? thought I, picking it up and expecting something to click. W.E. Bowman. Nope. Never heard of 'em. Looks promising. A mountaineering parody, you say? Sounds interesting? A foreword by Bill Bryson? Sold!
Mr Bryson (who I have had the pleasure of meeting, don'tcha know – perhaps I've mentioned it once or twice...) claimed it to be "the funniest book you've never read". He may be right. Comparisons with Three Men in a Boat (indeed, it's actually referenced in the text) and the works of Joseph Heller and Douglas Adams seem far enough. It might even be that 42 was the new 157. It did have me laughing out loud, it's farcical nature working well and it may even have had a nod in either of Monty Python's two mountaineering sketches (climbing the road and the twin peaks of Kilimajaro). Certainly it was silly enough, but it also rang true. And that's what made the difference, the characters and scenarios, however daft, seemed somehow plausible.
And the characters served an admirable purpose. With names that give handy clues to their role – Pong the chef, Prone the (constantly ill) doctor and my personal favourite, Jungle (the perpetually lost) guide, they served the purpose they were designed to. The book had some memorable set pieces - passing champagne down the crevasse, conversations in Yogistani, trying to speak like people are supposed to over the radio – which couldn't fail to raise a smile. Coupled with ongoing in-jokes (anyone for fiancées?, the aforementioned 157 complex) and a perhaps obvious yet somehow fittingly heroic conclusion, Rum Doodle proved to be a very entertaining romp.
Book number: 11
Title: The Ascent of Rum Doodle
Author: W.E. Bowman
Category: Books by authors I've never heard of
No comments:
Post a Comment