Bowman, W.E. "The Ascent of Rum Doodle"

 

Bowman, W.E. (William Ernest) "The Ascent of Rum Doodle" - 1956

I would have loved to tag this review with "Yogistan", the country where the mountain Rum Doodle is situated. Apparently, it is higher than Mount Everest (>40,000 as opposed to 29,031.7 ft, that's quite a bit).

Mind you, the highest elevation in our district measures 479 ft and I would have been astonished if they had reached the peak of that little molehill or the highest elevation in the Netherlands at 1,058 ft.

This persiflage of a travel report is just hilarious. Seven people set out to conquer Rum Doodle. Not seven experienced mountaineers, just seven men who all are supposed to have a certain expertise but end up knowing nothing about their field. Because the translator doesn't speak Yogistani, they hire 30,000 instead of 3,000 porters and they are all as unreliable as the mountaineers themselves - no wonder if they can't communicate with them.

This is just a small book, only 182 pages, so it is a lovely one to take on a short trip. Always fits in your handbag. I am sure I will read it again.

I have no idea how I found this, maybe someone mentioned it, maybe it was because Bill Bryson recommended it so highly. Honestly, if an author you love praises a book, go ahead and read it, I was so happy I did this time. It was definitely worth it.

Needless to say, mountaineers love this book and there is even a bar in Kathmandu that is called Rum Doodle.

From the back cover:

"An outrageously funny spoof about the ascent of a 40,000-and-a-half-foot peak, The Ascent of Rum Doodle has been a cult favourite since its publication in 1956. Led by the reliably under-insightful Binder, a team of seven British men - including Dr Prone (constantly ill), Jungle the route finder (constantly lost), Constant the diplomat (constantly arguing) - and 3,000 Yogistani porters sets out to conquer the highest peak in the Himalayas."