The Ascent of Rum Doodle

Rating:
Summary: You don't have to be a mountaineer ...
Review: ... to be rendered helpless with laughter on reading this book. Its humour - both gross and subtle - is unrelenting, paragraph after paragraph. What a lovely find!

Rating:
Summary: The British have an odd sense of humor
Review: Bill Bryson, in his introduction to this book, calls it one of the funniest books a person will ever read. I'll grant that it is funny, but certainly not the funniest book I've ever read. (Actually, I'd really have to think long and hard about what was the funniest book I've ever read, but that's not germane to this review.) It's well-written, with the typical understated British dry wit that does have the reader, occasionally, doubling over with laughter, although most of the time I just chuckled at the writing. It's about a singularly unsuited team of mountaineers attempting to climb Rum Doodle, the world's highest peak at 40,000 and a half feet. No one member of the party seems to be actually fit to play his part in the expedition, and the leader of it seems peculiarly unaware of what is going on about him, from drunkenness to dereliction of duty, and other things. He spends his time finding out about his party members either having, or not having, a fiance. There's a guide who couldn't find his way out of a telephone booth, an interpreter who constantly enrages the porters because he can't get the local language correct, and other assorted misfits. Read the book by all means, bcause it is funny, but take with a grain of salt some of the extravagant praise heaped upon it.

Rating:
Summary: A quick read and a good laugh
Review: If you like British humor and have ever been involved in an expedition or read expedition books, this book is hilarious. It is a classic of mountaineering literature.

Rating:
Summary: Pass the test and you are in for a good time
Review: TEST:
When you see photos or films of intrepid explorers risking life, limb and treasure to climb a mountain because it was there, do you:
a)hold your breath find your heart beating faster, admiring them b)always remember that the photographer with equipment was AHEAD of the explorer.
Answer b) and this book is for you. A spoof in the spirit of Dr. Strangelove. A great summer read.

Rating:
Summary: Monty Pythonesq Humor
Review: This humerous short novel is about a group of inept mountaineers who attempt to climb the world's highest mountain, the fictional Rum Doodle. The style is sort of low-key Monty Python, understated absurdity. The group is made up of men particularly unsuited for their primary function in the expedition, such as the doctor who is constantly down with one illness or another or the route finder who cannot leave his tent without getting lost. While not chock full of belly laughs as some reviews would have you believe, the book is amusing and a fun read.