Customer Reviews

The Ascent of Rum Doodle and the Cruise of the Talking Fish

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

TO ALL THOSE LOOKING FOR COPIES OF THIS MASTERPIECE!....I had the distinct opportunity to read all 40,000 1/2 feet of the book while in Nepal at THE Rum Doodle Restaurant! We'll be heading back in the near future and can likely get more copies. Space in my pack is very limited but I may be able to slip in an extra copy or two...let me know if you'd like one.

The Ascent of Rum Doodle has some of the funniest scenes I have ever read. My wife thought I was going to choke to death while I tried to read the fight in the tent. This book rivals even the parody "Bored of the Rings", my nominee for funniest book of all time.

I must have this book. The publisher is out of stock. I NEEEDDDD this book to fulfill a lifelong promise to my mom, who loaned it to someone who didn't return it. If you know how I could get this book, please let me know. I'd pay a premium.

Mount Everest is a mere planetary pimple compared to Rum Doodle, the fictional 40,000 1/2 foot mountain in "The Ascent of Rum Doodle," a hilarious spoof of mountain climbing expeditions. Perhaps the reason why Rum Doodle was not previously conquered was "because it is there"--way out "there"--in the remote Central Asian Kingdom of Yogistan. The Yogistani language alone crippled many expeditions. The language, a branch of the aneroid-megalithic tongue, contains no verbs and is spoken entirely through the stomach. Over 95% of Yogistanis understandably suffer from gastritis. Altitude deafness often compounds the problem. The ascent begins inauspiciously enough with two great circles until Jungle, the route-finder, releases the safety catch on his compass. Risibility rises with altitude as the intrepid six Rum Doodle dandies and their 3,000 porters overcome one embarrassment after another in their quest for mountaineering immortality. No praise is too high for the men who could go no higher. Or could they have? Why are there no photographs at the top? What about the Atrocious Snowman? And then there's the question inquiring minds most want to know: "Can I see my house from there?" Read this book at your own risk--of laughing aloud! But "The Cruise of the Talking Fish" was a mediocre book at best.

Ten out of 10. No ... 153 actually... Send more Champaigne for this is inspired madness. You too can be chased by a lurking suspician and climb Rumdoodle at 40 000 and one half feet. Yes you can learn Yogisti and be led through the snows by Jungle and Pathfinder. Finally you can discover (as Totter says) that to climb Mount Blanc by the Greppon Route is one thing, to climb Rum Doodle is quite another. This book is wonderful, and is even better if you have read Hunt's "The Ascent of Everest" first. You will laugh till your sides split

In the 1960s, my father had the hardcover edition of this tome on the bus, and when he got to the part "His food would be carried by a boy. The boy would carry his own food" he fell in the aisle laughing.
Unfortunately, he lent it to some fool who never returned. Finally, after waiting 35 years for the internet to be invented, and bearing a son for just the purpose of searching it to find another copy of The Ascent of Rum Doodle, he was able to order it. I got hold of it, and now have read it 5 or 6 times.
This book ranks among my all-time favourite books; others include Dune, The Lord of the Rings, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. The Cruise of the Talking Fish is good also, but not quite of the same caliber as The Ascent of Rum Doodle.

this book was the only thing that kept me sane on my last trip. there is not a mountaineer or climber that can not relate to some part of the book. i lent it out and ever one who has read it (3-4 times i might add) asked me where they can get a copy of their own. all i have to say is this should take the rated to a new level of 6 stars. read it, and then read it again!

AFTER TRAVELING OCEANS, CONTINENTS, MOUNTAINS, VALLEYS,
RIVERS AND SUCH, OUR INTREPIDS SUFFER LASSITUDES OF
EVERY MAGNITUDE AND OVERCOMING ALL, CELEBRATING EVERY
VICTORY IN GRAND STYLE, COME HOME WITHOUT A SINGLE
PHOTOGRAPH? VIVE'RUM DOODLE. BEWARE LEST YOU FALL OUT
OF YOUR FAVORITE READING CHAISE LOUNGE.
HAIL, RUM DOODLE! ALAS NO SINGLE HARDBACK IS TO BE
FOUND...THOSE TO WHOM I LOANED IT HAVE PASSED ON AND
HEIRS FAIL TO RECOGNIZE ITS VALUE. AS TO THE TITLE OF
THIS REVIEW, YOU WILL FIND THE LINE IN THE TEXT...
DON'T MISS THIS BOOK...AT ANY PRICE.

THE FISH...WELL, I ADMIT...I NEVER READ IT. TOO
EXHAUSED FROM, 'THE ASCENT...'

I agree with all the reviewers about rum Doodle but it's a pity there are not more positive comments on The Cruise of the Talking Fish : it's zany, surreal and as funny as Aquatic life by Wes Anderson (I wonder if he knows the book).