2010/33
Eric Newby: A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (255p.)
Eric Newby’s A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush is ranked 16th in National Geographic’s 100 Greatest Adventure Books, and comes with a reputation for British wit.
Alas, it isn’t that great of a travelogue (not anywhere close to number 5 on the list, Wilfred Thesiger’s timeless classic Arabian Sands), it isn’t that funny, and Newby and his partner don’t succeed in climbing Mir Samir, the previously unclimbed Hindu Kush peak they had aimed for.
Number 47 on the list is a Dierickx family heirloom, Francis Chichester’s Gipsy Moth Circles the World.
‘Look,’ said Hugh, ‘it must be Thesiger.’ Coming towards us out of the gorge where the river thundered was a small caravan like our own.
…
The ground was like iron with sharp rocks sticking up out of it. We started to blow up our air-beds. ‘God, you must be a couple of pansies,’ said Thesiger.
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September 9, 2010 at 2:59 pm
dierickx family
Ha ha ha!
Francis Chichester leans against ‘Verzameld Werk’ by Djoos Utendoale.
September 13, 2010 at 10:18 am
Pieter
National Geographic is close to become another Coca Cola company or maybe it is already for a long time. Their just mastering the upkeeping of their apearances.