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BOOK REVIEWS
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The Complete Doctor Stories :
The Ridiculous Mountains And Nothing So Simple As Climbing
by G.J.F. Dutton
Published by Baton Wicks. 160pp. ISBN 1-898573-21-2
This is a new combined edition of the classic books published in 1984 and 1993, retailing in 41 hilarious episodes the adventures of the Doctor and his oft bemused companions as they wander over, and occasionally under, the Mountains of Scotland. Readers will identify with either the Apprentice, taciturn leading edge climber, or The Doctor, heroic keeper of the flame and defender of the tradition, or even with the Narrator, hapless if not hopeless chronicler of their epic tales.
Climbing, peakbagging, skiing, caving, canoeing and mountain rescue are all endured in the company of a cast of thousands; from MacGillivray, the keepers' keeper, to Morag, blond goddess of Sron Ulladale, to tweed-skirted Amazon Urania Grey-Mullet, sister to the redoubtable bird-watcher Ursula Cairnwhapple and not forgetting The Reverend Zoar McKinley McSigh, whose fall from grace occurs on his last Munro, the appropriately named Carn an t-Sagairt Mor. Botanists, midges and Americans are all encountered if not conquered.
If, like me, your original copies have been borrowed, seemingly permanently, by converts to the cause, this is your chance to rediscover the gently absurd world of the Doctor. Better still, buy it for a friend and borrow it back. The Doctor would approve.
John Donohoe.
High-Altitude Medicine And Pathology 4th Edition
by Donald Heath and David Reid Williams. Published by Oxford Medical Publications. Hardback.
456pp ISBN 0-19-262504-7
As the preface points out this fourth edition comes out only 6 years after the third and is a measure of the growth in interest in high altitude medicine. It is written by two pathologists with long standing interest in the subject (as some of the illustrations featuring them prove).
It is well written, readable and appropriate illustrations are frequent which make the text less daunting. Thirty six short chapters are clearly defined and make what could be a dry subject interesting and easy to use for study and quick reference. Physiological and pathological effects of altitude on all body systems from brain to toes are all outlined.
The danger of high altitude cannot be underestimated and physical fitness offers no protection. Psychological function at high altitudes is greatly impaired and the chapter on this should be compulsory reading for all aspirant high altitude climbers. Medical knowledge is not a prerequisite for understanding the effects on decision-making, memory, hearing and hand and eye co-ordination. In fact only the first thirteen chapters which concentrate on the physiology and pathology are less accessible to the non-medical reader. The remaining two thirds is easily readable. The chapter on hypothermia is excellent and not only relevant to high altitude. Another chapter on athletic training at moderate altitude casts doubt on the advantages of athletic endurance for lowlanders.
The final chapter on life at high altitude defines the difference between acclimatisation and adaptation, adaptation being heritable physiological features based on countless millennia of natural selection. The Himalaya has been inhabited for much longer than the Andes. The indigenous people of the Himalaya are therefore more adapted to high altitude despite living at much lower altitudes than the people of the Andes. This serves to illustrate the complexity of the whole subject.
Dr. Elvire Feeney
The Burren, Edited by Calvin Torrans & Clare Sheridan. Published by The Mountaineering Council Of Ireland.
161pp. ISBN 0-902940 -12-0.
If the measure of a good guidebook is that it (a) gets you to the crag, (b) gets you to the bottom of the route and (c) (most important) inspires you to visit the area then this guidebook seems to meet the grade.
This is the definitive guide to the development of Ailladie, the main Burren cliff discovered in the early seventies, and it follows on where the 1987 guide left off. Almost half the guidebook is taken up with comprehensive and enticing descriptions of the routes at Ailladie, including new desperates on the stunning Mirror Wall. The other half covers routes on other sea cliffs - Doolin, Moher and Inis Mor on Aran - and interesting-sounding inland crags, such as the limestone escarpment of Murroughkilly where the only regular visitors are a herd of wild goats. There is a plethora of stars, most at VS and above. From my albeit limited personal experience (in part due to the fact that I was there on my honeymoon!) I would imagine this is a fairly accurate assessment of the quality of these climbs, although we have generally found these somewhat shorter than expected. There is no graded list which is always fun to peruse but there is an alphabetical route index so you can locate (or avoid!) those climbs whose reputation precedes them.
A few criticisms:- The cover is flimsy compared to the SMC guidebooks we've become accustomed to and it's a shame that the cover photos couldn't have been a bit sharper. The same goes for the internal photos, in particular those illustrating the crags - line drawings might have made route identification a bit clearer. Directions for reaching Ailladie are rather irritatingly located in the introductory section, rather than at the start of the section on the crag itself as would be expected. It would also have been nice to see a brief overview of the type of climbing to be found in the Burren- this would have sat nicely in the introduction where I would also have liked to see the history of the Burren's development put into context against the main developments in Irish climbing as a whole. All in all, however, the authors have done a good job on what is probably a limited budget compared to the riches of the Scottish Mountaineering Trust.
Finally, it's good to see the authors reminding the reader that sea cliffs are prone to collapse after winter storms, having struggled half way up a supposedly "Severe" route on another Irish sea-cliff, only to conclude when the going got too tough that most of it was actually fifteen fathoms under!
See you at sunset on the Dancing Ledges and for a pint after in Lisdoonvarna?
Melanie Nicoll
Deep Play by Paul Pritchard. Hardback. Published by Baton Wicks. 192pp. ISBN 1-898573-14-X
 If you want to read about big walls, big falls and fever and fatigue- induced hallucinations, this is the book for you.
As Paul writes that this is "Not a simple autobiography ........... a whole image of the existence and psyche of a climber of my generation" (heavy!), nevertheless the book covers incidents from his early days playing in a quarry behind his house through some epic big wall climbs to a back breaking accident on Creag Meagaidh.
The climbing includes accounts of routes from the slate quarries at Llanberis through Gogarth on Anglesey to the great walls on the Towers of Paine, the Himalayas, Hyperbola on Baffin Island and a quick nip up the Trango Tower. He has travelled the world climbing and enjoying the company of a wide variety of companions from many countries and gives us some insight into this lifestyle.
The book is a strange mixture of experiences, anecdotes, memories of lost companions and expedition descriptions in, to me, no particular order or style. Paul is obviously a fantastic rock climber, up amongst the finest of the day, and in my opinion this book is written for them or others like minded. For the fireside climber, like me, there is not enough of the low down from high up; epics are generally treated as throw-away lines.
Despite this I enjoyed many parts of the book and the pictures were stunning. Perhaps if I was of Paul's generation I would have enjoyed it more.
Ron Robertson
Whale Watching with a Boy and a Goat by Terry Gifford. Published by Red Beck Press. ISBN 0-946980-59-4.
This book is a collection of diverse poems exploring and celebrating climbing, outdoor experiences and travel, but also political landscapes, love and especially environmental aspects.
This is a very personal response, which is the only response possible to poetry.
The poems are unpretentious and easily accessible though not simplistic; they make you think until you understand.
The imagery is evocative and draws the reader into both the bustling activity of travelling and the tranquillity of the wild, for example "Unseen on the roofs of these teeming/ tower blocks a million people live/ the village life they've left behind/ their hens and rabbits in crude hutches" (CAIRO), and "Juniper, olive, oak, sweet chestnut,/ a garden of cones and nuts, / centuries of harvesting and planting/ the wild outreach of the village." (AGIA IRINI).
The poetry is presented in a stream of consciousness using enjambment, ( a technique of breaking the sentence at the end of a line or verse) at times close to prose, but then again bursting with rich imagery and phrases which identify it as poetry. Gifford writes with an economy of language, poems are not long and rambling epics but examples of poems in which the volume of ideas outweighs the volume of words. Some of the poems benefit from being read aloud (alliteration, sound patterns and rhythm are techniques he uses a lot). 'Dorm Drumming in Price Village' is an example of this. These aspects also make the work distinct from prose.
The tone is reflective, at times humorous. While some of the poems are politically challenging, the mood does not become overwhelming or depressing.
Some of the poems are experimental and this mostly works for the reader. I personally slightly preferred part ll to part l, but then again I liked the humour in poems like 'A Poem for Amy's Van' in part l.
I have found the poems pleasant, thoughtful and stimulating reading and most enjoyable to dip into and some of the lines will remain in my own repertoire of images, for example "Where light passes through/ The pale dry grassheads..." or "Out here, where sea/ and mountains meet, where the sky's big-hearted/ something is missing and present between sun/ and showers in his "far far away land" (THE SINGLE FALLING STONE i.m. Paul Nunn).
Ingrid Parker
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