The Ascent of Rum Doodle vs. The Ascent of Nanda Devi – how similar are they?

Two of the best mountaineering books ever written were designed to be read side by side, but I wonder if anyone ever has.

I set myself the challenge of reading alternate chapters of The Ascent of Nanda Devi by H.W. Tilman and The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman, first a chapter of one, then a chapter of the other, and so on, until I’d finished both books.

Has anyone ever done it before? Probably not. I have no idea, but I knew it would be fun to give it a try.

The Ascent of Rum Doodle and...