In 1909, while dreaming of the Himalaya, Norwegian mountaineer Alf Bonnevie Bryn and a fellow young climber, the Australian George Ingle Finch, set their sights on Corsica to build their experience. The events of this memorable trip form the basis of Bryn’s acclaimed book Tinder og banditter – ‘Peaks and Bandits’, with their boisterous exploits delighting Norwegian readers for generations.
Peaks and Bandits is a short book, but packs a huge amount into its 117 pages. Young Alf Bonnevie Bryn decides to set off to Corsica to climb some mountains with his friend George Ingle Finch in their Easter holidays from school in 1909. Our Norwegian hero and his Australian chum have more than a few adventures along the way, fording freezing rivers, rescuing cats from bathtubs, spreading fake money to make their own funds go further. They introduce skiing to Corsica to repay a friendly farmer. There’s a hilarious story (well, more than one) about a snake called James, which I shall leave you to find out for yourselves. There’s an incident with a quart ceramic jar of Crosse & Blackwell marmalade that they persuaded someone to carry up a mountain. Oh, and they meet some bandits, of course. The list goes on.
It’s a lovely, quirky little book, with a real sense of derring do and proper adventure. Huge kudos to Bibbi Lee, the translator. They’ve captured the wit and charm of the book beautifully, and it feels so natural you forget that it’s been translated from the original Norwegian.
Originally published in 1943, Peaks and Bandits is a classic of Norwegian literature, and is now available in English.
I highly recommend that you pick up a copy. I got my copy via my subscription to Adventurous Ink, a book club covering the best in adventure, travel and nature books, curated by Tim Frenneaux. No affiliate links, just a subscription I really enjoy!
Peaks and Bandits by Alf Bonnevie Bryn (translated by Bibbi Lee) is published by Vertebrate Publishing.
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