David Allen & Judy Whiteside So You Want To Join Mountain Rescue

David Allen & Judy Whiteside, So You Want To Join Mountain Rescue

ISBN 190 452 4478

Published 2006

Paperback

200 pages

Illustrated with 100 original colour cartoons

hayloft publishing

http://www.hayloft.org.uk/cartoon.html

A percentage of profits from sale of this book will go to mountain rescue

The art of the cartoon is a funny thing: beyond the subjective, the differing styles can be anything from plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face literal to Dali-esque obscure. The style employed here is more in the former school derived from the earliest forms of public ridicule developed by Gillray and Hogarth.

Caricature typically uses suggestion to conjour the punchline, therefore while cartoons can be rib-tickling hilarious in their own right, distorting the physical persona to hideous extremes, they also often need to add comment to any annotating text; otherwise the cartoon is simply a picture depicting the activity referred to in its legend. A good mountaineering example is the great Charles Evans' "Eye On Everest" which subtly and sympathetically mocks the plight shared by his fellow Everesteers in their extraordinary situation.

Similarly, Allen & Whiteside take a tongue in cheek look at the amazing lengths taken by Mountain Rescue teams, but it has to be said that their integration of graphic and text is not as skilfully done. Nonetheless, they do guide us through the everyday reality of Mountain Rescue with genuine earthy humour, if anything, further opening our eyes to the fantastic service that these people perform. All the more reason to buy the book and make your contribution.