Frost on my Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer by Tim Moore

Frost on my Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer Reviews

• 
  Jim

  This is a book that made me laugh and cry. I cried because the hardbound edition I owned had glued signatures that apparently used reject adhesive from Russian Post-It notes and dissolved as I turned the pages. It wouldn't have mattered if I hated the book, because I could then hurl it at the wall and watch it explode like a pressure-cooker bomb. But I loved the book, and found in
  Tim Moore a kindred spirit who could send me into gales of guffaws.
  
  
  Frost on my Moustache: The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer is one of those "let's go back and see what it's like to re-visit places covered in a classic travel book of, oh, say, a hundred and fifty years ago" books. The book that Moore revisited was Lord Dufferin's Letters from High Latitudes, about a cruise in 1856 that took in the Northeastern Arctic islands of Iceland, the Faeroes, the Shetlands, Jan Mayen, and finally Spitzbergen. Dufferin's book, which I have read and liked, is a genuine travel classic, and Frost on My Moustache is one too, but in a more humorous vein.
  
  Beginning with a great description of what it's like to be seasick on an Icelandic container ship, the book hits notes of poetry:

  'Yes, we must show you how to wear the survivor suits,' said the captain, as I squinted stupidly at the safety poster, a comment I made the terrible error of thinking was a joke. As it transpired, I didn't even see a lifejacket, and even in my darkest hours I was too embarrassed to ask again about the survival suits. Shouting, 'No, no! Come back! Please show me how to live!' as the captain whistled away down the corridor wouldn't have sounded great, and it might easily have cursed the voyage in line with some 'Scottish-play'=type nautical superstition. All I could do was to try and recall from my Bronze Survival Medal course (failed) how you go about making a float by inflating a pair of pyjama bottoms. 'Excuse me, could you blow into my trousers to make them swell up?' was not a question I wanted to ask a sailor.

  The author was a glutton for punishment. No sooner does he embark in Reykyavik than he goes on a bicycle ride through the dread Kjolur route, some 250 kilometers of uninhabited desolation that marks the center of Iceland. (Some 95% of gthe population of the island live within hailing distance of the coast.)
  
  Then he takes several more gut-wrenching seasickness-inducing cruises to the Faeroes, the Shetlands, and Spitzbergen. Only the leg to Jan Mayen was by air, and the weather there was too windy to permit a safe landing by the Norwegian Hercules cargo aircraft.
  
  I suppose it remains for me to find a copy of the book that won't fall apart as I turn the pages. Sigh!
• 
  Brian

  Vomit - Verb, to disgorge see also: Spew, Ruminate, sick, chunder, hurl, throw up.
  There's a lot of ways to say the same thing, and if you are constantly seasick travel author Tim Moore, even more ways to experience it! In keeping with the travel theme of the summer reading program I decided to reach deep into the catalog for a title by one of my favorite, albeit, not well known in the states, writers. What do you get if you mixed Bill Bryson with the cast of Monty Python and left the resulting issue to be raised by Terry Pratchett? You would probably get a Tim Moore. Moore is the slacker voice of my generation. Just as in his books "French Revolutions" and "Travels with my Donkey", Moore's travels and travails are loosely based around a theme. In this case it's a Victorian travelogue written by one time Viceroy of Canada and India, Lord Dufferin. Dufferin's travels to Iceland and parts of Norway produced a minor literary sensation in their day. Taking his cue from Dufferin, Moore attempts to follow the same trail, but runs afoul of over the counter medication, Viking re-enactors, his own putzy-ness, and a Scandinavian sense of humor that finds the punch-line to the one joke Moore knows, confusing. Moore might not be for everyone, but if you want a good entertaining read, have deliciously juvenile sense of humor, and enjoy reading about locales that are, unique if not exotic, then give all of Moore's books a try.
• 
  Alonzo

  I first attempted to read the paperback, but couldn't get into it...
  
  Then, I found the audio-book; listening sometimes helps with inflections, pauses, etc. which a reader may miss in print. The audio-book is narrated by Richard Greenwood and is hilarious. I laughed aloud in the middle of the night while listening to the uproarious things this guy did; I literally had tears in my eyes and nearly lost my breath laughing so hard. My wife thought I was having some kind of attack!
  
  If you need a good laugh, you could do worse; you'd be hard-pressed to do better, in my humble opinion.
  
  I'll tell you what: I'll read it again sometime in the next few months and I'll write a better review.
• 
  Vikas Datta

  Superbly funny.... brings an old Victorian nobleman and his exploits to life and replicates them in the modern era but with more disastrous consequences.. and of course, Lord Dufferin's valet Wilson was a Marvin the Paranoid Android of his time...
• 
  Rachel

  Not that great a read. Not as good as some of his others. Perhaps it's just that the Arctic doesn't excite me that much.
• 
  Lindsey

  Tim Moore's self-deprecating Arctic travels. Funny enough in a 30-something, boyish kind of way, but not 280 pages funny. More like two columns in a magazine funny.
• 
  Nathan Albright

  Having read a large number of books by the author [1], I can say that this follows the usual pattern.  I happen to like this pattern, and there is a sense of comfort in knowing that the author will have some sort of harebrained idea, do a whirlwind tour of research, and then attempt to live on the cheap while engaged in some dramatic and historically important journey wherein he makes himself look like an idiot while simultaneously wrestling with issues of seriousness in a lighthearted fashion that many readers are likely to miss.  This book reads like one of the early adventures of a familiar friend.  I'm not sure if the author would be a friend in person, but it seems as if much of the author's obnoxiousness and cluelessness is an act.  Having read five travel books from the author that have the same story arc and approach, it is clear that the author found an approach that gave him popularity and success as a writer and freed him from the need to send nasty postcards and dream of revenge fantasies against Telefax, a company that appears to have dismissed him before this volume came out, and once a writer finds an approach that works in terms of critical and popular success there is usually little need to reinvent the wheel afterwards.
  
  In this travelogue, we begin with an extensive look at a Lord Dufferin who was a British viceroy of Canada and India and also made a youthful trip to the Arctic with a melancholy manservant named Wilson who the author strongly identifies with.  After embarrassing himself while doing research on the life and times of Lord Dufferin, the author travels as closely as he can to the path that Lord took--one presumes that the author is the titular loafer first to Iceland, then to the Faroe and Shetland Islands, and finally to Norway, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard.  In reading this book, I realize I may be among the very few people that wishes they could do what this author did in terms of visiting the remote lands of the Arctic north, although I can't imagine I would necessarily want to stay long there.  The author's comments are, as usual, humorous and on-point, and he demonstrates his commitment to traveling on the cheap, pretending not to be very adventurous, and having awkward cultural experiences with foreigners, which must be a British thing.
  
  Although there was much to enjoy in this book, there was something about it that really bothered me.  I will freely own that I was bothered by the first part of the book, which was especially cringy, largely because I am an American and find the extreme class-consciousness of the book's opening to be difficult to take.  The author's obsequious fawning over the quirks and eccentricities of the English hoity-toity people that he encounters was quite against the grain for this somewhat more self-assertive American.  It is one thing to be humiliated by seasickness or by struggles in rugged climates with people whose language(s) you do not understand, or getting lost and trying to do too much traveling too cheaply--all of that I can readily understand.  It is another thing entirely to feel as if one has to humiliate oneself because one is dealing with inbred elites and has to demonstrate to everyone a willingness to accept humiliation due to social status.  That part of the book really bothered me, and made me look forward to the author dealing with the awkwardness of cultural experiences with foreigners rather than with those who think themselves of a higher class.
  
  [1] See, for example:
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
  
  
  https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
• 
  Sho

  One thing that hit me hard during this pandemic is my ability to read. I have had to stop reading some books for various reasons: too dark, too boring (and this includes books I've loved before - i abandoned LOTR just before starting ROTK which is unknown), badly written, really badly written, wasn't feeling it...
  
  And then i got into a discussion about travel writing for some reason. And remembered that one of my favourite writers had a relatively new book out (Charlie Connolley - writing about the Channel) and then i remembered that i haven't read all of Tim Moore's output. So i downloaded this one.
  
  It's one of his earlier ones (published in 1999) bit it has all the hallmarks of one of his travel books: you get a healthy dose of introspection, information about the places he's visiting, his mode of travel and the inspiration behind the juourney. You can get information about the detail of this book from the blurb so I'm not going to repeat it here.
  
  He does come across in parts as a bit whiny, and a bit negative about some aspects of his subject's life (or rather their descendants) but it's none the worse for that, although i would like to know what they thought of it.
  
  And now I'm searching out new travel books (am always open to recommendations)
• 
  John Behle

  I like travel books with a wry twist. Tim Moore's painfully pedals across rain lashed Iceland on a bike, where a hot dog, from any desolate gas station becomes his daily quest.
  
  He joins up with a faux Viking crew to sail the northern Atlantic even serving his watch shift on the dark bridge. Clever stories of meeting the locals on Spitsbergen Island, Norway. Yes, lots of drinking.
  
  I tired of the Lord Dufferin references. Moore uses Dufferin's "Letters From High Latitudes" travelogue of 1856 as a rough template of his journey.
  
  The audio CD version is entertaining. Richard Greenwood's voice inflections adds to the dry British humor of the book.
• 
  Kelly Pulley

  Tim Moore is hysterical. My wife and I loved Gironimo!—Riding the Terrible 1914 Tour of Italy so much she bought Frost on My Mustache and Travels with My Donkey. Probably not the last of Mr Moores books we will add to our library.
• 
  Nicola

  First Moore I ever read a long time ago. Fell in love with his style of travel writing and the practise of not really having planned things too well. An Englishman abroad! Great cultural insights.
• 
  Andy Davis

  Funny comic travelogue.
• 
  Jennifer Delamere

  I picked this up because 1)I am considering a trip to Iceland, and 2)the author follows the itinerary of Lord Dufferin, who made the trip during the mid-Victorian era, a time-frame I'm so interested in because I've set my own books during that time.
  
  The book was very funny and I loved his descriptions. The only thing I found slightly off-putting was that he acted in every way like a single man/slacker, including many irresponsibly dangerous adventures, even though he had a wife and two small children back in England (which he mentions a few times in the book). I found that hard to reconcile at times. Also, he comes across as such a misanthrope! I do hope he played it up for the sake of humor.
  
  I listened to this on audiobook, which really added to the fun. The narrator was excellent, especially the way he did the voices for Lord Dufferin (bombastic Victorian lord/explorer) and his valet, Wilson (grumpy, put-upon servant).
  
  All in all, a fun read. I found the book that started it all, Dufferin's out-of-print "Letters from High Latitudes," on Google books. I look forward to reading that as well.
• 
  Susan

  Laugh out loud funny. No, I really mean it. Tim Moore is a British journalist who decides to re-enact Lord Dufferin's voyage to the arctic. What? You don't know who Lord Dufferin is? It doesn't matter, you'll learn.
  
  Here is one passage where Moore describes his feelings on attempting to secure passage on a Viking ship to cross the North Sea: "The whole endeavour was plainly both overambitious and disasterously inept. Of all the adjectives I could apply to boats in which I would not want to cross the North Sea, 'small' and 'Viking' would come in the top five, just behind 'ablaze' and 'upside down'."
  
  I took this book with me while backpacking and camping on Isle Royale, and it couldn't have been a better choice.
• 
  russell barnes

  
  Tim Moore's first book and it shows; it's scatty in places, the reason he's off on the trip isn't really that clear and the prose is a bit wonky.
  
  However, it's still a pretty good read and interesting to see where the genius of
  continental drifter,
  french revolutions and
  spanish steps began.
• 
  Coffeeboss

  This is one of the funniest travel essay books I've ever read. Tim Moore decides to follow the path of a not-so-famous British explorer from the 1850s named Lord Dufferin. Moore follows the route on boat, bike, and plane, taking him through the northern climes of Iceland, Norway, and Spitzbergen. Moore is a decidedly wimpy traveler, which makes his tale all the more hilarious. Let's just say there is much humiliation and sea-sickness vomiting to be had. I laughed out loud many times while reading this, and would recommend it to people who enjoy self-deprecating writers like David Sedaris and to anyone who enjoys travel memoirs.
• 
  Norah

  I started this and found it fascinating as I live near the Clandeboye area referred to, but got a bit bogged down in it. Thought I'd get back to it eventually but now I find I have bookcrossed it to someone else so will have to get another copy!
  
  Reread this as I was visiting Iceland with my daughter and granddaughter (Aurora! get it?) this year, and thought it would be a suitable preparation. This first half of the book follows his travels there, then he moves on to Scandinavia. I found his style somewhat rambling, so tended to skip bits. Finished it now to hand on to a friend going to Iceland in September, and another the owner of an Iceland specialist holiday company.
• 
  catherine

  moore retraces the path of a 19th century a english lord's (mostly) sailing tour through parts of scandinavia. the journey itself sounded interesting (as does dufferin's original text), but i was disappointed in the writing. definitely a british humor, and not a travelogue. and it's *very* british, which i don't have much of a taste for. moore's a decent craftsman, but i just don't enjoy his tone. dufferin went on to become some early canadian statesman, which was a fun fact for me, as "dufferin" is a main road near my old neighborhood in toronto.
• 
  Iñaki Tofiño

  Found it in a hotel in Galle, Sri lanka, and took it just to have something to read (forgive me, father, for I have sinned...). It has turned out to be a great travelogue, funny, witty, sometimes plain silly, but always interesting.
  A contemporary Englishman, Tim Moore, the loafer, follows the steps of a Victorian gentleman, Lord Dufferin, through Iceland and Arctic Norwegian regions in what is a description of former/modern endurance and character. Quite recommendable!
• 
  Lester

  A book with many ridiculous statements!! A great way to read a travel diary..yep..Tim Moore does a grand job of teaching whilst being entertained!
  I looked up Spitzbergen and it is amazingly beautiful. A bit of trivia; On Spitzbergen is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault..started storage in 1984 in an abandoned coal mine..official opening was Feb. 26, 2008. This would be a fine travel plan for me..go to Norway..over to Spitzbergen and see if anyone would 'hahahah' give me a tour of the Seed Vault!
• 
  William

  If you can get past the first 10 pages or so, which tend toward the confusing (it is Moore's first book!), the rest of his narrative -- the recreation of an expedition led by Lord Dufferin in the mid-19th century -- is very entertaining. Funny and fascinating Arctic experiences. One minor flaw is that numerous references are made to British popular culture form the late 20th century (such as TV shows or public personalities) that mean little to American readers. Sharp and witty, nonetheless.
• 
  Hannah

  Another journey full of slapstick and satire with Mr Moore. The historical narrative of Lord Dufferin's adventures through the Arctic was interesting and Tim's reconstructions enjoyable to read about. I just didn't enjoy this book as much as others by this author. The narrative dragged on a bit in places leaving my mind wandering and was a little repetitive in places (a bit like this review). But still an enjoyable read with an interesting tale to tell.
• 
  Anna

  I read this because I found it on lists of books to read when going to Iceland. I didn't make it very far before going but I think it actually was better to read it after having been there as I better understood what he was talking about during the Iceland section. I probably would have liked the rest of the book better if I had been to the other places on this madcap trip. As it was I got rather tired of his drinking and moaning by the end of the book.