A couple of years ago, a friend with whom I worked recommended “Round Ireland with a Fridge” by Tony Hawks, which I read soon after, and enjoyed very much. This was the story of Tony Hawks hitchhiking round the circumference of Ireland with a kitchen appliance in order to win a bet. Seemingly the competitive streak runs strong in Tony Hawks, and in “Playing the Moldovans at Tennis”, fellow comedian Arthur Smith wagers that he can’t a) play, and b) beat the entire Moldovan football team at tennis.
Hawks’s travelogue is largely witty and sometimes poignant (particularly his increasing awareness of the things he had previously taken for granted, such as heating and lighting on demand), but I disagree with The Times that the book is “extremely funny”. I’ve read “extremely funny” books, and would probably number “Round Ireland with a Fridge” amongst them, but not this one. There were some genuinely comedic moments, particularly in the culture-clash with Iulian the translator, but if it hadn’t been for the relationship he strikes up with his host family, the book would have been reduced to mocking Eastern Europe because it’s not London.
His description of checking into an hotel in Moldova, and its state of décor was strangely reminiscent of when Richard, Andrew and I checked into one in neighbouring Romania. They didn’t seem at all troubled by our request for a room with three single beds (which surprisingly they had), but if we’d asked for a bathroom painted a colour other than Tartrazine orange, they would have struggled.
Annoyingly for a book costing £7.99, (or £6.39 on amazon), proof-reading seems to be sorely neglected in the second half of the manuscript. Some of Hawks’s most amusing observations are on his difficulties on communicating with the Moldovans, and the peculiarities of the Romanian language course he purchased (which had space for various circus-related jobs, but not for basic medical ailments). Often he resorts to French in order to communicate at all, so it was annoying to see typographical errors in English, and language errors in French (jeus rather than jeux for football matches).
Still, I was willing to forgive a few problematic pages for a book which has helped me locate Moldova (and Transnistria) on a map, and also bring back memories of a week’s holiday in Romania in 1998.
