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I laughed so hard at parts of this that my stomach hurt. The self-important narrator, oblivious to his own inconsistencies and nonsense, is a hoot -- to say nothing of the dog. Veddy veddy British, and a complete delight from start to finish.
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Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford.
The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over, to the point where the serious and somewhat sentimental passages now seem like an unnecessary distraction to the essentially comic novel ...more
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford.
The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over, to the point where the serious and somewhat sentimental passages now seem like an unnecessary distraction to the essentially comic novel ...more
I think I am not the most appreciative fan of comedy. I loved the TV show Friends, but really hated the movie Airplane. I like smart humor but do not like comedy that appeals to the baser intincts. And with this book choice I realized that I strongly prefer drama (thus my love of Steinbeck and duMaurier). I simply couldn't get into this book.
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Apr 16, 2018
RJ - Slayer of Trolls
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This fictional non-fiction book about three men (and, yes, a dog) who take a boating holiday on the Thames river is a treasure of wit and a slice of history. Various asides, generally of a comic nature, constitute the majority of the book, along with some purplish prose sentimentalities. Jerome's writing style is amazingly relevant to a modern reader and not much is lost in the humor for today's reader. It's no wonder this book has never been out of print since its initial publication in 1889. M
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My expectations for this book were too high. I thought I would be reading an author similar to Wodehouse. It turns out that there is a reason Wodehouse is much more famous than Jerome.
To be sure, there were funny bits sprinkled throughout the book. However, the funny bits were overwhelmed by the boring bits. It's like Jerome wasn't quite sure what tone to take. At times it read like a children's history of England. At other times like a travel guide to towns on the Thames. Still other times like ...more
To be sure, there were funny bits sprinkled throughout the book. However, the funny bits were overwhelmed by the boring bits. It's like Jerome wasn't quite sure what tone to take. At times it read like a children's history of England. At other times like a travel guide to towns on the Thames. Still other times like ...more
Very amusing :-D
With parts that weren't funny, like the story of the poor woman, or the dark forest. Nevertheless, enjoyable. ...more
With parts that weren't funny, like the story of the poor woman, or the dark forest. Nevertheless, enjoyable. ...more
Finsihed this last night. A fun read, I enjoyed the descriptions of the river being a boating person myself. I enjoyed the Victorian humor - I like "windows into past times". Glad I read it, chuckled once or twice. Definitely NOT a re-read candidate. Jerome's Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow was better, much more clever.
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I'm pretty sure that this book heavily influenced P.G.Wodehouse. Certain phrases and paragraphs sound so similar! Although I think P.G. Wodehouse may have carried it a bit further, using a clever foil (Jeeves) to make the stupidity of others seem more outrageous.
However, I've smirked and smiled and laughed out loud through this book. I absolutely love "housemaid's knee" and Harris singing comic songs, and "Montmorency's noble nature."
I highly recommend this book.
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However, I've smirked and smiled and laughed out loud through this book. I absolutely love "housemaid's knee" and Harris singing comic songs, and "Montmorency's noble nature."
I highly recommend this book.
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A very meandering but occasionally hilarious proto-Wodehouse trip. It's not an actual story, having only bits of plots in a hundred or so anecdotes, but it was nice to see the early English shadows of Bertie Wooster & co.
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I thought this book was hilarious!
Dec 22, 2008
Kayleen
marked it as to-read
Dec 04, 2010
Judith
marked it as to-read
Sep 15, 2011
Martha
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Jan 17, 2013
Dana Arbelaez
marked it as to-read
Aug 19, 2017
Katie
marked it as to-read
Oct 04, 2020
Julia
marked it as to-read
Apr 15, 2021
Cheryl
marked it as to-read
