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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
frazzle's review against another edition
4.0
More hijinks from the three men, and largely the same as their trip in a boat. Definitely more stereotyping of Germans which didn't always age very well...
Interesting to see the lines of influence from JKJ to modern comedy.
Interesting to see the lines of influence from JKJ to modern comedy.
mnadiac's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
4.0
mcmillan's review against another edition
4.0
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) was my favourite novel last year. It was completely new to me and a great surprise. I was excited to discover a sequel existed, although I approached it with some trepidation knowing it almost certainly wouldn't live up to the first book.
The three men, sans dog, decide to take a cycling trip through the German Black Forest. Like the first book, the trip is really just there to provide an opportunity for Jerome to deliver his witty observations. It was interesting how relatable most aspects of the trip still were today, 117 years later - from trying to communicate through phrases in a guide book to struggling to understand your train ticket. A big difference in Three Men on the Bummel is that each scene feels more structured, with more focus put on the set piece itself rather than the anecdotes and rambling thoughts that come with it, but in a way the confinement of a slightly more refined narrative is what holds this book back from the level the first reached.
A barrage of rambling thoughts and anecdotes with no plot to hold it together would not normally be a positive for me, but every page of Three Men in a Boat was hilarious and insightful. There might literally be a quotable line on every page. This book has some hilarious moments, and I very much enjoyed reading it, but I don't think it will stick with me in the same way. In fact, I know it won't, because I read this a couple of months ago (I'm behind, don't judge) and managed to lose my notes when switching phones, and I am having a bit of trouble recalling more than a few specific scenes. Not sure if that's an indication of this being less memorable, though, or just the normal for my awful goldfish memory.
I hate when people come back from a trip and suddenly decide they have insights into the psyche of that country's citizens, from speaking to a couple of people on a train, a bartender, and a taxi driver, but that said, this observation at the end of the novel did jump out at me as somewhat chilling, considering the wars that were still to come:
Despite my lack of gushing, I did thoroughly enjoy this. Jerome K. Jerome was a comic genius, and I plan to read everything he's written.
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"A 'Bummel'," I explained, "I should describe as a journey, long or short, without an end; the only thing regulating it being the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started. Sometimes it is through busy streets, and sometimes through the fields and lanes; sometimes we can be spared for a few hours, and sometimes for a few days. But long or short, but here or there, our thoughts are ever on the running of the sand. We nod and smile to many as we pass; with some we stop and talk awhile; and with a few we walk a little way. We have been much interested, and often a little tired. But on the whole we have had a pleasant time, and are sorry when it's over."
The three men, sans dog, decide to take a cycling trip through the German Black Forest. Like the first book, the trip is really just there to provide an opportunity for Jerome to deliver his witty observations. It was interesting how relatable most aspects of the trip still were today, 117 years later - from trying to communicate through phrases in a guide book to struggling to understand your train ticket. A big difference in Three Men on the Bummel is that each scene feels more structured, with more focus put on the set piece itself rather than the anecdotes and rambling thoughts that come with it, but in a way the confinement of a slightly more refined narrative is what holds this book back from the level the first reached.
A barrage of rambling thoughts and anecdotes with no plot to hold it together would not normally be a positive for me, but every page of Three Men in a Boat was hilarious and insightful. There might literally be a quotable line on every page. This book has some hilarious moments, and I very much enjoyed reading it, but I don't think it will stick with me in the same way. In fact, I know it won't, because I read this a couple of months ago (I'm behind, don't judge) and managed to lose my notes when switching phones, and I am having a bit of trouble recalling more than a few specific scenes. Not sure if that's an indication of this being less memorable, though, or just the normal for my awful goldfish memory.
I hate when people come back from a trip and suddenly decide they have insights into the psyche of that country's citizens, from speaking to a couple of people on a train, a bartender, and a taxi driver, but that said, this observation at the end of the novel did jump out at me as somewhat chilling, considering the wars that were still to come:
The German can rule others, and be ruled by others, but he cannot rule himself. [...] Their everlasting teaching is duty. It is a fine ideal for any people; but before buckling to it, one would wish to have a clear understanding as to what this "duty" is. The German idea of it would appear to be: "blind obedience to everything in buttons. [...] When his troubles will begin will be when by any chance something goes wrong with the governing machine.
Despite my lack of gushing, I did thoroughly enjoy this. Jerome K. Jerome was a comic genius, and I plan to read everything he's written.
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chiara_casoli's review against another edition
4.0
Quando Jerome non diverte, intrattiene. Nel farlo, spesso istruisce. E quando non istruisce, apre comunque la mente a tante riflessioni che fanno capire come sia stato un uomo ammirevole. Io, a Jerome, ho imparato a voler un gran bene.
dawnbr's review against another edition
3.0
It starts out as a fun read, but looses it's way as the actual Bummel gets underway. That may have more to do with our understanding of the history of Germany and Poland since the book was published in 1900.
Overall, not as good as Three Men on a Boat, but does still raise an occasional chuckle.
Overall, not as good as Three Men on a Boat, but does still raise an occasional chuckle.
mr_houses's review against another edition
3.0
Una secuela menor en la que los tres jóvenes estudiantes, ahora ya padres de familia (mas o menos) de [b:Tres hombres en una barca|18042814|Tres hombres en una barca|Jerome K. Jerome|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370508800s/18042814.jpg|4476508] reviven sus viejas glorias en una excursión en bicicleta por la Selva Negra. Con este pretexto incontables anécdotas sobre el carácter inglés y alemán se suceden sin mucho hilo argumental. Más flojita que la obra maestra que la precede, no deja de conseguir la sonrisa del lector además de hacerle meditar sobre la clara inteligencia del autor que en cuatro despreocupados párrafos es capaz de poner el dedo en la llaga de lo que el siglo XX deparará a los alemanes.
snishar's review against another edition
3.0
The book fails to achieve what 'Three Men in a Boat' did, by a far stretch. Despite this, there are pockets of humour within the book funny enough to make you laugh out loud for a good minute or two.
The author has, thankfully, done away with endless descriptions of the scenery and cities, replacing it with a much richer description of what the places communicate as a whole to a first-time travellor.
Humour through dialogue is stronger than humour through narration in this book which is a shame, since there isn't enough dialogue. Entire paragraphs of dialogue flow too quickly, too well.
This book makes of Germans a harmless, lovable people with a zealous, even if blind, obedience to authority. It is an interesting observation of a people that would in some decades be noted for the failings of that quality, come Hitler.
This book feels more like a travelogue than the first one did. There are a few pages (a few too many) that discuss the oddities of Germany without any humour in them. His denunciation of the ghastly culture of collecting scars in college duels (the 'Mensur') is one example that stands out.
All in all, this is a book you can pass out on. However, I wouldn't recommend against reading it since it has some really funny parts.
The author has, thankfully, done away with endless descriptions of the scenery and cities, replacing it with a much richer description of what the places communicate as a whole to a first-time travellor.
Humour through dialogue is stronger than humour through narration in this book which is a shame, since there isn't enough dialogue. Entire paragraphs of dialogue flow too quickly, too well.
This book makes of Germans a harmless, lovable people with a zealous, even if blind, obedience to authority. It is an interesting observation of a people that would in some decades be noted for the failings of that quality, come Hitler.
This book feels more like a travelogue than the first one did. There are a few pages (a few too many) that discuss the oddities of Germany without any humour in them. His denunciation of the ghastly culture of collecting scars in college duels (the 'Mensur') is one example that stands out.
All in all, this is a book you can pass out on. However, I wouldn't recommend against reading it since it has some really funny parts.
fictionfan's review against another edition
3.0
The Bummel?
Our companions from Three Men in a Boat set out on a new journey, to cycle through the Black Forest, one on a bicycle and the other two sharing a tandem. It’s about twelve years since we met them last, and they’re older and to some degree wiser. George is still a bachelor, but J. and Harris are both married men with children, so their first task is to persuade their wives that a little break will inevitably lead to greater connubial bliss on their return. To their surprise, the wives seem quite happy at the notion of surviving without their husbands for a few weeks, informing the men that they will take the children off for a little holiday of their own at the seaside.
While this is a perfectly pleasant travel memoir, it doesn’t compare in any way to its hilarious prequel. It often feels as if Jerome is trying to recapture the joyous tone of the earlier book, but failing, leaving it feeling contrived and a little false, especially in the dialogue between the men. However, there are enough mildly amusing adventures and mishaps to keep it entertaining.
It’s interesting to read Jerome’s impressions of Germany and the Germans in 1900, before the two wars that would change the kind of cousinly friendship between the two nations into bitter enmity for a large part of the twentieth century. I actually found it quite a strange experience reading from the other end of that century as Jerome described pretty towns and handsome cities that then had no war-time resonances for him but did for me – Dresden, Berlin, Potsdam, etc. It gives his account a kind of innocence and a pathos, reading it now, that obviously it wouldn’t have had for contemporary readers. He stereotypes the Germans (or does he? Was he perhaps the originator of the stereotypes? I don’t know…) as tidy, hard-working, stolid and rather unimaginative burghers. He does the usual Brit abroad thing of suggesting British superiority to all “foreigners”, but he knows he’s doing it and mocks himself for it too, which takes the sting out of it. He also mocks the Brit abroad, suggesting that the stereotypes Europeans use about us may not be undeserved! Occasionally, again looking back with hindsight, I found some of his observations on the German character and culture rather chillingly prescient, though I suspect he didn’t see it that way himself and was being reasonably light-hearted about it.
In fact, the bike ride through the Black Forest is only a minor part of the book. Mostly the men spend their time visiting towns and cities, travelling by train, and since their visits to each are short there’s not a great deal of depth to the descriptions of them. Jerome himself says he sees no point in replicating what can be found in guide books, but this left me wondering what he was trying to do instead. In Three Men in a Boat, the humour covers up for any lack of hard information, but with less humour in this one, it all feels a little superficial. Perhaps it’s because of the too-high expectations set up by the previous book, but overall I found this one somewhat disappointing. Still, it filled a few hours pleasantly enough.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Our companions from Three Men in a Boat set out on a new journey, to cycle through the Black Forest, one on a bicycle and the other two sharing a tandem. It’s about twelve years since we met them last, and they’re older and to some degree wiser. George is still a bachelor, but J. and Harris are both married men with children, so their first task is to persuade their wives that a little break will inevitably lead to greater connubial bliss on their return. To their surprise, the wives seem quite happy at the notion of surviving without their husbands for a few weeks, informing the men that they will take the children off for a little holiday of their own at the seaside.
While this is a perfectly pleasant travel memoir, it doesn’t compare in any way to its hilarious prequel. It often feels as if Jerome is trying to recapture the joyous tone of the earlier book, but failing, leaving it feeling contrived and a little false, especially in the dialogue between the men. However, there are enough mildly amusing adventures and mishaps to keep it entertaining.
It’s interesting to read Jerome’s impressions of Germany and the Germans in 1900, before the two wars that would change the kind of cousinly friendship between the two nations into bitter enmity for a large part of the twentieth century. I actually found it quite a strange experience reading from the other end of that century as Jerome described pretty towns and handsome cities that then had no war-time resonances for him but did for me – Dresden, Berlin, Potsdam, etc. It gives his account a kind of innocence and a pathos, reading it now, that obviously it wouldn’t have had for contemporary readers. He stereotypes the Germans (or does he? Was he perhaps the originator of the stereotypes? I don’t know…) as tidy, hard-working, stolid and rather unimaginative burghers. He does the usual Brit abroad thing of suggesting British superiority to all “foreigners”, but he knows he’s doing it and mocks himself for it too, which takes the sting out of it. He also mocks the Brit abroad, suggesting that the stereotypes Europeans use about us may not be undeserved! Occasionally, again looking back with hindsight, I found some of his observations on the German character and culture rather chillingly prescient, though I suspect he didn’t see it that way himself and was being reasonably light-hearted about it.
For the direction of German character into these channels, the schools, of course, are chiefly responsible. Their everlasting teaching is duty. It is a fine ideal for any people; but before buckling to it, one would wish to have a clear understanding as to what this "duty" is. The German idea of it would appear to be: "blind obedience to everything in buttons." It is the antithesis of the Anglo-Saxon scheme; but as both the Anglo-Saxon and the Teuton are prospering, there must be good in both methods. Hitherto, the German has had the blessed fortune to be exceptionally well governed; if this continue, it will go well with him. When his troubles will begin will be when by any chance something goes wrong with the governing machine. But maybe his method has the advantage of producing a continuous supply of good governors; it would certainly seem so.
In fact, the bike ride through the Black Forest is only a minor part of the book. Mostly the men spend their time visiting towns and cities, travelling by train, and since their visits to each are short there’s not a great deal of depth to the descriptions of them. Jerome himself says he sees no point in replicating what can be found in guide books, but this left me wondering what he was trying to do instead. In Three Men in a Boat, the humour covers up for any lack of hard information, but with less humour in this one, it all feels a little superficial. Perhaps it’s because of the too-high expectations set up by the previous book, but overall I found this one somewhat disappointing. Still, it filled a few hours pleasantly enough.
"A 'Bummel'," I explained, "I should describe as a journey, long or short, without an end; the only thing regulating it being the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started. Sometimes it is through busy streets, and sometimes through the fields and lanes; sometimes we can be spared for a few hours, and sometimes for a few days. But long or short, but here or there, our thoughts are ever on the running of the sand. We nod and smile to many as we pass; with some we stop and talk awhile; and with a few we walk a little way. We have been much interested, and often a little tired. But on the whole we have had a pleasant time, and are sorry when 'tis over."
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xider's review against another edition
4.0
Gratifying as a whole. The book has both laugh-out-(exceptionally)loud moments but also some boring descriptions. The comedy bits are awesome, the descriptions of people are comically apt even now, but the descriptions of society can be hit or miss. A funny and relatable journey as a whole.