Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really hilarious. It made me laugh out loud in places. Also interesting look at late 19th century English life from a middle class man's perspective. This book inspired Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog, which is also an excellent book.
Three men in a boat - ****
Three men on the bummel - **1/2
Some uncomfortable use of the n word in the sequel.
Three men on the bummel - **1/2
Some uncomfortable use of the n word in the sequel.
So these books are supposed to be funny, but I could barley stand them. I wish I would have just walked away and left this writing unread, but I have a difficult time not finishing the books I start.
Anyway, I forced myself to read every damn page of both "Three Men in a Boat" and "Three Men on the Bummel."
There were parts of this two-books-in-one-volume that were enjoyable, and I laughed once.
On the whole though, I would use the word tedious to describe these works.
Both of the books were dull and pointless.
In "Three Men in a Boat" these three friends and their dog go on a boating adventure down the river. It's supposed to be like a funny, ridiculous retelling of their mishaps, much like a version of "Dumb and Dumber"--only from back in the day.
Unfortunately for me, I absolutely loathed, "Dumb and Dumber" and I loathed this book too. There were simply too many pointless tangents that I didn't find interesting. There was history that I don't know. There were jokes that went right over my head.
I think I probably lack education, which is why I didn't get many of the jokes. I also have never been to England. I don't know that much of the history of the place.
The writing itself was good, but I just didn't enjoy the book. I made myself read it and it took me a solid month to do so.
"Three Men on the Bummel" was just as bad as the first book, and actually, I don't even know what to say about all the smack he wrote about Germany. I had no idea if what he said was true but I do know it was supposed to be funny, and yet (in my opinon) it simply wasn't.
I thought both books sucked.
Anyway, I forced myself to read every damn page of both "Three Men in a Boat" and "Three Men on the Bummel."
There were parts of this two-books-in-one-volume that were enjoyable, and I laughed once.
On the whole though, I would use the word tedious to describe these works.
Both of the books were dull and pointless.
In "Three Men in a Boat" these three friends and their dog go on a boating adventure down the river. It's supposed to be like a funny, ridiculous retelling of their mishaps, much like a version of "Dumb and Dumber"--only from back in the day.
Unfortunately for me, I absolutely loathed, "Dumb and Dumber" and I loathed this book too. There were simply too many pointless tangents that I didn't find interesting. There was history that I don't know. There were jokes that went right over my head.
I think I probably lack education, which is why I didn't get many of the jokes. I also have never been to England. I don't know that much of the history of the place.
The writing itself was good, but I just didn't enjoy the book. I made myself read it and it took me a solid month to do so.
"Three Men on the Bummel" was just as bad as the first book, and actually, I don't even know what to say about all the smack he wrote about Germany. I had no idea if what he said was true but I do know it was supposed to be funny, and yet (in my opinon) it simply wasn't.
I thought both books sucked.
A delight!
A good friend recommended Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" some years ago, which is a time-travelling homage to Jerome K. Jerome's hilarious classic "Three Men in a Boat." Yet, I did not get around to reading TMIAB until my Great Books book club read it for our January 2017 meeting.
In an unusual turn of events, every member who attended loved the book (in 9 years, I can't remember this happening). Comparisons to "Seinfeld" abounded; TMIAB is a travelogue about nothing interrupted regularly by a series of humorous digressions.
There's no question in my mind that Monty Python were influenced by this book. In fact, the 1975 Tom Stoppard screen adaptation stars Michael Palin (to say nothing of Tim Curry) and does a magnificent job of capturing three members of the emerging clerk class on a river holiday with the trusty scallawag, Montmorency.
It is unfortunate that the average American is unfamiliar with this book. The language is relatively modern considering that it was written in the 1870's; many contemporaries considered the book gauche and low-class. This really ought to be required reading.
A good friend recommended Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog" some years ago, which is a time-travelling homage to Jerome K. Jerome's hilarious classic "Three Men in a Boat." Yet, I did not get around to reading TMIAB until my Great Books book club read it for our January 2017 meeting.
In an unusual turn of events, every member who attended loved the book (in 9 years, I can't remember this happening). Comparisons to "Seinfeld" abounded; TMIAB is a travelogue about nothing interrupted regularly by a series of humorous digressions.
There's no question in my mind that Monty Python were influenced by this book. In fact, the 1975 Tom Stoppard screen adaptation stars Michael Palin (to say nothing of Tim Curry) and does a magnificent job of capturing three members of the emerging clerk class on a river holiday with the trusty scallawag, Montmorency.
It is unfortunate that the average American is unfamiliar with this book. The language is relatively modern considering that it was written in the 1870's; many contemporaries considered the book gauche and low-class. This really ought to be required reading.
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Three Men in a Boat read on March 16, 2009
Three Men on a Bummel read on September 7, 2007
Three Men on a Bummel read on September 7, 2007
The perfect holiday read - tales of laziness and inconsequentiality on the banks of the Thames and the Schwarzenwalde of Bavaria. J, the narrator, and his fellow travellers George and Harris, get into scrapes, fool about, but nothing bad ever happens and they're usually finished by the time the kettle's boiled.
Jerome feels like a modern writer. Although inspired in his career by a chance meeting with Charles Dickens when he was a boy, they are worlds apart stylistically, morally and in the world they inhabit. Dickens wrote for an audience that expected a lengthy, satisfying story with a good moral. Jerome's world was one of increasing sophistication where there were more ways to use leisure time and less certainty on matters of religion and ethics. And it shows in both cases.
Firstly, both books are slim volumes, with short chapters. There's a traceable beginning, middle and end. You can polish off Three Men In A Boat on a weekend trip and still have time for sightseeing and games, and a good supper to round off each day. Try that with Great Expectations. There's also no moral purpose to them. J himself admits there are books that will exceed this for depth and rival it for originality but 'for hopeless and incurable veracity, nothing yet discovered can surpass it.'
Frothy, yet sharply observant they are a ballad of the times - from the youthful exuberance of the boat trip, to the more middle aged pleasures of cycling in Germany. The modern mind can endorse both the lack of enthusiasm for hard work and fondness for fooling about, as well as the dislike of dismal pleasure steamers clogging up the river with people who'd be just as happy in a pub on dry land, or the sardonic description of German orderliness. The changes are noticeable in the two books, published barely a decade apart yet modern conveniences, women's emancipation and the notion of ding things for fun not duty have all advanced, along with the spread of the three girths, in the intervening years.
Jerome feels like a modern writer. Although inspired in his career by a chance meeting with Charles Dickens when he was a boy, they are worlds apart stylistically, morally and in the world they inhabit. Dickens wrote for an audience that expected a lengthy, satisfying story with a good moral. Jerome's world was one of increasing sophistication where there were more ways to use leisure time and less certainty on matters of religion and ethics. And it shows in both cases.
Firstly, both books are slim volumes, with short chapters. There's a traceable beginning, middle and end. You can polish off Three Men In A Boat on a weekend trip and still have time for sightseeing and games, and a good supper to round off each day. Try that with Great Expectations. There's also no moral purpose to them. J himself admits there are books that will exceed this for depth and rival it for originality but 'for hopeless and incurable veracity, nothing yet discovered can surpass it.'
Frothy, yet sharply observant they are a ballad of the times - from the youthful exuberance of the boat trip, to the more middle aged pleasures of cycling in Germany. The modern mind can endorse both the lack of enthusiasm for hard work and fondness for fooling about, as well as the dislike of dismal pleasure steamers clogging up the river with people who'd be just as happy in a pub on dry land, or the sardonic description of German orderliness. The changes are noticeable in the two books, published barely a decade apart yet modern conveniences, women's emancipation and the notion of ding things for fun not duty have all advanced, along with the spread of the three girths, in the intervening years.
5 stars for Three Men in a Boat; Three Men on the Bummel is not as good.
Un imprescindibile sempreverde, con l'unico effetto collaterale di provocare le convulsioni a furia di ridere.