On the HahaFiction shelf
Three Men in a Boat
Audiobook available · 5 hr 6 min
Convinced that they need a rest, J., George and Harris plan a boating holiday on the Thames with Montmorency, their fox terrier. Fresh air and exercise sound restorative. Unfortunately, the friends bring more confidence than practical skill, and J. is ready to make every inconvenience sound momentous.
From the publisher’s blurb
“Their aim is to escape the weary workaday world and improve their health”Read the full description at Macmillan Collector’s Library / Pan Macmillan, publisher’s description
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What makes it funny?
J. announces that packing is one of his special talents, then discovers that he has left out the boots and must hunt through the bag for his toothbrush. He had meant to supervise while his friends did the work. The joke catches both his incompetence and his remarkably comfortable opinion of himself.
The comedy at work
Jerome lets J. explain himself at length, often making the explanation more incriminating than the mistake. Ordinary annoyances grow into elaborate grievances; a quiet, matter-of-fact sentence can puncture the grand account. The friends’ failures supply the action, while the narrator’s self-justification supplies another layer of comedy.
Try this if…
A good prospect if you like chatty narrators, friendship comedy and people making a fuss over small problems. Enjoying the digressions matters: J. readily leaves the immediate trip behind to tell another story.
Good to know
Published in 1889, the novel mixes its mishaps with lyrical river scenery and passages about local history. Expect changes of pace between the jokes. The complete text is available through Project Gutenberg in the source list.
A few distinguishing details
- A holiday narrated by its least reliable judge of competence
- A river trip shared by three friends and a fox terrier
More funny adventure
Sources & further reading
- Apple Books lists Three Men in a Boat (Unabridged) by Jerome K. Jerome, narrated by Miles Jupp, duration 05:06, publisher SNR Audio.
Book information
- Pan Macmillan lists Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (with afterword by David Stuart Davies and illustrations by A. Frederics), hardback ISBN 9781529024012, 272 pages. The synopsis says the text is complete and unabridged.
Publisher
- Full text — Project Gutenberg
Reading sample
- Publisher — Macmillan Collector’s Library
Publisher
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