Perhaps Jerome K Jerome was Bill Bryson's grandfather!

If you can imagine a Bill Bryson comic travelogue written by someone with turn-of-the-20th-century Victorian sensibilities and a typical laid back yet biting, caustic British sense of humour ... then you have a pretty good handle on what to expect when you read Jerome K Jerome's classic THREE MEN IN A BOAT!

While it was originally intended to be a serious travel guide, the story devolved in the writing into an almost slapstick story of the trials and tribulations of three landlubbers who took it into their minds to take a boating holiday on the Thames River.

Even Jerome's establishment of the raison d'être for the river trip is a wonderful example of that brand of humour that is uniquely British. Three mates, each a worse hypochondriac than the other two, are discussing their respective ills, pains, aches and ailments (and this conversation, by the way, establishes the humour for the entire book that ranges somewhere in a triangle bounded by wry grins, charmed smiles and laugh-out-loud hilarity). The mutual decision is reached that taking the air and relaxing on an open boat trip under canvas on the Thames would be good for what ails everybody. Sherlock Holmes would have said, "The game is afoot!".

If the book were a television show, it might be described as a series of loosely related comedy sketches - the difficulties of learning to play a bagpipe; how to get lost on a river that goes in only one direction; how men typically behave (or misbehave) when they've had too much to drink on a camping trip; how to do as little work as possible while ensuring that your buddies are not aware of what's going on, and so on.

Sit back and enjoy! THREE MEN IN A BOAT has to be the most easy-reading classic you could possibly find. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

A quick and funny read! The three men have a hilarious adventure in a boat on the Thames river.

Not as funny as I expected from the reviews and the fact that the book has supposedly never been out of print since its first publication in 1889. Still, it's an amusing travelogue and slice of Victorian life in England. I'm glad I wasn't on that boat trip up the Thames!

Jerome initially planned this account of a fictional fortnight's boat trip up the Thames from Kingston to Oxford to be an actual travel guide and remnants of his intent appear sporadically and incongruously. Fortunately, his gift for humor quickly took over the serialized episodes that were published as a book in 1889, which has remained in print ever since. The droll adventures and anecdotes of the narrator J and his friends George and Harris, accompanied by the dog Montmorency, put me in mind of P. G. Wodehouse, who admired Jerome, and if you like the one, you'll like the other. Effectively describing humor is an even more arcane art than humor itself, so I'm not going to try, but I do recommend you give this a try; you'll know quickly whether it's for you.

La lettura gusta al momento giusto, carino, spensierato leggero, per non pensare, un umorismo datato molto educato ma comunque apprezzabile.
Nato per essere una specie di guida turistica per risalire il corso del Tamigi venne espunto dall’editore delle parti più storiche e geografiche e diventò un racconto di humor squisitamente british.
Tre amici decidono di passare in barca un weekend lungo il corso del fiume, la convivenza forzata sulla barca, la loro imperizia quasi totale di navigazione i caratteri divergenti creano un siparietto molto divertente, pieno di gag e situazioni grottesche e i tre sembrano un po’ come componenti di una coppia sul viale del tramonto che non si sopporta più.
Alcuni episodi veramente spassosi:
Come quando montano una tenda sotto la pioggia e si intrecciano tra corde tese picchetti e regole della fisica che traballano, oppure la gag della moka (o del bollitore del tè tanto sono intercambiabili) regola che seguo costantemente: girare sempre le spalle alla moka sul fornello e ignorarla, così il caffè uscirà più in fretta.
E poi c’è Montmorency il buffo fox terrier che affronta il gatto: risulta evidente la superiorità del felino rispetto al cane che nonostante tutta la sua tracotanza soccombe in maniera quasi umiliata dinnanzi al gatto che con nonchalance e naturale altezzosità lo rimette al suo posto, sconfitta schiacciante e senza appello 1 a 0 per il mondo felino… eh sì perché il mondo si divide in due categorie: chi è di gatto e chi è di cane con eccezionali scivolamenti nell’una o nell’altra preferenza.

I decided to read this because (a) I was in the mood for something quite light, (b) it was one of those fairly famous books I have always been moderately curious about, and (c) it being in the public domain means it’s available as a free download on Kindle. A word of warning on the last point - if you go for the free edition you miss the book’s illustrations (which is a shame, but still, many thanks to the volunteers who convert these books into digital form).

Most people will be familiar with the book’s premise. The enervated author and his two equally listless chums, Harris and George (the last actually has a job, though one where he “goes to a sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two”) decide that a boat trip up the Thames would do them good. They are accompanied by the author’s dog, Montmorency, and the adventure is told in humorous style.

I actually quite enjoyed it, perhaps a bit more than I expected to. I might have given it four stars but at times I found the author’s humour a bit over the top. He had a fondness for taking a humorous concept and exaggerating it to the point of absurdity. In Scotland where I live there was a well-known TV comedy show of a few years ago, that featured two characters who regularly did the same, to the point where one (always the same one) would suddenly scowl at his friend and say “You’ve taken that too far”. I had the same feeling at several points during this narrative.

Still, the book gave me about half-a-dozen lol moments, which is not bad, and the rest of it is mildly amusing. Worth a try if you are looking for something in this genre.

Initially I was not interested in reading this book but I was forced to because this novel was a part of syllabus for 9th grade. Turned out I was wrong about the book. It is a humorous travelogue of 3 friends and a dog along the river Thames. I couldn't help but laugh after reading every paragraph . I had to re-read it twice mostly for studying. Also the critical analysis of every chapter kinda killed the fun part hence I am giving 4 stars. This book is recommended for a boring road trip or simply a lazy weekend

This began as a tourist guide. Written in 1889, Jerome K. Jerome’s intention was to write a guide describing flora, fauna, the natural beauty and spots of historical interest along the River Thames. To this he added comic anecdotes depicting his own outings on the river with his two friends George Wingrave and Carl Hentschel. It was the humor that caught Edwardian readers’ attention. The book became a classic not for its touristic content but rather its humor.

We are given the tale of J., George, Harris (this must be Hentschel) and the dog Montmorency (a rambunctious fox terrier) taking a two-week jaunt in a double sculling skiff up the Thames from Kingston to Oxford, alternately passing through locks, floating with sails hoisted upside-down or sideways or drawn by means of tow-lines that incessantly tangled, nights under the stars or residing in riverside inns when the heavens poured down if a bed or empty pool table were to be found. Three Victorian gentleman and their dog roughing-it, assuaging their hunger with bread and jam, an omelet or say an Irish stew comprised of whatever vittles were to be found, with Montmorency’s rat and other leftovers thrown in. A journey of mishaps and fun.

The historical tidbits are not to be discounted. Reading of one funny incident after another begins to wear thin Learning about sites and events that have occurred along the river in times past add a needed counterweight. They offer a good diversion from the laughs. Some examples are the hedge maze at Hampton Court, King John’s signing in 1215 of the Magna Carta on the so named island on the reach above Bell Weir Lock, Bisham Church in the Royal Borough of Windsor with its tombs and monuments, Shelley’s stay and writing in Marlow, the 12th century Cistercian Medmenham Abbey and more. The tourist information makes a reader wish to repeat their trip today.

The book is not read for its character portrayal. Instead, it is the anecdotes, the funny lines and the historical facts that draw.

If you choose the audiobook narrated by Martin Jarvis, do not forget to read the accompanying PDF file. It contains fascinating biographical information about the author. At fifteen he became an orphan and had to fend for himself. He worked as a clerk at the London and North Western Railway Company. An acting career attracted him for a time and as a playwright he had some success. Then he became a penny-a-line journalist. With publication of Three Men in a Boat his career as a writer was confirmed. It was an immediate success worldwide. He became co-founder of the periodical The Idler and pursued writing until his death in 1927 at the age of 68.

I really enjoyed the narration by Jarvis. He has worked with both film and television and is well known for his voice-acting for radio and audiobook recordings. He captures the jaunty feel of the expedition marvelously. The recording is easy to follow. There is music played between the different chapters. This I could have done without; it disrupts the flow of the book.

What an enchanting novel! I loved it because it made me happy to read it. I found the story totally a lark about three men and a dog on a boat trip together down the Thames. It was one of those novels that makes the reader laugh so much that tears often roll down your face. Taken within the context of totally inept men who do not see the follies of their ways, the book is one that seems to poke so much fun at the British way of life that these men grew up in. Originally intended as a bit of a travel log, the funny repartee between the men and of course the dog, make the reader laugh so hard with that sense of utter enjoyment and outright fun.

Surprisingly, this book written in 1899 seems to transcend time. The storyline that was funny in 1889 is still funny today and the fact that more than one hundred years later, one still gets a great sense of fun from the reading is amazing. The book is actually based on the adventure of real people, Jerome the author, being the narrator of this much needed vacation for these totally "overworked" and overwrought men. It starts out by the the author who is a hypochondriac relating all the many illnesses he feels he has and proceeds to describing the vacation that the three friends and their dog, who is quite something himself, will prepare for and eventually embark on.

The novel is pure fun and adventure and if you haven't read this short book, I urge you to. It will uplift a bad mood into hilarity and make you think about how much fun you had while embarking on this journey with J, Harris, George and Montmorency the dog.

The image of Uncle Podger hanging a painting and Harris singing the comic song will forever be etched in my mind. Hilarious novel!
Even better the second time round.

I started reading Three Man in a Boat some years ago (25?), found that I couldn't get into it, set it aside, and eventually gave it to a library sale. I decided to give it another try recently, but in abridged audio book form. Hugh Laurie is the reader and, from seeing him play Bertie Wooster, I knew he could do humor very well. He brought the humor of the book across and I got more than a few chuckles as I listened. However, for me, the humor of the book is somewhat marginal - the difference between the chuckles I experienced and full fledged laughter.
The three stars are strictly for Mr. Laurie's reading. I won't be reading the book.

So… Three Men in a Boat surely does have funny moments and charm that lingers on so many old books. It was so lovely when the narrator mentioned “our modern nineteenth century” and “good old times” then and again! I liked many of the anecdotes and stories. But honestly I must also admit that there were whole passages where I switched off because I couldn’t care less. Maybe it’s also the case of translation, but sometimes the humour felt forced. The old-fashioned charm has also the other side of the coin – things that were acceptable in the past now feel crude and in conflict with light and innocent content of the book. But for Montmorency, one more star!