Very funny, and very silly. There were a lot of 'I knew a man once who....' or 'My uncle Podger once....' asides which were a 50/50 as to whether they'd be entertaining or not, but the core story always delivered

Смешная книга в некоторых моментах, НО завязки и толком сюжета не видно, много лишней воды, которая отвлекает и мешает, читать было неинтересно и скучно. Можно конечно будет попробовать ее прочитать лет в 25, может тогда пойму именно весь английский юмор.

Una continua risata, mi son tanto divertita e rilassata leggendo questo libro, definito da Francesco Piccolo "sostanzialmente inutile e che non vuole 'insegnare' niente di niente; ed è bello per questo." Cronaca bizzarra di un viaggio in barca lungo il Tamigi, ricca di curiosità e notizie storiche sui paesi visitati e soprattutto gustosi aneddoti e disavventure comiche. Non mancano elementi di profondità, come se l'autore volesse inserire di tanto in tanto uno stop di riflessione.

This book was quite humorous and made me laugh out loud. The problem was that in between the funny parts were drawn out, boring parts. Also the book seemed to end very abruptly.

To be fair, I only read Three men in a boat (for book club). I don’t think I’ll make the effort to read Thee men on the bummel!
I’m sure it was something that was of its time. I found it hard work for a short read, although some passages were mildly entertaining, for example the trout that everyone claimed to have caught! It was a good perspective to have some history being mentioned, although I had to keep reminding myself that this was written in the 19th century, when Queen Victoria was on the throne. But on the whole, three lazy guys bumbling about on a boat didn’t rock my boat, sorry.

Această carte ce cuprinde două povestiri este una plăcută, în care am întâlnit multe pasaje amuzante. Subiectul cărții nu este deosebit de complex, fiind redus la niște povestiri interesante, care însoțesc firul pricipalul al călătoriei celor trei.

"Trei într-o barcă" am citit-o mai plăcut și mai interesată, mai amuzată de călatoria lor într-o barcă pe râul Tamisa, iar citind "Trei pe două biciclete", la fel despre cele 3 personaje cum pornesc într-o călătorie în Germania, m-a cam plictisit și uneori pierdeam firul povestirii, chiar și am citit-o mai greu. În a doua poveste am avut impresia că am învățat mai mult despre Germania, decât să mă surprindă călatoria lor.

Acestea fiind spuse, aș recomanda prima poveste a fi citită pentru o dispoziție bună.

Interesting, prejudiced and occasionally funny. Periodically it would provoke a sense of leaden foreboding as it started working in towards humorous anecdotes that only occasionally paid off for me. I suspect comedy in general is often very much of its time, and I’m a long way from this book’s immediate terms of reference. A couple of passages (on German student duelling and, extraordinarily, on finding a body on the Thames) were riveting and fascinating in their own ways. And to be fair, it did make me laugh out loud a few times.

Also, as I got further through, the echoes/analogies with some of Bill Bryson’s writing were interesting. You can be too hard on a book that appears (from where I’m sitting anyway) to have invented a whole genre.

Three Men in a Boat (1889) is an old favorite from college days, that I decided to re-read, and found as entertaining though less funny than when I read it the first time. It describes a rowing trip up the Thames from Kingston to Oxford, undertaken by three friends and their dog, Montmorency. Part historical description (Kingston, Sunbury, Runnymede, Magna Charta Island), part social vignette and commentary (the class system of skiffs and steam launches and fishing boats, enclosures of streams flowing into the river), and part "road trip" (meals cooked on board, sleeping in quaint inns, tow lines, and washing in the river), Jerome showcases a beloved slice of English countryside.

Three Men on the Bummel (1900) is a bicycling trip undertaken by the same three friends in the Black Forest region of Germany. There is much less of description of the countryside, and much more of social commentary in this book centered on a rather stereotyped and eccentric German "national character" -- their obedience of the law, the bloody fistfights in college "corps" (social clubs), their sense of order, their affection for food, love of animals, musical abilities, tendency to rise early, etc. Germans have an unquestioning obedience to authority but so far have been lucky to have good rulers, says Jerome, but ominously (and prophetically) adds "when his trouble will begin will be when by any chance something goes wrong with the governing machine" (p. 319, in the Oxford World Classics edition).

For a book first published in 1889 it’s so relatable and funny. It’s an oddly familiar story with recognisable characters - don’t we all have a friend who always ‘fancies he is ill” ? Planning a weekend getaway with friends for what was then the highly fashionable pastime of boating on the river. There are moments of pure poetry in the descriptive prose alongside the chuckling grimness of rain, little boats and tents.

Ai tempi del liceo ne avevo letto qualche brano in inglese; a fine luglio (su Amazon) ho preso questa edizione con i due libri insieme e li ho ritrovati ancora piacevolmente ironici e divertenti, soprattutto il primo.
Confesso che, dinanzi alla descrizione dello zio Podger che appende un quadro o della lotta per aprire un succo di ananas in scatola, ho riso da solo come un bambino!
Umorismo inglese d'annata ma sempre valido.

This is a hilarious account of three friends (and their dog, of course) as they plan and execute a boat trip on the Thames. It was written in the late 1800s, and I was delighted to find that men had the same thoughts on pretty much everything then as we do now.

It is written in a dry, droll style, and the author is keen to point out the faults of his friends and others while ignoring his own. We all know "that guy." Had the internet been available to Jerome, he'd have been glued to WebMD.com.

Laugh-out-loud descriptions of personal ailments, home repairs, trips to the beach, traveling with cheese, and general musings. I recommend this highly for all who need to lighten up a little.

"Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog)"...simply put, one of the great comic gems of the last century and a half. (There's a late-'70s film version with Tim Curry and Michael Palin--- go find it...now!) Witty, clever, hilarious, a bit melancholy. In the tradition of "Tristram Shandy" more than Wilde. A major favourite--- and a very well-done send up of travel lit. Highly recommended.