Product Description

Martyrs to hypochondria and general seediness, J. and his friends George and Harris decide that a jaunt up the Thames would suit them to a ‘T’. But when they set off, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts and tins of pineapple chunks – not to mention the devastation left in the wake of J.’s small fox-terrier Montmorency. Three Men in a Boat was an instant success when it appeared in 1889, and, with its benign escapism, authorial discursions and wonderful evocation of the late-Victorian ‘clerking classes’, it hilariously captured the spirit of its age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39089 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Jerome K Jerome (1859-1927) became an actor and published a couple of volumes of humorous pieces and light essays about the theatre. He achieved lasting fame with THREE MEN IN A BOAT. He later went on to become one of the founders of the humorous magazine, The Idler, and continued to write articles and plays. Jeremy Lewis has recently written a biography of Cyril Connolly and has edited the Raffles books.

Customer Reviews

The funnniest book ever written
There isn't much more to say. It might have been written over a century ago, but it is still an absolute corker of a novel. I first read it in a foreign library and had to keep running out of the door to burst into laughter. Available in lots of versions, including audiobook. I'm sure I've even seen a download version to read on your mobile phone somewhere! That shows how popular this novel is and I advise reading it as soon as possible to make sure you fit the maximum possible laughs into your life.

A bunch of boys getting drunk and getting up to pranks on the river
This is probably the funniest book I have ever read. Improbable really, considering it's a Victorian novel. Basically it's a bunch of boys getting drunk and getting up to pranks on the river.

Some of the things the characters think and talk about are absolutely outrageous. For example, they hate riverside landowners who put up signs to say that you are not allowed to go on certain parts of the river. One of them rants and raves about one of these signs to an extraordinary degree: he would like to tear it down and hammer it over the head of the person who put it up until he has killed him, then use the sign as a tombstone over the grave, then slaughter his whole family and all his friends and relations and, finally, burn down his house!

Very funny, at least in the beginning
This is another overrated "British Classic", but I have to say it was extremely funny in the beginning. The problem I had with it is that it got so boring towards the end that I was unable to finish the book. I think the author used up all the great gags early on and ran out of interesting and amusing things to say. A real shame.