Book Description
`Other works may excel this in depth of thought and knowledge of human nature: other books may rival it in originality and size; but, for hopeless and incurable vivacity, nothing yet discovered can surpass it.' (Jerome, Preface to Three Men in a Boat). Three Men in a Boat describes a comic expedition by middle-class Victorians up the Thames to Oxford.It provides brilliant snap-shots of London's playground in the late 1880s, where the fashionable steam-launches of river swells encounter the hired skiffs of city clerks.The medley of social vignettes, farcical incidents, descriptions of river fashions, and reflections on the Thames's history, is interspersed with humorous anecdotes told by a natural raconteur. Three Men on the Bummel records a similar escapade, a break from the claustrophobia of suburban life some ten years later; their cycling tour in the Black Forest, at the height of the new bicycling craze, affords Jerome the opportunity for a light-hearted scrutiny of German social customs at a time of increasing general interest in a country that he loved.This account of middle-aged Englishmen abroad is spiced with typical Jeromian humour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

Bikes'n'boats

Imagine Bertie Wooster and two of his idiot friends out on a boat... with no Jeeves.

That about describes the antics in "Three Men in a Boat : To Say Nothing of the Dog" and its drier sequel "Three Men on the Bummel." Jerome K. Jerome paints his little books with gloriously goofy antics, as we watch three upper-class Englishmen try to rough it -- on land and on water.

The three men are George, Harris and the narrator, who are all massive hypochiandriacs -- they find that they have symptoms of every disease in existance (except housemaid's knee). To prop up their failing health, they decide to take a cruise down the Thames in a rented boat, camping and enjoying nature's bounty.

Along with Monty -- an angelic-looking, devilish terrier -- the three friends set off down the river. But they find that not everything is as easy as they expected. They get lost in hedge mazes, end up going downstream without a paddle, encounter monstrous cats and vicious swans, have picnics navigate locks, offend German professors, and generally get into every kind of trouble they possibly can.

But our valiant outdoorsmen aren't done yet. Some years after the first book, the boys are feeling stifled by domesticity. So they decide to take a vacation from home, hearth, and some equally stifled wives -- by taking a bike trip in Germany. Naturally, they have trouble even before they leave -- hard bike seats, a history of leaving wives behind, and a dog that eats ball bearings.

But eventually they get to Germany, and promptly cycle their way through towns, cities, and the Black Forest. Our narrator reflects on German personalities, customs, and geography... and when he isn't, they are rained on, get lost, get into linguistic battles over cushions, encounter more odd dogs, and finally the most important question: what is a Bummel anyway?

As you'd expect, the first book is an absolute riot of comic disasters, written in Wodehousian prose. The second... not so much. But even though they were published more than a century ago,Jerome K. Jerome was uproariously funny -- hewas able to wring humour from any subject, be it poetry, bicycles, pets, plaster fish, or the woes of setting up a tent successfully.

Jerome's real talent is in finding humor in everyday things, like trying to erect a tent in the woods, fighting the weather, or trying to fix one's own bicycle. Written in Jerome's dry, goofy prose, these little occurrances become immensely funny. And for stuff that is funny anyway -- like an anatomically correct bike seat -- it becomes hilarious ("it was like riding on an irritable lobster!").

The second book does get a bit dry at times, as Jerome spends a lot of time musing on Germany rather than conjuring wacky hijinks. And the first book's end has its solemn, compassionate moment when the boys find a drowned woman: "She had sinned - some of us do now and then - and her family and friends, naturally shocked and indignant, had closed their doors against her."

But back on the funny stuff. The capstone on all this humor is the "three men." These guys are basically pampered Victorian aristocrats, who have a romantic yearning for the great outdoors and not too many brains. You'll be laughing at them and with them, as they struggle through the basics of boating and camping.

Wacky, self-mocking, and full of odd people, "Three Men in a Boat" and its slightly less funny sequel "Three Men on a Bummel" are still fresh and funny a century after they were written.

Just Delightful
What a delightful read!The book weaves the happenings of a current boat trip with stories of previous trips and experiences.It is hillarious, laugh-out-loud funny in a lot of spots.The language is superb and the research section is very helpful.All in all a great read!

Mediumly funny, but dry humor (except where they fall overboard!)
I liked it, but then I have a dry wit as well. It is two books in one publication and so it is good value. It also came from an age where the average folk could afford to buy books. So it is very colloquial in content. The sort of "you could be out having fun" too sort of tale. And yet most of us could easily replicate a journey like their's either rowing up the Thames or biking in Germany.

So not a laugh a minute slapstick stuff but definitely funny. On the other hand if you are worried, buy a used copy some of them are quite cheap. Or get it from the library.

super delivery
i have nothing to say about the product, a book i have allready read. i am very satisfied with the delivery. thank you

How have I missed these books for so many years?
I was going to hold off on glowing reviews for a bit, but I couldn't resist commenting on this book. I'm not even sure how I stumbled on Jerome, but I found Three Men on the Bummel about as funny as anything I've read in a long while. Bummel is about three Englishmen from the Victorianish era heading off for a bike trip through the Black Forest. I've studied German off and on for a few years, so I got a kick out of Jerome's comments on the language and people, and with the driest of dry observations energized by a bit of hyperbole it was the rare book that had me laughing out loud.Both stories are very funny, but Three Men on the Bummel was laugh out loud funny to me, and his observations on the German people (pre-WWII) were uncannily prescient. He was an unusually perceptive and observant writer, to say the least.

As an aside, I've noticed most people seem to find Three Men in a Boat the funnier of the two, but you really can't go wrong with either, in my opinion. Both stories are similar, they involve a bungling, but not too bungling, English fellow getting in a bit over his head with his mates, and the use of humorous exaggeration is about as well done as you ever see it in print. For a Wodehouse, etc fan- these are in must read territory. ... Read more

Book Description
You've been in love, of course! If not you've got it to come. Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it. Also like the measles, we take it only once. One never need be afraid of catching it a second time. The man who has had it can go into the most dangerous places and play the most foolhardy tricks with perfect safety.Download Description
You've been in love, of course! If not you've got it to come. Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it. Also like the measles, we take it only once. One never need be afraid of catching it a second time. The man who has had it can go into the most dangerous places and play the most foolhardy tricks with perfect safety. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fun read
This book is funny but slightly mysoginistic.Jerome has a unique skill at human observations but not all of the essays are evenly readable.There were two or three that were very uncomfortable and bitter.Still overall its a great read.

Humorous,Witty and Thought-provoking
In English literature,humour is always a tame but sharp instrument to get at things which otherwise be poisons to be consumed by a body. over the depths of time,writers have forever employed the various designs of humour and subtle sarcasms to dart their disdain at the numerous worrying sides of the socirty. In "Pride and Prejudice" for instance,Jane Austen pokes at the gentry stratum in an overtone of hilarisity and witty ironies. a compatible mechanism is employed by Mark Twain in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and by Charles Dickens in "nicholas Nickleby" and co by Monsieur Jerome.

At the heart of Lerome Klapka Jerome's compilation of humorous essays titled "The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow" rsides a vociferous thrill of fun and joviality that often gets moulded into criticism of the eternal absurdities of human nature. In fourteen intricate essays,the author of "Three Men in a Boat(To say nothing of the Dog!),itself a marvellous and classic novel,explores thevarious dimensions of life and provides a perfect reflection of life in his essays. indeed the quinessential theme of art is to mirror life in imaginary colours,to speak about life through the illusory characters. Jerome K. Jerome's essays are direct and invoke a conversational beat and as the reader jumps from one topic to another,he actually does so in terms of the myriad facets of society.

"On Being Idle" is a great way to start the journey. Excerpts from the author's personal life tingled by meanderings away from the theme takes the reader on a voyage that finds parallel ideas in other essays. The next offering "On Being in Love" is one daring foray into the realm of womanhood and the next,"On Being in the Blues" is deeply soaked in pathos and invokes lofty diction. It perceives agony and sorrow both through the personal and the general perspectives. "On Memory" is an exemplar of marvellous nostalgia as the author takes on a ride back into the dark corridors of time. In this,Jerome K. Jerome encaptures memories and yearns for those bittersweey bygone days. "Even the sadness that is past seems sweet",he writes and goes on to relive the past in words. the philosophical touch here is at its acme,a gradual uphill climb that had been gradually gathering force.

In "On Vanity and Vanities" and "On Furnished Apartments",the writer applies cunning euphemisms birdered on sly allegories,transmutating into pride and furniture respectively in each case to higher terms. "On Babies" is more like a disconcern from Jerome K. Jeome towards the fuss that people make over babies and is replete with an undertone of life's inevitable end---death. The other esays in the book---"On Being Hard Up","On Getting on in the World","On the Weather","On Cats and Dogs","On Being Shy","On Eating and Drinking" and "On Dres and Deportment"---all are sketches on common,explained yet undefined attributes of life. in them,as well as in others,the abilit to tell stories so refinely and in so unique a fashion keeps the reader engaged in his work and keeps on wondering how the writer moces astray from the chosen topic,explores the bigger landscape and then springs back to the original theme in a manner that is astonishing in a vast degree.

"The Idle Thoughts of an Idle fellow" is no doubt a great work of literature but on a number of occasions it does fall short of the level of humour and fun that Jerome K. Jerome had reached in "Three Men in a Boat" and "Three Men in a Bummel". Sometimes you're left irritated by the writer going off-track and sometimes the comedy becomes tpoo ordinary. but even so,the essays never go deep into social scars and restrain themselves on the fringes of emotions and sentimentality. the book's not dark,it's not dramatic and it's not tragic but it's a vivid display of the common and unconventional things in life in an uncommon and unconventional style.

Laughed out loud and forced my colleagues to read it.
I came across this first when it was being narrated on the BBC's Radio 4 and just *had* to find the text. Since the book's out of print, and thus difficult to find, note it's also available through Project Gutenberg,which publishes out-of-copyright books on the Internet.

Written in 1892,anup-to-date humorous look at life.
Jerome has the uncanny knack of looking at life in the l800's andunknowingly applying it to our life of today , a hundred years later.Itis uproariouly funny, tearfully sad, but always true.His chapter on dogsand cats is enough to make you roll down the hall.Also not to beoverlooked, his dedication in the front is to his friend, his PIPE.Oh, tobe able to look forward to more of his writtings, but, alas, only threeitems were printed, it seems.A must in anyone's library for pure joy andinsight. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

To say nothing of the dog!
Imagine Bertie Wooster and two of his idiot friends out on a boat... with no Jeeves. That about describes "Three Men in a Boat : To Say Nothing of the Dog," Jerome K. Jerome's enchanting comic novel about three young men (to say nothing of the dog) who discover the "joys" of roughing it.

The three men are George, Harris and the narrator, who are all massive hypochiandriacs -- they find that they have symptoms of every disease in existance (except housemaid's knee). To prop up their failing health, they decide to take a cruise down the Thames in a rented boat, camping and enjoying nature's bounty.

Along with Monty -- an angelic-looking, devilish terrier -- the three friends set off down the river. But they find that not everything is as easy as they expected. They get lost in hedge mazes, end up going downstream without a paddle, encounter monstrous cats and vicious swans, have picnics navigate locks, offend German professors, and generally get into every kind of trouble they possibly can...

Even though it was published more than a century ago, "Three Men in a Boat" remains as freshly humorous as when it was first published. While editor/playwright/author Jerome K. Jerome wrote a lot of other books, this book remains his most famous. And once you've read it, you'll see why.

Jerome's real talent is in finding humor in everyday things, like trying to erect a tent in the woods, getting seasick, or questioning whether it's safe to drink river water. Written in Jerome's dry, goofy prose, these little occurrances become immensely funny. One of the funniest parts of the book is when the boys listen to a fishermen telling of his prowess, only to accidently knock down his record-breaking stuffed fish.... and discover it's made out of plaster. Oops.

But Jerome takes a break from the humor near the end, when the boys find a drowned woman floating in the river. And here he becomes solemn and quietly compassionate: "She had sinned - some of us do now and then - and her family and friends, naturally shocked and indignant, had closed their doors against her."

But back on the funny stuff. The capstone on all this humor is the "three men." These guys are basically pampered Victorian aristocrats, who have a romantic yearning for the great outdoors. You'll be laughing at them and with them, as they struggle through the basics of boating and camping.

It's worth noting that the Digireads edition of this book is very good, with a flexible cover, extremely strong binding, and a nice reproduction with rather small print. Think "Dover Thrift," but of higher quality.

Funny, wacky and creepily true to life, "Three Men in a Boat" is an enduring comic classic in the vein of PG Wodehouse. Not to mention the dog! ... Read more

Book Description
Three Men in a Boat is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford. The book was intended initially to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history of places along the route, but the humorous elements eventually took over, to the point where the serious and somewhat sentimental passages now seem like an unnecessary distraction to the essentially comic novel. One of the most praised things about Three Men in a Boat is how undated it appears to modern readers. The jokes seem fresh and witty even today. ... Read more

Book Description
This unique, great-value edition contains 14 full length works by the English humorist Jerome K Jerome. Includes the complete text of: Three Men in a Boat, Three Men on the Bummel, Diary of a Pilgrimage, Novel Notes, Paul Kelver, Tommy and Co, They and I, All Roads Lead to Calvary, Idle Ideas in 1905, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, Tea-Table Talk, Told after Supper, and The Passing of the Third Floor Back.A must for any fan of Jerome K Jerome's original and witty writing! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An enjoyable author, but the book is physically too big.
I'd recommend both the author and his work but not in this format.A paperback that is nearly 10" by 8" by 2" is too heavy and clumsy to hold and read.I've already dropped it a couple times and I'm hoping I can finish reading it before the binding starts to go.Too expensive a purchase to last through only one reading.

14 books in 1: Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men In A Boat, Three Men On The Bummel, Diary of a Pilgrimage, Novel Notes, Paul Kelver,
This book offers an extremely rare opportunity - to own most of JKJ's works in one volume at a terrific price! I have been collecting Jerome K. Jerome's books for years; editions ranging from early 20th century to contemporary paperbacks. And now I have them all, the works of the greatest, the most brilliant humorist ever born (to say nothing of his punctuation!)

Terribly disappointing
Unless you must have the text of these 14 Jerome K. Jerome books, don't waste your money (as I regret doing) on this terribly disappointing volume.It's densely printed, in two columns per page, in a rather small typeface, and has none of the illustrations that the original books had and that, for me, added much to their charm.I opened this volume once, and immediately put it straight into my bag of "Books to be Discarded."

Ronald Wyllys ... Read more

Book Description
Contains three short works: The Philosopher's Joke (1909), The Soul of Nicholas Snyders; or, The Miser of Zandam (1909) and Passing of the Third Floor Back (1907). Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) was an English author, best known for the humourous travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889). In 1877, he decided to try his hand at acting, under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined a repertory troupe who tried to produce plays on a shoestring budget, often drawing on the meager resources of the actors themselves to purchase costumes and props. He tried to become a journalist, writing essays, satires and short stories, but most of these were rejected. Over the next few years he was a school teacher, a packer, and a solicitor's clerk. Finally, in 1885, he had some success with On the Stage-and Off, a humourous book, the publication of which opened the door for more plays and essays. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

To say nothing of the dog!
Imagine Bertie Wooster and two of his idiot friends out on a boat... with no Jeeves. That about describes "Three Men in a Boat : To Say Nothing of the Dog," Jerome K. Jerome's enchanting comic novel about three young men (to say nothing of the dog) who discover the "joys" of roughing it.

The three men are George, Harris and the narrator, who are all massive hypochiandriacs -- they find that they have symptoms of every disease in existance (except housemaid's knee). To prop up their failing health, they decide to take a cruise down the Thames in a rented boat, camping and enjoying nature's bounty.

Along with Monty -- an angelic-looking, devilish terrier -- the three friends set off down the river. But they find that not everything is as easy as they expected. They get lost in hedge mazes, end up going downstream without a paddle, encounter monstrous cats and vicious swans, have picnics navigate locks, offend German professors, and generally get into every kind of trouble they possibly can...

Even though it was published more than a century ago, "Three Men in a Boat" remains as freshly humorous as when it was first published. While editor/playwright/author Jerome K. Jerome wrote a lot of other books, this book remains his most famous. And once you've read it, you'll see why.

Jerome's real talent is in finding humor in everyday things, like trying to erect a tent in the woods, getting seasick, or questioning whether it's safe to drink river water. Written in Jerome's dry, goofy prose, these little occurrances become immensely funny. One of the funniest parts of the book is when the boys listen to a fishermen telling of his prowess, only to accidently knock down his record-breaking stuffed fish.... and discover it's made out of plaster. Oops.

But Jerome takes a break from the humor near the end, when the boys find a drowned woman floating in the river. And here he becomes solemn and quietly compassionate: "She had sinned - some of us do now and then - and her family and friends, naturally shocked and indignant, had closed their doors against her."

But back on the funny stuff. The capstone on all this humor is the "three men." These guys are basically pampered Victorian aristocrats, who have a romantic yearning for the great outdoors. You'll be laughing at them and with them, as they struggle through the basics of boating and camping.

Funny, wacky and creepily true to life, "Three Men in a Boat" is an enduring comic classic in the vein of PG Wodehouse. Not to mention the dog!

A brilliant piece of Victorian dalliance.
J.K. Jerome was one of those hard working writers who became an overnight success after years of rejection.His best known work, Three Men in a Boat, took a bath with the critics.They saw him as a jumped up clerk writing "threepenny shockers" and not a serious novelist.

The people of Victorian Britain did not agree with the critics, and bought this book in their droves.In contrast to the usual three volume monsters of the day this book is a small and light read.The plot follows the cruise of three friends from London to Oxford in a rowing skiff, but the author charges off on frequent hares to illuminate his tale.

As a result we learn quite a bit about victorian life, the standard of inns, the behaviour of landladies, how to shop, plenty of sound advice on packing, storage, camping, food, dogs, cats, boats and a host of other things.

I somehow doubt I am brave enough to follow the recipe for "Irish Stew", but maybe there are some hardier souls than I out there who are up for the challenge.I did think they were wise not to add in the rat, regardless of how upsetting the dog may have found this discrimination.

The introduction and notes in the Penguin version are also useful for those who want to colour in a little of the background of the author and victorian life, and who don't automatically know who John of Gaunt and Ethelred and Edward the Confessor were and what the Magna Carta was and why it pained John so to sign it.

If Bill Bryson wrote this book it would probably be called "A short history of England from pre-history to the Late Victorian Period". ... Read more

Book Description
Three Men in a Boat is the hilarious story of three Victorian men's boating journey up the Thames River to Oxford, England--from the time they pack suitcases to their encounters with locals along the way. Set in London during the 1880s, the tale draws striking contrasts between the middle and upper classes, and is one of the greatest children's stories of all time. The book is beautifully illustrated in color by well-known artist Paul Cox, and it is complete and unabridged.Download Description
A marvel of British comedy, this story of a simple boating trip follows in the tradition of Oscar Wilde. In the late 19th century, three men pack food, clothes, and dog into a small boat built with character and charm (read: disaster in the making), then traverse the English countryside along the Thames, armed with their wits and a certain genteel ruthlessness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (67)

Still Funny After All These Years
This is a funny rambling story told by a Victorian era ranconteur that still holds up well for the most part. The Boat trip up the Thames is the setting that allows Jerome Jerome to reflect on all sorts of things in the style of a Mark Twain and his wit is highly entertaining. Don't expect to be bowled over with laughter though, his material is a bit dated.
Nevertheless, this is a funny.witty and at times enlightening look at a period in England that is no longer.

three men in a boat from the oxford bookworms library
I read this book about 10 years ago......and today I'm still laughing.
Jerome possessed very good comic timing, the story flowed naturally, the emotions and reaction of the 3 men were so real that I wish I was on the river and met them at that time!Somehow this book can teach us the importance of taking a break from our daily life.
I recently bought a copy from Amazon which was initialy meant as a gift for someone, but having a second thought, I decided to keep it as a precious reading companion for myself when I'm travelling.

Didn't age well
Jerome K. Jerome might have been a riot 100 years ago but this book will provoke only a rare smirk. The best bits belong to the dog who only seems to appear at the end of every third or fourth chapter to drop a one-liner. Other than that, it is aged, slow moving slapstick with some oddly out-of-place moments of reflection.

How anyone can call this a laugh riot boggles my mind.

Good reading of delightful novel
This is a very nice reading of one of my favorite humorous novels.

Three Men in a Boat:To Say Nothing of the Dog
So very refreshing!!!!!Lots of laughs. ... Read more

Product Description
1958 PENGUIN BOOKS PAPERBACK #1213--COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED REPRINT OF THIS CLASSIC WORK OF BRITISH/VICTORIAN HUMOR! PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS LTD., LONDON AND TONBRIDGE. COVER ILLUSTRATION BY DORRIT DEKK. 185 PAGES. 2/6 ORIGINAL PRICE! ... Read more