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I absolutely love the book “Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K. Jerome. It is so LOL funny but so full of truth. (Apparently his mother had a little humor in naming her son.)
Three friends decide to take a boat trip down the River Thames and begin their planning by listing all the things they must take with them. They quickly realize all their things are going to sink the boat and that the “useless” should be thrown overboard. Failure to do so would only bring anxiety and worry.
“Throw the lumber o ...more
Three friends decide to take a boat trip down the River Thames and begin their planning by listing all the things they must take with them. They quickly realize all their things are going to sink the boat and that the “useless” should be thrown overboard. Failure to do so would only bring anxiety and worry.
“Throw the lumber o ...more

In this 1889 classic three young men, apparently long-time friends, decide their lives would be enhanced by a boating vacation on the Thames, a river in the UK. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong and it was clear they weren't going to get any peace and relaxation.
The author made sure they had one problem after another showing how these boating vacations, which included hauling the boats while walking alongside, were sometimes not as happy as they were supposed to be.
Fortunately the young ...more
The author made sure they had one problem after another showing how these boating vacations, which included hauling the boats while walking alongside, were sometimes not as happy as they were supposed to be.
Fortunately the young ...more

The first thing you need to know if you decide to read Three Men in a Boat, besides that it is delightfully amusing and laughingly entertaining, is that the character, Montmorency, is in fact a dog. How this escaped my understanding for three-fourths of the book quite baffles my mind. But escape it, it did. I had created in my mind a man who had a curiously extreme aversion to cats, who was a troublemaker with dogs and got them all barking and growling at each other, and one who (for practical j
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This book was an interesting mix of humor, travelogue, and Victorian sentiment. For this reason I had a hard time finishing the book despite its brevity. I did adore the humor! Jerome's gift with wit reminds me of Wodehouse. One of those books where I wanted to read the funny bits out loud to someone except it is so tied to what has gone on before, it is difficult to know where to begin (besides the fact, my family wouldn't really "get" what was funny). I wonder why 19th century books like this
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If you like a book without much of a plot, but plenty of witty commentary on the life of English gentlemen, then this is the book for you. Only 5% of the book has to do with an actual story. The other 95% is based on anecdotes, asides, commentary and satire. This was not an easy book to get through, as it never seemed to get anywhere. I'm not sure why this is always listed as a classic comedy. Maybe it was in 1920.
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Apr 10, 2008
EJ Johnson
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Mar 13, 2011
Jessica
marked it as to-read

Mar 17, 2013
benebean
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
accessible,
classics,
could-recommend,
cleaness-granny-smiles,
animals,
flibrary,
llibrary,
comfort-reads

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