Group Reads Discussion - Three Men In A Boat

[SRC Moderator, Moderator]

This is the discussion thread for the Spring 2025 Group Read Three Men in a Boat in the category Gutenberg Classics. Please post your comments here. This thread is not restricted to those choosing this book for task 20.10, feel free to join in the discussion. Warning- spoilers ahead!

The requirement for task 20.10: You must participate in the book's discussion thread below with at least one post about the contents of the book or your reaction to the book after you have read the book.

[Erica]

I started this yesterday. Most amusing so far. (view spoiler)[It seems their initial attempt to set up the tent in the rain was when they were still at home - ? Because in the chapter that follows they are planning their list of what they need to bring. Made the previous night's debacle even funnier... (hide spoiler)]

[Meg]

i'm not reading this this season, but it's one of my all time favourites! if you like it you should also read a modern take on it To Say Nothing of the Dog

[Jessica]

I don't know how this book can be over 100 years old and still be so funny.

The doctor's visit and the reveal of the prescription was a joke that could work in 2025. It's interesting to know there were hypochondriacs before the internet.

[Erica]

I love the bit (early on) where he feels as though he has every malady he reads about. It's so true!! That's why googling diseases/conditions is so awful.

[Jessica]

Finally finished. I have to say the narrator for the audiobook had the most perfect voice for it.

I really enjoyed this. It didn't feel like it had a proper plot, it was more like the boat trip was an excuse to make funny commentary on people and life. The humour feels so timeless which really impressed me.

[Susan A]

Jessica wrote: "Finally finished. I have to say the narrator for the audiobook had the most perfect voice for it.

I really enjoyed this. It didn't feel like it had a proper plot, it was more like the boat trip w..."

Which narrator did you listen to? I have access multiple audio editions.

[Erica]

I just finished this. I read it on Project Gutenberg. A very amusing tale to be sure. What I really wonder is - how different is it now in all the little towns along the Thames that he mentions. I bet it's MUCH more developed now. But does some of that quaint old-world charm persist if you get far enough out?

[Fly]

I love this book - it's an old favorite of mine. This was my first time listening to the audio (I did the Hugh Laurie version - he was very good!) and I think that actually added to the experience. I was laughing out loud while driving.

Meg wrote: "i'm not reading this this season, but it's one of my all time favourites! if you like it you should also read a modern take on it To Say Nothing of the Dog"

I'll second that recommendation! I enjoyed that entire series :)

[Jayne, Moderator Emeritus]

It's been a a very long time since I read this! I remember picking it up when I was in sixth form and unfortunately most of the humour went over my head at that time. This go round had me cackling with laughter. The prescription was very funny, as was the tale of the trout in the fishermen's local pub - having worked with people who enjoy angling, I've heard many a fishy tale before for this to be familiar...

Also, I do love Montmorency. I'm a sucker for a mischievous dog in books. His notion of 'helping' with the cooking by providing questionable ingredients made me smile.

I have vague memories of a BBC TV series many years ago also called Three Men in a Boat, which I think mostly followed the same route as taken in the book? It had Dara Ó Briain, Rory McGrath and Griff Rhys Jones manning the boat and I remember it being similarly daft and chaotic - it's probably worth a watch if you can track it down on YouTube.

[Jessica]

Jayne wrote: "It's been a a very long time since I read this! I remember picking it up when I was in sixth form and unfortunately most of the humour went over my head at that time. This go round had me cackling ..."

I'd like to watch the BBC series. Thanks for mentioning it :)

[Jessica]

Susan A wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Finally finished. I have to say the narrator for the audiobook had the most perfect voice for it.

I really enjoyed this. It didn't feel like it had a proper plot, it was more like..."

Sorry Susan, didn't see this until now. The narrator was Ian Carmichael

[Susan A]

Jessica wrote: "Susan A wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Finally finished. I have to say the narrator for the audiobook had the most perfect voice for it.

I really enjoyed this. It didn't feel like it had a proper plot, ..."

Thanks!

[Jammin Jenny]

I've got an audio version as well and am looking forward to listening and laughing to it.

[Lois]

My first time with this book and I enjoyed it very much! I'm going to be smiling all day. I enjoyed the dog, the banter, the interactions with people they met along the way, the men's hilarious and convoluted reasonings over one thing and another. I am kind of particular about humor. This was spot on.

[Susan A]

I wanted to like this but sadly, no, I didn't. It was fine for a little while, but it just went on and on. It was like listening to a drunk guy telling stories, fine for a while but ultimately annoying and nonsensical.

[Jammin Jenny]

That was a really humorous book. I loved the part where they were just talking about fishing - it seemed to go one for a very long time..

My narrator was excellent too - Ian Carmichael

[Cat]

Ah, what fun, messing about on boats. I do enjoy the various set pieces (tow lines with minds of their own, swans, fishermen tall tales) against the drifting of the scenery of the Thames. happy reading times here.

[KmarieD, Moderator]

I find myself siding more with Susan A on this one. At a point, it just seemed to be dragging on with no point to the stories. I liked that the dog was afraid of a cat. I am not familiar with the area they were boating through, but if I had been, maybe I could have pictured it in my head better.

My father loves British humor and I never really understood it. He would watch a lot of British comedies and Gulliver's Travels was a favorite book of his when I was growing up. I can see him really liking this book, but it just didn't hit my fancy.

[Amy]

Amy B

Now THIS is exactly why I take part in these reading challenges. I love trying to fit the books I have (and want to read) into the various tasks, but in this case, ended up reading a book I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of. (And while reading it, could NOT get Six Months in a Leaky Boat by Split Enz out of my head.)
I REALLY enjoyed this and loved the voice and humor more than I expected to. When I see a book has been written in the 1800's, I automatically (wrongly) assume that the language is going to be overly flowery and the humor is not going to hit home, which was not the case here. In fact, when the language did get flowery, it felt like it was part of the joke.
Well done, whoever suggested this - I'm very glad to have read it!

[Mrsgeo]

I read this for the first time as a teenager in the 1960s and enjoyed it very much. I still enjoyed it this time around but with a lot less patience for the stupidities the three men got up to. Anyone reading this who isn't British and was brought up in the age of mass electronics, probably isn't going to appreciate it so much. The world described is just too different.

[Kim]

Kim O

I had never heard of Jerome K. Jerome. I tend to choose the Gutenberg classic option for the group read and this did not disappoint. In several of my book groups, we have been reading "heavier" books and this was a welcome, light departure, not unlike a leisurely boat trip down the river.

I will definitely read more of his works.

[Michelle]

My brother kept telling me how funny this book, but it just wasn't for me. Yes, there were parts that were funny. Yes, there were parts that I enjoyed. Overall though I thought there was so much that was just boring and unnecessary. I had a hard time picturing a lot of it and there were parts that I read and then just sat there thinking "what on earth was the point of that?" - like the bit with the ladies in their fancy clothes on the boat trip/picnic or the part about the couple pulling the boat...