Three Men in A Boat – Jerome.K.Jerome

What a huge moron I was for not giving this book a chance. And now, I just can’t stop praising it. So here it goes…

‘Three Men in a Boat’ is an amusing account of three friends-Jerome(whom I’m in love with),Harris and George and of course their dog Montmorency; while on a little boating expedition. The three of them concur of being overworked and tired of the daily humdrum, are in a dire need of a vacation. After weighing options of a country trip and a sea voyage they settle down on a boat ride to a secluded and peaceful place. So, on a quiet Saturday they rent a boat from Kingston and while picking up George from his workplace they head out on a boating trip up to the River Thames. Right from hiring the boat to scheduling itinerary the story further propels into a comical sketch of various boating and camping mishaps. This is undoubtedly the wittiest and most entertaining book I have ever read. Jerome has a knack for creating even the utter sentimental pieces into this jubilation of jollity and intellect. Not a word passes by without giving a chortle or plastering a wide grin on the face. Every chapter brings with it a plethora of joyous moments and at times a series of wild laughter. The writing is sarcastic with a hint of sharp smartness to the core of my extreme liking.

The comic flavors can be tasted from the beginning, especially when the author introduces the three central characters:-
1. Jerome(the narrator):-Thinks of himself to be a ‘walking hospital’. Jerome a pharmalogical wreck has somehow concluded that he has been inflicted with all sorts of diseases that ever existed by reading various medical pamphlets and imagining their symptoms. What is even hilarious is the mere fact of Jerome being heartbroken for not contracting the Housemaid’s Knee and goes to an extent of calling his doctor a quack for not being able to give it to him.

2.George:- a banker and of whom Jerome says, “George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two”

3.Harris :- “You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris – no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never “weeps, he knows not why.” If Harris’s eyes fill with tears, you can bet it is because Harris has been eating raw onions, or has put too much Worcester over his chops.”

In addition, episodes where the author recalls how his Aunt Podger used to take a week long refuge at her mother’s place when Uncle Podger donned the role of a handyman trying to fix “little” things in the house or how the making of Irish Stew from all the leftovers compelled Montmorency to add his bit by bringing a dead-water rat, brims with utmost hilarity.

Reading this book is such bliss that I am already onto its sequel –“Three Men on the Bummel”.

5/5*****

Three Men on the Bummel – Jerome K. Jerome

“A ‘Bummel’,” I explained, “I should describe as a journey, long or short, without an end; the only thing regulating it being the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started…… But long or short, but here or there, our thoughts are ever on the running of the sand…… We have been much interested, and often a little tired. But on the whole we have had a pleasant time, and are sorry when ’tis over.”

This closing passage sums up my precise sentiments for this book. The book primarily deals with distinctive and entertaining experiences of three friends (Jerome, Harris and George), while on a cycling tour throughout Germany. Often when you read a sequel after the parent book, one cannot help but to evaluate the two. Overlooking my resistance to do so, I have to disclose that this book fails to capture the enchantment and exuberance of ‘Three Men in a Boat’. Nevertheless, it should not be dismissed easily!

While the opening sections are a bit loose and floppy; in time the narrative does gathers the lost spark with the onset of the bicycle tour. And, then it’s a vortex of humor and satire that swoops the reader into the perils of touring a foreign land. The comical vignettes slowly fabricate into a satirical euphoria that Jerome is known to produce. Several comical confrontations between George and Jerome bring back the lost smile and cheer. One such episode needs a mention:-

George:-“Why, in Germany, is it the custom to put the letter-box up a tree? Why do they not fix it to the front door as we do? I should hate having to climb up a tree to get my letters. Besides, it is not fair to the postman. In addition to being most exhausting, the delivery of letters must to a heavy man, on windy nights, be positively dangerous work.”
(Jerome): “I followed his gaze out of window.’ I said,
Jerome:-“Those are not letter-boxes, they are birds’ nests. You must understand this nation. The German loves birds, but he likes tidy birds.”

The subtle glee shown in the exploration of a new land by three outsiders and numerous other similar anecdotes keeps you glued and entertained till the end.

‘Three Men on a Bummel’ is firmly not an afterthought of ‘Three Men in a Boat’. It is an entirely new adventure pertaining to exploring a fresh and astonishing land. Hence it should be viewed in singular light to make the reading plausible.

3/5***