Reviewer: Harshita
Class: VIII-C
Name of Book: Three Men in a Boat
Author of Book: Jerome. K
Summary
The story mainly has focus on three characters who are George, Jerome, William Samuel Harris and also the dog. The narrator, Jerome, and his two friends, Harris and George, decide to go on a boat trip up the Thames. From Kingston on the river Thames, they row and tow their way up the river and through the locks, spending their nights on the boat under a cover – along with the dog, Montmorency. That is the plot, but not the point of the book. In one way, it’s a travel guide, peppered full of tips for people who want to do something similar; it’s also a guide to the history of the places along the river, but more than that, it’s a satirical work of humour that’ll get you sniggering and snorting.
They are enjoying the trip and were worried that they must visit many places and must forget all the sorrow that they felt in the city. They were far away from following a simple chronological path, J tells his travelogue with a great many anecdotes, asides, and tangents. Some of his historical tangents get quite poetical, though he doesn’t take anyone very seriously. Along the way, we learn about Harris’ inability to sing comic songs, the problem with cheese on a boat, J’s hatred for tombs and George’s story of the time he forgot to wind his watch. It is a lively blend of the interesting, the absurd and the quaint – for there is something about it, perhaps in my imagination alone, that is sentimental, a kind of “I know this lifestyle is coming to end, but let’s not forget the good times, hey-what?”
Never having been to England (despite the fact that so many Canadians think I have an English accent!), I can’t picture what this stretch of the Thames must look like today, but I can imagine it’s changed considerably – in terms of river traffic, if nothing else. But I could be wrong, maybe lots of people still row up and down it, towing their way through locks and having picnics on the bank? I have my doubts. Reading this book more than a hundred years after it was written, it comes with a heavy dash of nostalgia for a time long gone – partly because even in the 1880′s the river had changed a good deal, and J envisions times long past.
The real highlight of this book and the reason why it’s so wonderful is the humor. While some of the jokes and puns are a bit “done” now (bear in mind, again, how old this is), they are still funny. In fact, this would have to be the most interesting book I’ve ever read.
This story has a power that it can make the people attract to its direction and it makes the reader very much happy and the reader will never be bored by reading this book. The main reason for planning a trip towards the river Thames is that those people were very lazy and hence were very bored of daily life and hence wanted a change in their life. The three friends were very lazy and also didn’t wanted to work for a long time even they didn’t want to work for a short period.
As they traveled to many places and learned many things they were very happy. As this book contains so much packed into this relatively short book, you could read it many times and it would feel fresh – with so many stories and anecdotes and jolly ramblings, it’s easy to miss or forget some. There were a few times when I lost track of the story altogether, forgetting what was happening in the present and what got them onto this topic in the first place. But it was such a fun read, it didn’t really matter. There are lots and lots of editions of this book – its copyright expired, so you can also get it for free as an e-book, I believe. Get yourself a copy, and when you feel in the need for a good laugh, start reading. If you enjoy irreverent, ironic humour, you’ll enjoy Three Men in a Boat.
