Three Men in a Boat

This at times is a hilarious book chock full of one liners that I have since added to my vernacular. The chapters on packing their bags and the anecdote about the relative hanging up a picture frame are full of funny moments throughout. Unfortunately there are also several chapters, inconveniently placed right near the center of the book where I often find myself failing to slog through and finish titles, which are so laden with overly flowery prose and obscure bits of English local history that I nearly fell asleep. The book comes round again to end with some gems like the discussion on fishermen's tales late in the story. Overall I would say this book could be pared down in an abridged version and it would be perfection, but in its current form I found it too dull for my taste on multiple occasions to warrant receiving more than three stars. Still, it is miraculous how so much of the humor holds up and is still so relatable to this day.

It's not bad, really. Jerome is both funny and thoughtful, occasionally even poetic. Three Men in a Boat was originally intended to be a travelogue of the Thames boating scene of the day, but the humor (excuse me, humour) overtook the bits of history and commentary on local life.

The travelogue sections are still, occasionally, interspersed and are prettily informative. They made me want to go and see. However, these elements of the book are inconsistent. They pass through many sites and towns with little comment other than the antics of Jerome and his friends before remembering that he's supposed to be saying something about the venues.

Also, the comic and the informative scenes are incongruous tones. Some more blending of Jerome's good humour into the depiction of village history and life would have been better than setting aside the sugar for a bit of multigrain.

I'd say, read it for Jerome's wit, but at least skim the Baedeker bits.