First published in 1889, Three Men in a Boat tells the story of a trip up the Thames from Kingston to Chertsey. It covers the adventures, misadventures and reminiscences of three young men: George, Harris and Jerome, along with some of Jerome’s musings. The story is very much of its time.
A lot of the humour in this book comes with the scrapes they get into with the boat, and also with their camping. I have been camping with my husband many times, and recognise some of the problems – foodstuffs not packed or packed badly, clothes getting wet, arguments over cooking. I know nothing about any kind of boating, which meant I had to use my imagination with those aspects of the story – not a bad thing with any book. Over all, I found the book amusing rather than funny.
The full title of the book is ‘Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)’. The dog in question is a fox terrier called Montmorency. Nowadays that name would be shortened to Monty. Can you imagine calling out ‘Montmorency’ when you’re taking your dog for a walk in the park? I’ve known a number of terriers over the years, and Montmorency’s behaviour is typical of them. I don’t know if Jerome ever owned a terrier, but he certainly knew the type very well.
