'Three Men in a Boat is a deceptively simple story: three friends take a boating holiday on the River Thames. At first sight this does not seem a likely plot for a classic work of comedy, and the fact that it was written in the late Victorian period and was an instant bestseller seems even harder to believe. Nowadays a sense of humour does not immediately spring to mind as a defining characteristic of the Victorians, particular as Queen Victoria herself is famous for the remark, ‘We are not amused!’
The humour lies not in the plot, but in the detail. A relaxing holiday on the river, rowing and sailing upstream, seeing the sights, and camping in the boat during overnight stops – what could possibly go wrong? The answer, of course, is just about everything, and it is the antics of the three men with their differering attitudes and approaches to the various problems that make the book so funny. On the periphery, there is also the dog Montmorency, a thoroughly anarchic figure whose practical solution to their difficulties usually consists of getting out of the way until all the fuss dies down.
ost of the humour comes from comic set pieces, such as the agony of putting up a tent in adverse weather conditions. In some cases, episodes that still raise a laugh (because they are based on perennial problems like finding the correct train at a railway station) were actually topical jokes. Waterloo station was considered a confusing mess of platforms that it was almost impossible to find your way around, and the idea of bribing a train driver to take you wherever you want to go appeals as much to the modern railway user as it did to the Victorians. Indeed, the whole book was topical, because a river boating holiday had only become fashionable a decade before, and part of the book’s success was due to the fact that boating on the Thames was the latest craze at the time it was published.'
Roy Adkins
I completely agree with the author of this review that the book isn't like a classic comedy of that period, but thanks to its new unusual idea it's already been one of the most popular books for more than 100 years. Its plot seems to be quite simple, however, it contains a great amount of incredible humour that makes the book awfully attractive. The joy is everywhere; Jerome K.Jerome was able to describe even trivial situations in a way that you couldn't help laughing. It's absurd when we read about Montmorency thoughts and feelings, but interesting to learn. I consider the dog is one of the most intelligent characters of this book.
The humour lies not in the plot, but in the detail. A relaxing holiday on the river, rowing and sailing upstream, seeing the sights, and camping in the boat during overnight stops – what could possibly go wrong? The answer, of course, is just about everything, and it is the antics of the three men with their differering attitudes and approaches to the various problems that make the book so funny. On the periphery, there is also the dog Montmorency, a thoroughly anarchic figure whose practical solution to their difficulties usually consists of getting out of the way until all the fuss dies down.
ost of the humour comes from comic set pieces, such as the agony of putting up a tent in adverse weather conditions. In some cases, episodes that still raise a laugh (because they are based on perennial problems like finding the correct train at a railway station) were actually topical jokes. Waterloo station was considered a confusing mess of platforms that it was almost impossible to find your way around, and the idea of bribing a train driver to take you wherever you want to go appeals as much to the modern railway user as it did to the Victorians. Indeed, the whole book was topical, because a river boating holiday had only become fashionable a decade before, and part of the book’s success was due to the fact that boating on the Thames was the latest craze at the time it was published.'
Roy Adkins
I completely agree with the author of this review that the book isn't like a classic comedy of that period, but thanks to its new unusual idea it's already been one of the most popular books for more than 100 years. Its plot seems to be quite simple, however, it contains a great amount of incredible humour that makes the book awfully attractive. The joy is everywhere; Jerome K.Jerome was able to describe even trivial situations in a way that you couldn't help laughing. It's absurd when we read about Montmorency thoughts and feelings, but interesting to learn. I consider the dog is one of the most intelligent characters of this book.
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