Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K. Jerome
Yet another title that describes the book most succinctly, though there is a dog as well. Embarrassing as it may be, I have to confess that before I started reading the book, I assumed it had a connection with the ‘butcher, baker, candle stick maker’ nursery rhyme in some way!
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Set in a more idyllic, tranquil time (for those fortunate to be upper middle class), the book follows the exploits of the three (relatively) young men and there holiday trip from Kingston to Oxford, mainly on the river Thames.
I can tell I’ve already lost a number of blog readers, so I should quickly point out that there is large dollop of humour within the book. Although set some 120/130 (?) years ago, a lot of the humour regarding people foibles and the interplay between similar people still stands up well, even in this modern world.
If any readers out there have actually gone a back to basics boating holiday, and have read this book, I’d be interested to hear what they thought of the accuracy within the novel.