Three Men in a Boat

Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka), 1859-1927Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.7
Word count
363K words
Chapters
37

Tags

English Originals Foreign Literature Travel AdventureEveryday LifeThames RiverFriendship YearsCompanionshipSlow ReadingLight ReadingHumor ReliefSelf-Mocking NarrativeBritish Humor

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. JeromeAuthor: Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka), 1859-1927,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 1, 1995

Editor's review

Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) is the best-known work by the English writer Jerome K. Jerome. Narrated in the first person with a comic touch, it recounts the river journey of three friends and a dog along the Thames. The book does not rely on a twisting plot; instead it is made up of endless digressions, banter and self-mocking reminiscence, capturing the bustle and self-consolation of middle-class Victorian travellers. Its value lies in a relaxed English humour: the author often starts from a small incident and wanders into reflections on life and absurd associations, making the reader laugh while feeling a touch of warmth. This public-domain ebook edition is provided by Project Gutenberg, convenient for reading on electronic devices at any time. It suits reading a few passages on the commute, before sleep or on holiday, without chasing a continuous plot; it also serves as an introduction to the tradition of English humorous prose. Note that the language and allusions bear clear marks of their era, and some jokes can be fully appreciated only with notes or background knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the first few chapters to get the rhythm of the humour; there is no need to finish it in one go.
  2. Skip unfamiliar place names or allusions and keep reading along with the narrative.
  3. Follow along with a map of the Thames to enhance the sense of place.
  4. Good as bedtime or commute reading; one or two chapters at a time is enough.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37

FAQ

Does this book need to be read in order from start to finish? No. The book consists of loosely connected travel episodes and digressions, with little dependence between chapters, so you can start anywhere or skip around. Reading a few chapters first to get a feel for the style, then deciding whether to read it all, is the easier approach.
Can readers with average English read this original? You can try, but the book contains much colloquial expression, period allusions and long parenthetical passages, so readers with average English may need to look up words or consult notes. Try one or two chapters first; if it feels difficult, read it alongside a Chinese translation.
Is this book suitable as a travel guide? No. It is a literary essay built mainly on humorous reminiscence, not a practical guide to routes, transport or accommodation. The Thames-side places it mentions can be enjoyed as cultural background, but they cannot replace up-to-date travel information.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Jerome, Jerome K. (Jerome Klapka), 1859-1927 Author

Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) was an English humorist known for his light, witty narrative style. His best-known work, Three Men in a Boat, turns a boating trip on the Thames into a comic account of small mishaps and idle reflections; its relaxed pacing and dry humour made it a classic of English comic writing, and the sequel Three Men on the Bummel follows the same vein. His essay collections The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow and The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, which treat everyday life in a leisurely, self-mocking tone, were likewise widely read. These works have been translated into many languages, and this library alone holds thirty-eight of his titles, a sign of the enduring appeal of his humorous prose across languages.