‘3 men in a boat, to say nothing of the dog’ – what a quirky name for a book written so long ago. Like I mentioned here, I am not in a classics phase right now but somehow, I have collected so many of them during various discount offers 😛 that I have to read them now or keep my mind occupied with thoughts of those books lying around. Of course, reading them is better. 😛
But this book, I quite liked. This is a very light, fun, travel + humor book. Although, in some parts, the travel part gets elongated but overall, the travel part is very beautiful. As for the humor, I think the reason it is a classic is because the humor is good enough to be liked by everyone and anyone. The humor is classic and the jokes are not outdated at all, they still suit the sensibilities. If you don’t want to know even a little bit of the plot (I am telling only the very basic stuff anyway), move to the next paragraph otherwise keep reading. The book is essentially about a boating holiday planned by 3 friends with their dog. The book includes a travel account of the places they covered on their boating trip on the Thames river from Kingston to Oxford (in UK) and the humor associated with their lives, their trip, or any dilemmas faced by them. It is quite fun to read about how they arrived at this decision of the holiday or how they decided about what and how to pack or the various adventures that keep popping up, it really is quite fun.
I especially loved two things. One is how the narrator keeps describing their food whenever they are having a meal on the boat or the port. The way food is described is beautiful and keeps the reader intrigued. Secondly, I completely loved how the narrator starts telling us by something, but then thinks of something else and then keeps talking about that new something endlessly and funnily. This has happened many times in the book and it makes you laugh so much.
I recommend this because it is very different from other books and the jokes actually are funny, it gets unbelievable at times when old books have amazing sense of humor, the kind that can make you happy even after centuries. 🙂
PS: It is the 10th book that I read as part of the Brunch Book Challenge and as I said, I’ll be logging my opinion about every book that I read as part of this challenge. In case you want to participate in this challenge too, read up about it here.
Life of Srish 
We had an excerpt from Three Men In a Boat for my 10th Boards.But I had the book long before and yet never felt like reading. Haven’t read it till date except for that one chapter 😀
My brother also had this in, I guess, his class 12 (or 11
)but it was not mandatory, they were allowed to choose between this and ‘The Hounds of the Baskerville’, their school decided to have ‘The Hounds of the Baskerville’.
I think you will enjoy reading this, give it a go sometime. 😀
We had it in the Short stories section ( we studied 3 books: As You like it by Shakespear,a collection of poems and the last was a collection of short stories)
Ah. You know I don’t get along with Classics 😀
The previous one is also untouched ( and not given a second thought either :P) Let’s see. If I find that book in my house again,I will read. 😛 😀
oh, get it now, you don’t like classics at all 😀
😀 I never touched any book of Shakespeare again ( even during my boards,I refused to read As you Like it 😛 )
hahahaha!
😀
I definitely fall into the camp of Classic book lovers and Three Men in a Boat easily slips into the top tier of my favorite books. As you mentioned, this was a humorous read. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
you do? I don’t know why but I always thought you as a contemporary fiction person, nice to know something unexpected. 🙂 and yes, this really is a fun read. 🙂
Hi, we conduct a Book Review Program for Bloggers, if you are interested please write to us at thereaderscosmos@gmail.com. Loved reading your reviews, would love to have you in.
Thanks for contacting. 🙂 Have mailed you.
I love this book!
Flora
😀 Thanks for visiting Flora :), hope to see you more often here.
I read the book last year when I was in class 9 and I simply loathed to read it after three chapters because there was nothing which would excite you to read more. But as it was compulsory, I had to! :p And so I read and it turned out be quite funny at times 😀 It even taught you about life :p So yeah, a nice read but when you have to make notes of every two pages, only coffee can save you 😉
Haha, yeah, I think it is easier to read something when it isn’t a part of your course 😉 Thanks for visiting Muskaan 😀
P.S. I am ahead of you :p have read 12 books and am on my 13th 😉
haha 😀 I have completed 13th 😛 but I am lagging behind with the reviews on the blog. But after 13th, I have come to a stand-still, I don’t know whether I’ll be able to complete the challenge because I have absolutely no time these days, so I feel like, right now, whatever little time I have should be used in work or studies, instead of reading.
Haha :p my bad :p but I am definitely going to complete the challenge 😀 I had to stop due to exams but now I am back 😀 one book in one week 😀
Well yeah, you should work. Work comes first :3 No, food comes first!
Eat, work and then read 😉
😀