Bookclub Bookworm

"Three Men In A Boat - to say nothing of the dog!" by Jerome K. Jerome

Tonight our book club met to discuss our latest read - Three Men in a Boat...recommended by my friend Brian. I have got to say - hands down hill-air-e-us! Now I love comedy like "The Hangover"...just as much as the next gal but there is something to be said about wry British ironic humor. The book takes place in the late 1800s where three friends Jerome, Harris and George decide to take a boat trip up the Thames. Anything that can go wrong goes wrong. It become clear fairly early that the dog Montmorency has inherited all the brains of the operation despite how he keeps getting in the way.

Jerome, aka 'J', is this hypochondriac whom we first get to know when he gets his hands on a physician's manual and convinces himself that he has every ailment in the book except for housemaid's knee. I mean, he is relieved that he has a mild form of cholera but hurt that he did not meet the symptoms of housemaid's knee. Prone to day dream it is unfortunate that he has the responsibility of steering the boat during the long journey.

Harris. Hmmm..Harris. Let's just say we all have a Harris or two in our lives. I believe the phrase in today's lingo is that he he talks big game but can't back it up. There are several 'Harris' scenes that certainly play up his role but the most notable are when he claims his scrambled eggs are notorious and legions beg him to make them and needless to say when he cooks this dish for his friends, breaking the egg in the pan was only one of his difficulties. Or there was the instance when he wants to sing this comic tune in a bar and fumbles the whole thing, blames the piano player and ends with "diddle--diddle--diddle---diddle--dee"

I totally pictured George when he laughed and laughed and laughed at his friend for falling into the freezing river one early morning and then continued to laugh when his freezing friend dropped the one dry shirt he had into the river as well. I heard the echoing chimes of his laughter up and down the river that stopped abruptly when Jerome starts laughing the second he figures out it was George's shirt that fell in the river. The scene when George gets in a gang fight with the help of Harris against the tent rope was quite funny also.

Now for the star...Montmorency..the dog. Bad ass on the block. Runs with dogs from the wrong side of the tracks..or river if you will. Street smart I would say, who totally become respectful and docile the second he came across an even more bad ass............cat.

The link above should take you the the online text version of the book if you're interested. I highly recommend the read if not for anything than just to see if these three fools make it home in one piece.

Nice pick Brian...I truly enjoyed it.

Tran