mary846's review against another edition
4.0
I adored this book!
So witty and humorous - an absolute delight.
The tale of carrying the cheeses up to London and Uncle Podger hanging the picture were magnificent.
A few odd patches of melodramatic prose were the only things that stopped me giving this book five stars.
So witty and humorous - an absolute delight.
The tale of carrying the cheeses up to London and Uncle Podger hanging the picture were magnificent.
A few odd patches of melodramatic prose were the only things that stopped me giving this book five stars.
zealot_of_apathy's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rojaed's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
anexcessofebooks's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's like listening to your slightly inebriated uncle at Thanksgiving bloviating about his youth and acumen. Everyone nods along, all the while smiling to themselves at how exaggerated his stories are.
At it's core, the story is straight forward; 3 guys decide to take a boat and row up river for a week or so. One of them brings his dog. The narrator, J, goes on tangents like he's the personification of a word association game. He's constantly "reminded" of a story and digresses as he's recounting the river trip:
At it's core, the story is straight forward; 3 guys decide to take a boat and row up river for a week or so. One of them brings his dog. The narrator, J, goes on tangents like he's the personification of a word association game. He's constantly "reminded" of a story and digresses as he's recounting the river trip:
That's Harris all over - so ready to take the burden of everything himself, and put it on the backs of other people. He always reminds me of my poor Uncle Podger.....
Speaking of oak staircases reminds me that there is a magnificent carved oak staircase in one of the houses in Kingston. It is a shop now....
Speaking of comic songs and parties, reminds me of a rather curious incident at which I once assisted; which, as it throws much light upon the inner mental working of human nature in general, ought, I think, to be recorded in these pages.
Talking of locks reminds me of an accident George and I very nearly had one summer's morning at Hampton Court...
The stories are always well told and usually funny (probably funnier if you know the areas he's referring to, which I don't), but often times relatable. For instance, trying to neatly roll up a rope or cord:
There is something very strange and unaccountable about a tow-line. You roll it up with as much patience and care as you would take to fold up a new pair of trousers, and five minutes afterwards, when you pick it up, it is one ghastly, soul-revolting tangle....
Whoever rolls it up swears they did it perfectly, and blames the person unraveling it. While the person unraveling claims the person who rolled it up is a horse's ass:
"What have you been trying to do with it, make a fishing-net of it? You've made a nice mess you have; why couldn't you wind it up properly, you silly dummy?" he grunts from time to time as he struggles wildly with it, and lays it out flat on the tow-path, and runs round and round it, trying to find the end.
On the other hand, the man who wound it up thinks the whole cause of the muddle rests with the man who is trying to unwind it.
"It was all right when you took it!" he exclaims indignantly. "Why don't you think what you are doing? You go about things in such a slap-dash style. You'd get a scaffolding pole entangled you would!"
And they feel so angry with one another that they would like to hang each other with the thing.
However, it does get a bit old. I'd recommend reading this in spurts, when you need a laugh or break from your other reads. After all, how much of a braggart can you listen to before you get fed up? Again, J is more endearing than annoying, but still.
In between all this is some beautiful prose.
As we drew nearer, we could see that the three men fishing seemed old and solemn-looking men. They sat on three chairs in the punt, and watched intently their lines. And the red sunset threw a mystic light upon the waters, and tinged with fire the towering woods, and made a golden glory of the piled-up clouds. It was an hour of deep enchantment, of ecstatic hope and longing. The little sail stood out against the purple sky, the gloaming lay around us, wrapping the world in rainbow shadows; and, behind us, crept the night.
or
It was a glorious night. The moon had sunk, and left the quiet earth alone with the stars. It seemed as if, in the silence and the hush, while we her children slept, they were talking with her, their sister - conversing of mighty mysteries in voices too vast and deep for childish human ears to catch the sound.
They awe us, these strange stars, so cold, so clear. We are as children whose small feet have strayed into some dim-lit temple of the god they have been taught to worship but know not; and, standing where the echoing dome spans the long vista of the shadowy light, glance up, half hoping, half afraid to see some awful vision hovering there.
All in all, it's a good read. I'd just piecemeal it, rather than gorging yourself in a single go.
justintocs's review against another edition
3.0
An odd book I started reading because I could get a copy for free from Google Play Books. Some jokes are still quite funny but really this book of a man rambling about a trip down the Thames. So many offshoot ideas it was hard to follow at times.
relf's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A lovely little confection along P. G. Wodehouse lines, about three upper-class English twits who set out on a week-long boat trip up the Thames. Lots of silliness and laughs, and a very quick read--though I had the added delight of listening to the audiobook, with Hugh Laurie narrating.
zdz's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
baschaus's review against another edition
funny
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5