A review by ftrebelo
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

5.0

You know that friend of yours who tells these elaborate, serpentine, ever so slightly exaggerated stories which keep branching off into side-stories (this reminds me of that time when...) and off-hand philosophical remarks about life in general? That is what this book is like. It's the story of three friends (and dog) who take a trip up the river, and it's told in the cheeriest possible manner that puts a smile on your face with every word.

If I haven't convinced you yet, here's Jerome's sell (from the preface to the 1st edition):

The chief beauty of this book lies not so much in its literary style, or in the extent and usefulness of the information it conveys, as its simple truthfulness. Its pages form the record of events that really happened. All that has been done is to colour them; and, for this, no extra charge has been made. George, Harris, and Montmorency are not poetic ideals, but things of flesh and blood - especially George who weighs about twelve stone. Other works may excel in depth of thought and knowledge of human nature: other books may rival it in originality and size; but, for hopeless and incurable veracity, nothing yet discovered can surpass it. This, more than all its other charms, will, it is felt, make the volume precious in the eye of the earnest reader; and will lend additional weight to the lesson that the story teaches.