By Jerome K. Jerome

3 silly men, J., Harris, and George, decide to take a little vacation in a boat floating down the Thames. Oh and there is a dog named Montmorency. I’ve known about this book since I was a teenager, and I’ve always been curious about reading it since it is supposed to be one of the funniest books of all time. Well, that finally happened. I listened to it on Audible, and though it was mildly amusing in parts, sometimes very amusing, I didn’t think it was very funny. By that, I mean I didn’t laugh, and I only chuckled a couple of times. It reminded me a lot of the one book I read by P. G. Wodehouse (so far). I got the humor, and appreciated and even admired it and was amused. But…I guess I like more of a plot and more character development.

The book is narrated by the author “J.” (Jerome K. Jerome) describing the decision to go on the trip, prepare for the trip, and their adventures on the water. In between real time activities, “J.” recalls various anecdotes that come to mind, such as Harris’s getting lost in the Hampton Court Maze, and an Uncle trying to hang a picture on a wall which results in catastrophe, and a stinky cheese. During the trip, the guys deal with opening a can of pineapple without a tin opener (resulting in the near death of one of them), making a pot of Irish stew, a fight with swans, incompetent rowing and losing track of each other, getting lost, and trying to find shelter. In the end, they go home early.

One of the funnier bits was J.’s description of how he loves work.

It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart.
You cannot give me too much work; to accumulate work has almost become a passion with me: my study is so full of it now, that there is hardly an inch of room for any more.
And I am careful of my work, too. Why, some of the work that I have by me now has been in my possession for years and years, and there isn’t a finger-mark on it. I take a great pride in my work; I take it down now and then and dust it. No man keeps his work in a better state of preservation than I do.

All of the humor is like that: one thing leading to another with absurdities piling up and up until you think it can’t get any more crazy, until it does.
Actually, looking back on it, this book is funnier than it was while I was reading it. The narration by Martin Jarvis was great, but because of the book’s episodic nature, my attention kept going in and out while I was listening to it. I guess I need cohesiveness to keep me fully engaged.