Book Review: Three Men On The Bummel

Three Men On The Bummel
Three Men series, #2

written by Jerome K. Jerome

207 pages // published in 1900 // Victorian humor

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Three Men on the Bummel is the sequel to Three Men in a Boat, which Jerome K. Jerome originally wrote as a travel guide. As the humorous anecdotes took over the story, it eventually turned into a masterpiece of comedy. This novel reprises the same three characters as they explore the Black Forest in Germany.

Three Men on the Bummel is the sequel to Three Men in a Boat (the sequel being published only a year after the first title).

This volume starts out as a rather jaunty tune; I felt like I was delightedly being led along those first chapters. It was a breeze! The men would get entrapped in petty (but oh-so-hilarious) arguments with their wives, or the three friends would be telling stories of fascinatingly comedic escapades. Everything is so quaint and Victorian, adding to the overall charm value it had.

Now, after the narrator and his buddies take leave of the English shore and start their journey, I got a little lost in several places. Many times the long, drab passages would just muddle me up, and the story wasn't half as entertaining as before. Sometimes it read more like a traveler's guide on how to enjoy a bummel across Europe, occasionally poking fun at the Germans or Americans, etc. It just seemed to have lost its full comedy that I so enjoyed from Three Men in a Boat.

What I did like was the wit that did shine through of Jerome K. Jerome, some pretty funny scenes, the bantering conversations, and the oh-so-British pomp -- that will all live in my memory for quite a while.

Oh, and I do miss the dog, Montmorency, who appeared in the first volume!

Available on Amazon in paperback, ebook and audio format.

This is book #8 for me in the Back to the Classics 2017 challenge.
[CATEGORY: Number in the Title]




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