The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 15 September 1999
by Jerome K. Jerome
Given its date of publication (1886), this is a remarkably modern-sounding novel. Three men, exhausted with the hurry and crowds of London, go out for a week of rowing on the Thames. This is a very funny story, told by one of the men, with guaranteed veracity. Many asides and stories along the way give the reader insight into that time. Sometimes the tales border on touching. But soon, there is low comedy as well, as characters prepare for the journey as if it were a great exploration, wrestle with imaginary swans, the incorrigible hardware of the boat, and the oddities and history seen ashore along the way. The tone is self-deprecating, and highly satiric. And one or two pointed observations seem even directed at the reader at the turn of the new century. It is occasionally remarkable to note in the new millennium, the author's laments about the high speed and crowded life the 19th century had to offer.