Rating: 
Summary: funny!
Review: It took me a couple of tries to get into the book since the pace of the story is slow relative to today's entertainment, but after a bit of effort I was glad that I didn't give up.
This book had me constantly giggling to myself. While on a train ride, my husband kept hushing me as passengers would repeatedly turn around to see what the fuss was about. Jerome K. Jerome shows the reader how humorous everyday human behavior and human (il?)logic can be.
The funny situations in the book become even funnier when the reader realizes how similar he is to the characters and is forced to laugh at himself. Well, at least in my case!
Rating: 
Summary: Dating Humor
Review: Swayed by positive reviews on Amazon (and price), I think it may have been a recommendation from a book I have called the Ideal Library
At any rate, this is the story (supposedly true) of 3 men setting on a boat trip and who have a pretty "queer" (read strange, hey this is 19th century British stuff) view of the world
The bookstarts off with an amazing bit on munchausen syndrome, reads okay but some parts on actual boating are real boring
It took me so long to finish, there's good humor considering the book was written in the 19th century but it gets a tad bogged down in the science of boating (pulling, sculls, locks, are you lost yet?). There's a fun ending to the trip though where the band of 3 and their dogs basically abandon their ship and take a train back home, quite telling
The last 40 pages or so are about ghosts, kinda disjointed, save for the humor
Rating:
Summary: Three Idiots In A Boat
Review: "Three Men In A Boat" is about these three slightly daft English friends who take a leisure trip in a rowboat down the river Thames. Their little trip is riddled with funny mishaps, accidents, and other humorously unpleasant incidents. It's supposedly based on a real boat trip and the author and his friends, although I'm sure the incidents are embellished for more comic effect. Some British film production, perhaps done by the BBC, exists of this story as well, starring one or more of the Monty Python gang. Both book and film are hilarious. David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"
Rating:
Summary: Three Idiots In A Boat
Review: "Three Men In A Boat" is about these three slightly daft English friends who take a leisure trip in a rowboat down the river Thames. Their little trip is riddled with funny mishaps, accidents, and other humorously unpleasant incidents. It's supposedly based on a real boat trip and the author and his friends, although I'm sure the incidents are embellished for more comic effect. Some British film production, perhaps done by the BBC, exists of this story as well, starring one or more of the Monty Python gang. Both book and film are hilarious. David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, timeless classic.
Review: I first read this book as a set book at school and was immediately enthralled. Over the years I have picked it up time and time again and it never fails to make me laugh. I made the mistake once of reading it whilst I was heavily pregnant and had to quickly run to the loo! Take some time out and go with these Victorian gentlemen on a trip down the river Thames you won't be disappointed.
If you enjoyed this book you will also enjoy 'The diary of a nobody' by G & W Grosssmith, published in 1892
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece!
Review: I was extremely surprised to see the low sales rank of this book, not to mention the fact that there are only two reviews for it! In my opinion, it is one of the most hilarious book ever. It is also one of the most profound books I have read. Written at the fag end of the 19th century, Three Men In a Boat is the tale of 3 friends(and a dog) who take a boating trip down the Thames river. When they're not busy falling into the river, they visit historic places, enjoy the beauties of the river and outdo each other in telling amusing anecdotes. The narrator (it is written in the first person) describes their adventures, the beautiful scenery, the history of many places they visit and his philosophic observations of life - all with a superb, elegant style and a deep understanding of humanity. Never have I seen such hilarious situations described in such witty language, right alongside such deep contemplations of life described in such poetic and sincere language. In short, if you've ever enjoyed a Wodehouse, this book is a must read. And once you have read it, you'll be compelled to read it again and again - when you know the humourous pieces by heart, the serious ones will keep you coming back.
Rating:
Summary: My annual Spring tonic--wit at its best!
Review: I was given a copy of this book about 12 years ago. It has turned out to be one the best gifts I've ever received. Jerome's witty ramblings are the funniest I've ever read. Mark Twain, who I also love to read, comes close to Jerome's style but, in my opinion, is a poor second. Jerome finds humor in the commonplace and the every day occurrences which all of us, even a good 100 years later, can identify with. Starting with his self-diagnosis of every ailment, excepting house-maid's knee, to his singular insights into his friends, self, and surroundings; I never tire of rereading this book. It becomes clear quickly that the dog, Montmorency, is the only one with any sense. Three Men and a Boat always cheers me after a cold, bleak winter. It's the best Spring tonic--I highly recommend an annual dose. I shop now for gifts to give to friends so they can share my enjoyment in this wonderfully humorous and offbeat book. Read, enjoy, and laugh often.
Rating: 
Summary: Three Men in a Boat
Review: J. is a very sick man. To his horror one day, while reading a medical encyclopedia, he realises that he has every single disease, ailment and injury detailed in the book excepting housemaid's knee. At first he is a bit put out that he isn't suffering from that as well, but then the realisation hits him: He is the sickest man in the world and soon he will die. Fortunately, two friends, George and Harris, and of course Montmorency are all there to cheer him up and they decide to go boating.
Three Men in a Boat is portrayed as a sort of touristy travel novel, but it is so much more than that. J. is a hilarious narrator, constantly remembering past adventures or encounters that almost without fail end with a great punchline. He is a straight-faced absurdist, pointing out the casual failings of humanity to make sense, and this of course includes himself.
While the three man bumble about on their trip, sailing from place to place, J. thoughtfully fills us in on some of the history, colouring these sometimes dry patches with stories of his own, or of George or Harris. There is even the occasional story from the perspective of Montmorency, my favourite perhaps being his unfortunate encounter with a very mean, very large cat.
A problem at first with this book was that I, in my ignorance, was a bit unsure that a 19th century Englishman could be funny. Perhaps tainted by an echo of Victorian England, I was expecting dainty tea parties and self-deprecating foppery. I couldn't have been more mistaken. Jerome is a hugely funny author, and there were many times when I actually laughed out loud. But perhaps the greatest part of this novel is that, throughout the comedy, there is the more serious historical sections, and then, here and there, hidden away between a joke or seven, are quiet, contemplative passages that really hit home with some insights into people.
A fantastic read, and short, at only one hundred and fifty pages, it is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Still Relevant
Review: One of the truly classic satirical novels of all time, Jerome K. Jerome's tale of three men's (to say nothing of the dog!) boat trip may take place in 19th Century England, but his hilarious, sarcastic, amazingly precise insights into the human nature make it as relevant in any time and any place (scratching some of the jokes about the technicalities of boating itself). Jerome saw into the absurdities and ironies of life, and put them to paper with wit and venom. Three Men in a Boat is one of the earliest signs of modern English humor, and Jerome's influence is everywhere in the works of satirical authors from P.G. Wodehouse to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, not to mention English comedians like Monty Python and Lenny Henry. Essential reading, a real classic.
Rating:
Summary: Beware - you might choke laughing :)
Review: The above title refers to the book itself, not to the following review of course. I run along my predecessors in the latter, meaning that I do share their opinion of the book as the most hilarious and funny piece of [English] literature to hit the press by the end of XIX century.
It IS extremely funny. It IS hilarious. But it is not only funny -it is sweet. It is sweet with the sweetness of Victorian/Edwardian age, with its peculiar (I may even use beloved term of Dr. Watson - singular) language and dear old expressions. I've read and reread it many times, and even though I always know the next joke to follow, I can't help giggling under my mustache (not that I have one, it's just an idiom :))
If you have never been to England (that is, like yours truly), this book is enough to make you fall in love with English countryside. The Thames riverside is described in a lovely, charming way making you wish you were richer man able to afford the journey there.
This book was one of several which formed my mental image of England in my childhood, along with Sherlock Holmes stories, Wind in the Willows, Donald Bisset and some more. I love that image, with dear old gentlemen in top-hats and frock-coats, and ladies of exquisite upbringing, all folks addressing each other 'sir' in mostly polite way and so forth
Surely, you won't regret reading it :)
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