A Review of "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome: Leo Rota

While I never thought this day would come, I am deeply sorry to announce that this is a negative review of this book. The worst part is that this is not just some random book nobody has heard of, it is a well-known novel that is by some even thought of as a classic. Three Men in a Boat is a comedic novel by Jerome K. Jerome that follows three friends, Jerome, George, and Harris (and heir dog) on their boating adventure along the River Thames. The trip does not go as planned though and the friends face many comedic setbacks and mishaps throughout their journey.

I want to begin this review by alerting the reader that I read the Italian translation of this book, possibly leading to some differences in comedic effect of what I read versus what you may read. This book did not make me laugh, not even once. This does not mean I did not enjoy it, I was just incredibly disappointed with the humor of the story. I do not think of myself as someone with no sense of humor and most times I laugh fairly easily. Sadly, this book was just not for me, the “humorous” scenarios the characters experienced were much less entertaining than the character descriptions at the start of the story, causing me to lose more and more interest as the book went on. I almost feel bad saying this because everyone I have talked to about this book has said it is a classic and they greatly enjoyed reading it. I will also be reading the sequel, Three Men on the Bummel so hopefully something clicks for me and this second book provides me with the amazing comedy I so desperately need.