INTRODUCTION
Much against the general belief of my teachers at school, there were certain textbook lessons I read! Generally these were the lessons from the Rapid Reading Section, from the English textbook. They were stories! I remember some stories from this section like The Blue Carbuncle and The Stuffed Trout.
The Stuffed Trout was taken from Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat.
THE AUTHOR
Jerome K Jerome was a name that really impressed me. It had a classic air. Well, the full name of this author was Jerome Klapka Jerome. Referred to as J throughout this book, Jerome K Jerome wrote this book at the age of 30. Born in a very poor family(his father was an ironmonger), JKJ was also one of the founders of Idlers. Three men on a Bummel was the sequel of this book, which was published 11 years after Three men in a Boat.
THE BOOK
Does anyone remember the Panchatantra? The teacher(Vishnu Sharma) there tells stories to the two princes. Each story in turn has a character telling another story(in the original story), then the teacher comes back to the original story only for another character to tell another story.....and so the plot moves on!
Well, that in a nutshell is the layout of Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome. The main story is of three men....and one dog....travelling down the Thames. The three men are George, Harris and J, that is the author. They are accompanied by their dog Montmorency(whose IQ doesn’t seem to be much less than his human company). This main concept is flowered up by different sub-plots that keep on cropping up as and when the main story gives an opening. This style of writing may irritate some readers, or may even entertain some readers.
Three Men in a Boat is a typical 19th century humour. The plot, the events, the language....everything depicts the period of literature. Jerome K Jerome has a very ingenious way of writing. Some sub-plots are really fantastic. Remarkable amongst them are when a German singer sings a tragic love song, only to be laughed at by Englishmen who genuinely believe that he is singing a comedy song, and Harris’ attempts at singing, much to the horror of the accompanying pianist, and George’s banjo practice, and George’s predicament when his watch stopped functioning, and of course, The Stuffed Trout.
SOME EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK
1.
George determined to postpone study of the banjo until he reached home. But he did not get much opportunity even there. Mrs.P used to come up and say she was very sorry - for herself, she liked to hear him - but the lady upstairs was in a very delicate state, and the doctor was afraid it might injure the child.
2.(When Harris tries to make scrambled egg)
It seemed harassing work, so far as George and I could judge. Whenever he went near the pan he burned himself, and then he would drop everything and dance round the stove, flicking his fingers about and cursing the things. Indeed, everytime George and I looked around at him he was sure to be performing this feat. We thought at first that it was a necessary part of the culinary arrangements.
We did not know what scrambled eggs were, and we fancied that it must be some Red Indian or Sandwich Islands’ sort of dish that required dances and incantations for it’s proper cooking.
IN CONCLUSION
I would definitely recommend this book to my friends. It is full of humour, and gives you a clear insight in the 19th century literary humour. A must read!