I recommend everyone to read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. This novel is humorous and I admire the writing style of Jerome. However, the novel can become boring sometimes. There are many passages about the local history of the area that many people find boring and a distraction from the plot. Also, the plot of the novel is not that interesting. Three Men in a Boat is a good and entertaining read but will not be able to intrigue the reader. The humour and the writing style are the only reasons why I liked the novel.
If I were the author of this novel, I would certainly rewrite the ending of this novel. In the end, the threesome go back to their home-town - London early, due to the bad weather. I expected the ending of this novel to be a bit exciting or humorous. However, the ending was very simple and did not elevate the reader- me- at all. If I were to write the ending of the novel, I would probably make the three main characters achieve something in their lives by the end of the boat trip. For J, he would make a politician friend during the boat trip who introduces him into politics. J is based on the writer himself- Jerome- and Jerome had a dream of going into politics since childhood. Harris adores food. In my ending, Harris makes a partnership with the owner of a restaurant. He would get a job in which he would stay close to the love of his life- food. For George, he would fall in love with a woman and would live happily with her.
According to me, the most unexpected parts of the novel are the serious themes that it deals with. The novel is very humorous and I did not expect it to have such serious themes. Firstly, I certainly did not expect the novel to deal with the injustice that the poor went through during that era. Jerome pointed out the way the rich treated the poor and also the fact that the poor accepted the treatment without complaining. Jerome was able to include this theme without being criticized by the society for his open- mindedness . I did not expect the novel to have much meaning. However, as I went through the pages, I encountered the serious themes of this novel.
The character who I identify with the most is definitely George. I am quite similar to him. I like to study and George likes to work. I can sleep for a very long time if I get the chance to and George is a heavy -sleeper too. George loves to learn about new things. He brought a banjo to the trip, in hopes of learning how to play it. I love to learn new things too. I like to learn new languages and I love doing art and experimenting new things with it. Out of the three, George is the only one who is seriously dedicated to his job. Similarly, I am quite dedicated to the work I do also. I adore George's personality.
Three Men in a Boat is written in the perspective of J. This enhances my understanding of J's character because everything is in J's point of view and I get to know what he thinks about. This is also a bit of a downfall because we just see the world by his eyes. I think that the novel would have been better if it was written in the point of views of all the three main characters- not just J. If this happened we would have been able to see what George and Harris think too. In the novel, J is not that affectionate about Harris and describes him as vulgar and impractical. However, this is just J's point of view. We would have gotten to know Harris' character even more if the novel was written in his point of view too. Overall I think that since the novel is written in just one perspective and would have been better if it was written in the perspectives of the three men
When I first heard that I had to choose a humorous novel, I was not sure about which one to choose. I selected a few novels from the library but did not seem to like their plots. I thought about the books and extracts that I had read in the past and Three Men in a Boat came to my mind. Once, in school, I had read an extract from Three Men in a Boat which is known as Uncle Podger Hangs a Picture. I remember the story and how humorous it was. Then I decided to get that book from the library. My first thought on the novel was that it must be humorous. I also knew that this novel was written and based in the 19th century and was a classic. This made me more excited to read the novel because I love classic novels and I had never read a classic novel with humorous attributes to it. My first thought was that this novel is going to be a pleasure to read.
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