Three Men in a Boat - post I

This should have been posted last night but apologies for that felt very tired after a hard week so left it just at the lunchtime read.

This is one of those books that has a reputation that precedes it, which is mainly one of comedy, so you start reading it with an expectation of being entertained. You are not let down but the humour is very gentle and although this might have been the first place some of these jokes and observations were aired they are done so in such a harmless way you are reminded of just how much things have changed in the past hundred years.

Bullet points between pages 1 - 76

* Three friends who all complain of being both bored and ill - hypochondriacs rather than real symptoms - decide to go travelling to get some rest and some air and after debating the options including a cruise they opt for taking a boat up the Thames and camping and staying in hotels on the route

* The narrator brings along a rather independent minded dog that is clearly going to cause trouble, George is cast as a lazy over weight banker (it is both a sign of the times and a reason to be alarmed that 12 stone is described as large here some of us can only dream of that) and Harris appears to be a drinker

* They argue about the packing, the time of departure and almost everything in the run up to the trip leaving you wondering why they are agreeing to the plan and throughout the build up to the launch the narrator weaves in humorous anecdotes relaying other disasters involving boats, water, female passengers and the dog

* Finally the narrator, dog and Harris set off intending to meet George, who has had to work in the bank, further downstream and within a few turns of the oars the arguments starts, the packing comes undone and all the omens for a humorous but disastrous time are all there

More on Monday...