'There were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking, and talking about how bad we were - bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course.
We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew what he was doing; and then George said he had fits of giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing. With me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out of order. I had them all.'
The first two paragraphs of 'Three Men in a Boat' by Jerome K. Jerome
12 comments:
I love when you post these little "teasers" - makes me so curious! :-)
What quirky opening!
i've not read this in a very long time - nearly thirty years. i read it travelling to and from a factory i worked in while riding on subway trains and buses. it's an excellent and funny story. steven
Ha! It had me at 'feeling seedy' and 'extraordinary fits of giddiness' How funny is all that?!
Intriguing. I want to know more! xo style, she wrote
this one really caught my attention, something rather difficult to do....hmmm, have to check this one out unless they all die in the end...you see, i pictured them adrift on a life boat...have no idea why...
blessings to you♥
No, Linda, they do not die. It is a very amusing and English tale of three men who hire a boat on the River Thames and have subsequent disasters. You will enjoy it .. and Montmorency is a dog.
My husband used to read it to me when we were first married as it was his favourite book.
Steven, there is (or was) a lovely illustrated version published by Alan Sutton Publishing Limited.
Thank you all for your comments. It is a good summer read.
How funny - my husband and I were just talking about this very extract with our teenage daughter the other day when she asked if Three Men in a Boat was actually amusing. The answer was an emphatic yes - well, we think so anyway!
PS. You mentioned on my blog that you sent me an email - but I haven't received one. Just letting you know in case you wonder why I haven't replied.
Yes, it is, Deborah, in its unique way ... and I shall send another email .. or resend the first!
Excellent book! Hard to believe it's Victorian as the prose style is quite contemporary. Thanks for reminding me:)
Thank you for visiting Michael! See you on your blog!
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