I read that book yesterday, and all I could say was “Its brilliant…an anachronism”.
Written in 1889, this hilarious misadventure tells the story of three men and a dog who are “scandalously” lazy.

You cannot but enjoy the book from end to end (there should be more emoticons for body language, because I just made a “point-to-right-then-point-to-left” gesture when I said end to end) in the jocund company of Jerome K. Jerome, George, Harris and Montmorency, the plucky fox terrier.

The reason that made this book a classic in my mind was two of its chapters which we had to study as English Text during school. Yes…I still remember that. One seldom forgets such classics like “Montmorency and the Tomcat”, “Cheeses from Liverpool” and “The Luncheon”. The first two stories are from “Three men in a boat”. The last one is written by another of my favorite authors– Somerset Maugham.
So, naturally, I bought this book the moment it caught my sight in Landmark, Bangalore.

The highlights of the book are normal, but very witty language and of course the world-weary Montmorency.
Jerome finds himself having all the symptoms of a liver disease, the most significant being “a general disinclination towards work of any kind”. Now, I wonder I too have that disease. 🙂
Everybody is having some problem. So they decide they want some rest and set out on an idyllic cruise along Thames. Poor Montmorency has to join them having lost the votes 3 to 1. But what they find in their boat-ride is anything other than rest, should I say a hapless series of cataclysms!

The reason for me calling this book an anachronism is that I could relate most of it to myself. Not that it gives some lessons in life or is philosophical. Not at all!! It is a pure entertainer, a must-read.