This could have been written last year !

Its true, people never change.

I have a lot of dealing with German people through business, and if you would not have told me the author, I would have assumed this book was written last year - not last century. The book is a pleasure to experience purely because of the authors excellent style and many diversions in the book. I have heard many say its a poor sequel to the 3 men on a boat, I'm having none of it. Its far better.

On the downside I think the narrator could have been more upbeat and put more effort into the characters. It was difficult to distinguish between Harris and George until the narrator told us who was speaking - but this was a minor point as the story outshone this.

4 people found this helpful

badly read

the readers superior sneering tone spolied this much loved authors work. the "swell" tone was so unlike the character of the humour

Clouded by Weak Narration

Both the narration and the recording production snuff out completely a lot of the joy of this book. If a friend or relative was reading to you as you lay with your cold in bed I expect you would not complain with their attempts at voices but paid for narration needs much more performance ability. And it sounds like a recording made decades ago on an old cassette. For these reasons I would recommend finding another version of this book.
Is Martin Jarvis up for a job? He would read this excellently.
I am a Jerome K Jerome fan so I say that to announce that I find him full of enjoyable anecdotes and stories. It really is so dependent on personal taste but his descriptions of the frailties of being human are to me thoroughly enjoyable.

Enjoyable

An enjoyable yarn with lots of interesting observations but the narration deadens it. Hopefully Martin Jarvis will read this in the future & bring it to life.

A little too camp, but worth it still.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

However poor the performance, JKJ's words of wisdom and entertainment surmount all obstacles.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jerome K. Jerome? Why or why not?

I love JKJ's writing it is always witty, entertaining and insightful

What aspect of David Case’s performance might you have changed?

A little less camp. JKJ's writings are so good they need no embroidery, let them speak.

Was Three Men on the Bummel worth the listening time?

The narrative is innocent of hindsight and gives an affectionate and entertaining picture of Germans, on the brink of one of the worst conflicts humanity has known.

Any additional comments?

I am still quoting JKJ on my local cycling campaign Facebook page to the delight and entertainment of other members. His opinions on saddles has stood the test of a century.

Don't think of it as a sequel

I bought this book on the basis that Three Men In A Boat was excellent and went into it expecting something very similar. If you do that, you are likely to be disappointed.

Whilst the booked is good, I don't rate it as highly as TMIAB. There isn't as much humour and the siuations the group find themselves in are sometimes not as believable.

On top of that, the narration isn't great. David Case doesn't do the book justice and I wonder if that is part of the reason it lacked something. If they'd used either Martin Jarvis or Nigel Plainer both of which did good narrations of TMIAB then this could have been a better listen all round.