Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog)

Three friends, one dog, and a boat on the Thames. That is the entire plot, and yet Jerome K. Jerome transforms this simple premise into one of the funniest novels in the English language. The trio, J., George, and Harris, convince themselves they are desperately ill, victims of every disease imaginable, and decide that a week of fresh air on the river is their only cure. What follows is a masterclass in comedic disaster: the hampers are packed with far too much food and barely anything useful; Montmorency the dog causes chaos; the boat tips; they get spectacularly lost in the Hampton Court Maze; and at every turn, the narrator delivers digressions on Victorian life that are as sharp as they are irrelevant to their journey. Jerome's genius lies in his narrator's voice, that perfectly deadpan, self-satisfied certainty that is always about to be undermined by the next catastrophe. The humor remains startlingly fresh, because foolish human nature hasn't changed in 135 years. If you've ever planned a holiday that went slightly wrong, or convinced yourself you have symptoms after reading a medical textbook, you will recognize yourself immediately.