Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K Jerome

Eight members of our group enjoyed a convivial evening at The Hundred of Ashendon pub, discussing (among other things) our recent read of this highly entertaining classic.

Three Men in a Boat has never been out of print since it was first published in 1912 and, as with all the older books we have read, we had an impressive array of different editions. These ranged from a 1956 115th edition through to the 2004 Penguin Classics publication, a badly proofed version that had come free with a magazine, and, one of our members even read the book on her Kindle. The latter was genuinely surprised to find that it was written so long ago.

We all understood the 'Kindle surprise' as, despite being over 100 years old, this is a timeless tale.

Jerome meanders through a series of events and incidents that were experienced by him and two friends (young men) during a (camping)'lads' holiday in a (small) river boat on the Thames! The story is told with much use of authors licence and oodles of Victorian sentimentality.

The era is only given away by references to lodging houses, land ladies, tradesmen's delivery 'boys' and steam trains. Oh and by the disparaging comments about women that illustrate a time when women must surely have been quite dim! So dim in fact that they sat around looking pretty while the boys did the work!

We all agreed that this book is absolutely hilarious. Even the somewhat graphic descriptions of river reality are funny: a dead dog floating by, a dead water rat delivered by the dog, rogues collecting money for 'trespass' and so on. The genuinely funny stories are usually of little happenings that could only happen to 'them' such as getting lost in Hampton Court Maze, inappropriate laughter (the German song), making Irish Stew, opening (well failing to open) a tin of pineapple, losing one's shirt to the river etc. What's clever is that JKJ manages to get the humour across without the usual requirement of 'having to have been there' to find it funny.

Did we enjoy it? Yes and we loved the characters who, despite the crisis' and the discomfort they encountered, had a jolly good time.

Would we recommend it? Absolutely yes and the school teachers in the group are already trying to work out how to fit it into the national curriculum! This is a must read for anyone of any age.

Some of us felt we enjoyed this book even more because we know the area and recognise the places they visited. For anyone who would like to see a river camping boat similar to the one our three men travelled in I recommend a visit to the Racing and Riverboat museum in Goring. 

We will be meeting on Thursday 9th January 2014 at 20:00 at The Ashendon Hundred (pub). Julia Sallabank has kindly offered to 'host'. We will be discussing Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole AND our planned book group trip to Paris.

I am often asked to describe our group and I tell people we are very relaxed and enjoy our bi-monthly meetings as an opportunity to get together to chat and share a common love of reading. Tonight a gentleman sat on the table next to us during our meeting backed that up with his comments as we were leaving: "What an entertaining evening I've had listening in - you spent almost as much time making plans as you did discussing a great read."

The Pure Story!

Back in the Summer (it seems so long ago now) we read Pure by Andrew Miller. Sue Lewin has kindly done some research to find out more about the story behind the story and here it is.

During the eighteenth century the burial grounds of Paris were as appalling as those of London; in the case of the Cimetière des Innocents in the Halle district, perhaps even more so. Since the fourth century this ground was the main burial place in the city, particularly for the poor. During the fourteenth century huge pits holding up to 1500 bodies were left open until full. It is estimated that over the centuries between two and six million bodies were buried here.

By 1780 conditions at les Innocents had become intolerable. Around 90,000 corpses had been added in the previous 35 years, the whole area stank, and the soil was incapable of decomposition. In the district, it was claimed that meat rotted within hours and wine turned to vinegar. In May, following heavy rain, The weight of the dead in a burial pit had caused a collapse in nearby cellars and people were asphyxiated.



The ground was closed for burials around 1782, and cleared during the winters of 1785-6. The charniers were emptied and the ground cleared out to a depth of 6 feet . The remains were carted across Paris and deposited in the catacombs.



The Square of the Innocents today.


Thanks Sue - I am feeling a Book Group outing coming on!

Book Choices - November 2013

A Nightingale Sang–  Sally Anderson

The year is 1943. American GIs are pouring into England, bringing with them romance and heartache... 

An American army unit has set up base outside a small Hampshire town in preparation for the D-Day landings. Lieutenant Jack Webster is focused on preparing his men for battle and has no intention of getting involved with a woman while there is a war to fight. But then he meets Samantha Mitchell, a beautiful English nurse whose life has already been shattered by four long years of war, and almost at once his resolve begins to weaken… 

Set against the backdrop of the Second World War and its aftermath, A Nightingale Sang is a heart-warming story that celebrates the triumph of love over the separation of war.

Letters from Skye – Jessica Brockmole

A sweeping story told in letters, spanning two continents and two world wars, Jessica Brockmole’s atmospheric debut novel captures the indelible ways that people fall in love, and celebrates the power of the written word to stir the heart.   

March 1912: Twenty-four-year-old Elspeth Dunn, a published poet, has never seen the world beyond her home on Scotland’s remote Isle of Skye. So she is astonished when her first fan letter arrives, from a college student, David Graham, in far-away America. As the two strike up a correspondence - sharing their favorite books, wildest hopes, and deepest secrets - their exchanges blossom into friendship, and eventually into love. But as World War I engulfs Europe and David volunteers as an ambulance driver on the Western front, Elspeth can only wait for him on Skye, hoping he’ll survive.   June 1940: At the start of World War II, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, has fallen for a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Her mother warns her against seeking love in wartime, an admonition Margaret doesn't understand. Then, after a bomb rocks Elspeth’s house, and letters that were hidden in a wall come raining down, Elspeth disappears. Only a single letter remains as a clue to Elspeth’s whereabouts. As Margaret sets out to discover where her mother has gone, she must also face the truth of what happened to her family long ago.

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

 "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view  ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." 

Tomboy Scout Finch comes of age in a small Alabama town during a crisis in 1935. She admires her father Atticus, how he deals with issues of racism, injustice, intolerance and bigotry, his courage and his love.

We will be meeting on Thursday 14th November 2013 at 20:00 at The Ashendon Hundred (pub). Sue Lewin has kindly offered to 'host'. We will be discussing Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K Jerome.