This sequel to Three Men in a Boat tells of a rambling bicycle trip George, still unmarried, Harris and "I" - sans dog - take through the Black Forest. In typical (judging by the one Jerome I've previously read) style, a variety of misadventures ensue, none of them the fault of any of the travelling party. Like the trip, the novel rambles around, with plenty of digressions in which the narrator tells his impressions of any manner of things - the nature of the German people, how to get one's way when one's wife isn't keen on whatever it is a chap wants to do, the contrary nature of bicycles, why some trips just don't come off, and many others.
The joy of Jerome's writing is his characterisation, and the sly way he manages to convey truths the narrator is unable to perceive himself. It's unfortunate, for the purposes of this review, that most of the best passages are simply too long to include int heir entirety and too well constructed to partially dismember. Highlights for me include a recitation of the narrator's Uncle Podger, who was forever late for work in the mornings because people (quite clearly) hid his belongings before he could leave the house - "whenever he lost a thing it was everybody else's fault in the house but his own... you would have thought he was living surrounded by conjurers, who spirited things away from him merely to irritate him."
Along the journey the reader has marvellous glimpses into the life and outlook of a typical upper middle class at the turn of the last century. In light of subsequent events, the discussion of Germany and her people is particularly interesting, and I was frequently reminded of how tiome poor we are compared to our ancestors a century ago, despite our labour saving devices and higher incomes. Jerome's predecessor is justly better know, but Three Men on the Bummel is a worthy successor on it's own merits. - Alex
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