A Summer for Reading the Classics

Submitted: 10th July 2026

A Summer for Reading the Classics

Summer is a time to slow down, take a break and chill in the garden. Now, add books to the mix and it’s a good time not just to catch up with reading your TBR, but to also take time to pick up that book you have wanted to read for ages. Often a classic in my opinion which is what I am doing this summer. Of course it’s going to have a destination attached to it!

Three Men and Boat Jerome K Jerome

The book in question – Three Men in a Boat

The man on the cover might not look happy 😉 but this is a happy and very funny read!

Fun facts –

This was written as a serious travel guide at first but then the humour and comedy aspects took over.

The three men are based on Jerome himself (the narrator Jerome K. Jerome) and two real-life friends, George Wingrave (who would become a senior manager at Barclays Bank) and Carl Hentschel (the founder of a London printing business, called Harris in the book)

The dog is fictional

The boating holiday in the book was very typical of the time

There are lots of destinations and sights along the way such as Hampton Court palace that you could use to do your own travel experience. Lots of nice detail included in a fun and accessible way.

Fun and witty snippets like this about food:

“We had a discussion as to whether the rat should go in or not. Harris said that he thought it would be all right, mixed up with the other things, and that every little helped; but George stood up for precedent. He said he had never heard of water-rats in Irish stew, and he would rather be on the safe side, and not try experiments.”

I urge you to read this as it’s a whole lot of fun and always lovely to discover or rediscover a book and story from the past – to go on a journey into the past and to feel the nuances of the language and wit of times gone by.