Three Comedy Classics

Three Men in a Boat, The Diary of a Nobody and Antrobus Complete

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

IN SEEKING the truth about human behaviour we look to philosophers and other wise persons, but we are as likely to discover it in the work of a humourist writer with the skill to transfer to the page what they see around them every day. It is a very particular skill, and I would like to propose three books that showcase it. They are very much of their time - beautifully so - and apart from being in my view among the funniest books written in the English language, they possess a vividness that places the reader at the heart of the action. In these joyful stories you find yourself planning a boat trip with three bachelors and a devilish Fox Terrier called Montmorency, living in the Victorian household of Charles and Carrie Pooter, or sitting in a 1950s gentleman’s club gossiping about the diplomatic service with a senior civil servant. If you feel like a change of pace and an amusing read, you can do no better than choose one of these three classic comedies.

“Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K. Jerome.

It’s not often that I read something that reduces me to tears of laughter, but it happened to me whilst reading this book for the first time. First published in 1889 it’s the story of three friends, Harris, George and J the narrator, who decide to take a river trip. They are three hearty specimens who are convinced that they are ill and overworked, but who are actually just a bit lazy and jaded. They take along J’s Fox Terrier Montmorency, who feigns an angelic nature whilst being a fighter, a biter and a killer of cats and rats. As J remarks:

To hang about a stable, and collect a gang of the most disreputable dogs to be found in the town, and lead them out to march round the slums to fight other disreputable dogs, is Montmorency’s idea of ‘life’…

We follow the three adventurers as they travel along the River Thames. Funny episodes abound, but here’s the one that left me gasping for breath.