AMONG THE BOOKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1897, 12 June 1890, Page 34

AMONG THE BOOKS.

" THREE MEN IN A BOAT, TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG." IBy Jerome K. Jerome. Bristol : J. W. Arrowsmilh. London : Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. Dunedin : James Horsburgh. This is Mr Jerome's latest effort, and it is the most amusing volume that we have seen for a long time. It is impossible to read it even to one's self without laughing, and it offers quite a mine of wealth to those who desire something new in the way of a selection for reading aloud at one of those entertainments which jare so popular among us during the winter season. From the first page to the last it teems with mirth-produc-ing subjects, from delicate, sarcastic, halfveiled humour, to broad side-splitting farce. To tke few persons who cannot appreciate a joke without a " surgical operation " we do not recommend this book — they would no doubt look upon its contents as nonsense ; but to those differently constituted we say, Do not lose this opportunity of enjoying one of those hearty laughs which shake the cobwebs out of our brains. In the first chapter we are told that the hero and his friends feel unwell, the result of over-work. He goes to the British Museum to consult some medical work on the subject, and being beguiled by the fascination of the volume to read on, discovers that he has every known disease except " housemaid's knee." In this terrible emergency he con-, suits a doctor, who gives him the following prescription :—: — lib beefsteak with 1 pint bitter bear every 6 hours. 1 ten-mile walk every morning, 1 bed at 11 sharp every night, and don't atuff your head with things you don't understand. The three friends being thus invalided determine that •' a change " is the thing which they all require. And having discussed the matter pro and con in every possible phase, they decide to go up the River Thames in a good sized pleasure boat, which can be rowed or towed according to circumstances, and being provided with a cover, may serve as a shelter and sleeping place. The description of the packing is rich in the extreme. Each thinks that his duty is to direct the other two, who in their turn entertain a similar opinion, with the natural result that the packing does not progress harmoniously. They packed the pies at the bottom, and put heavy things on top, and smashed the pies in. They upset the salt over everything, and as for the butter, I never saw two men do more with Is 2d worth of butter in my whole life than thoy did. After George had got it off bis slippers they tried to put it in the kettle. It wouldn't f?o in, and what was in wouldn't oome out. They did scrape it off at laßt and put it on a chair, and Harris Bat on it, and it stuck to him, &0., &o. At last the packing is over, and they retire to bed with the intention of rising early in the morning. Whenever was such an intention carried out? Certainly not in the present instance, for Mrs Poppets wakes them on the following morning with "Do you know that it is nearly 9 o'clock, sir ? " They rise and prepare for the start, taking their luggage on to the door-step, and waiting for a cab. The luggage is miscellaneous in its character, and the cab is long in coming, so they become objects of great interest to all the small boys in the neighbourhood. At last they get under weigh, and proceed by rail to Kingston, where their boat awaits them, and,, whence they start on their now famous voyage. The description of the river is very pretty, and very true to Nature, and the little bits of descriptive writing are like gems amidst the broad humour of the adventures which befall our three friends.

Montmorency, the dog, is an admirable sketch. He is a small, fox-terrier, "whose ambition in life is to get in the way, and be sworn at." He makes friends or enemies of all the most disreputable dogs, and brings them into his master's train. He fights with all the cats, except one that proves too good for him, and he makes himself a general nuisance and is yet an important element in the success of the expedition. His light with the tea kettle is exceedingly rich, and we have seldom read anything more exquisitely absurd.

The friends take a supply of provisons with them, yet from time to time they essay a little cooking on their own account, and their success on such occasions would hardly warrant them in starting a cooking class. Once Harris made some scrambled eggs, for which he declared himself specially famous, so much so that people who had once tasted them " never cared for any other food afterwards but pined away and died when they could not get them." The process was interesting and exciting, but the result was not altogether a success. On another occasion they make an Irish stew, but the description of the preparation of this dish is so exceeding comical, that it would be a shame to condense it in any way. It must be read in full to be appreciated.

The volume is charmingly illustrated by A. Frederics, whose quaint thumb-nail pictures are not among the least of its attractions. The prefaces to the two books are also gems ; that to the more serious volume of essays repudiates all intention of improving, instructing, or elevating: "This book would not elevate a cow. I cannot conscientiously recommend it for any useful purposes whatever." Whereas the preface to "Three Men in a Boat " informs us that though "other works may excel this in depth of thought &nd knowledge of human nature, other books may rival it in originality and size, yet for hopeless and incurable veracity nothing yet discovered can surpass it. This, more than all other charms, will, it is felt, make the volume precious in the eye of the earnest reader ; and will lend additional weight to the lesson that the story teaches."

Usß Sunlight Soap— your olothes wea* longer, — [Advt,]