# Novel referencing Three Men in a Boat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782 "2012-09-25T15:22:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/1 "2012-09-25T15:22:35Z")
I’m currently reading 3MiaB(tsnotd) by Jerome K. Jerome. I had put this on my reading list, after having read another novel in which the author had repeatedly referred to 3MiaB as the funniest book of all time. And the edition I have has an intro by Peter DeVries contending pretty much the same thing. I wondered if any of you might be able to identify the novel I read in which the author sang the praises of 3MiaB. Suffice it to say I do not share that author’s high opinion of this “comic masterpiece.” I think this is a pretty tough question, so I expect one of the millions will post the answer in a matter of minutes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/2 "2012-09-25T15:27:09Z")
Connie Willis’s **[To Say Nothing of the Dog](http://www.amazon.com/Say-Nothing-Dog-Connie-Willis/dp/0553575384)** ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/3 "2012-09-25T16:43:08Z")
Nope, I haven’t read that one. I’m kicking myself. Up until a couple of years ago, I used to keep a list of the books I read. For various reasons (primarily laziness) I stopped doing that. In situations such as this, it was a great help in trying to refresh my memory. My vague recollection is that one character claimed this was the funniest book ever written, and another character either wasn’t buying that or was tired of hearing it. I remember at one point one character asked (paraphrase), **"Did you get to the part about the cheeses yet?"** Well, I passed that passage and more without injuring myself from uncontrollable laughter… ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/4 "2012-09-25T16:48:58Z")
[Here’s a blurb along the lines that you describe](http://www.npr.org/2011/12/05/141239721/victorian-humor-at-its-silliest-cheesiest-best) from All Things Considered, although it’s clearly not what you’re looking for since it’s not a book. I was also underwhelmed by 3MiaB; I thought it was mildly humourous in places, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/5 "2012-09-25T17:18:06Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > [Here’s a blurb along the lines that you describe](http://www.npr.org/2011/12/05/141239721/victorian-humor-at-its-silliest-cheesiest-best) from All Things Considered, although it’s clearly not what you’re looking for since it’s not a book. > > I was also underwhelmed by 3MiaB; I thought it was mildly humourous in places, but that’s about it. Man, that seems like it could have been it - seems really close to what I remembered, especially the bit where he asks if she “got to the bit about the cheeses.” I listen to NPR pretty regularly. Tho I don’t remember any interview with this author, I may have noted the title after hearing something on the radio. Don’t think I’ve ever looked into that site. On re-reading, looks like you can listen to the original broadcast. Blocked at work, but I’ll give it a try later. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/6 "2012-09-25T17:31:39Z")
I read the first half of it and that was enough. Maybe you need to have attended Eton to get it. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/7 "2012-09-25T17:35:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Connie Willis’s **[To Say Nothing of the Dog](http://www.amazon.com/Say-Nothing-Dog-Connie-Willis/dp/0553575384)** Please note that this book’s dedication reads: “To Robert A. Heinlein, who, in _Have Space Suit - Will Travel,_ introduced me to Jerome K. Jerome’s _Three Men in a Boat._” So, Heinlein’s novel also references Jerome’s work. Basically, it’s the protagonist’s father’s favorite work, and there is at least one scene in which the father is reading out loud from it. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/8 "2012-09-25T23:52:03Z")
Heinlein mentioned it in another of his works, but I don’t remember which one. After reading Connie Willis’s book, I got hold of Three Men. Found it amusing but not productive of belly laughs. It is so much a product of its time, it’s hard to appreciate it, and how ground-breaking it was in its day. The rise of and intrusion of the middle class into territory previously mostly occupied by the privileged classes, if I recall the introduction correctly. (But might not, as it was a long time ago that I read it.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/9 "2012-09-26T14:16:34Z")
Don’t think I read any Heinlein lately, so I’m still not sure where I heard of this book. But I do know that I stopped trying to wade through it last night. Whatever its impact may have been at one time, at present, this reader found it spectacularly unfunny. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/10 "2012-09-26T15:24:03Z")
I think it’s very amusing with a few LOL moments, in much the same vein as Jeeves & Wooster, but not everything is for everyone. You gave it a whirl, no one can ask for more. ---
**Author:** ![Gesturing\_Mildly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@Gesturing\_Mildly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gesturing_Mildly)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/11 "2012-09-26T16:25:52Z")
Sorry, I can’t help, but if a character said that book was the funniest ever, I’d immediately pinpoint him/her as the murderer. I, too, read it after the piece on NPR, and hated it. It seemed just up my alley of silly, absurd humor. I did laugh at the tinned pineapple scene, but didn’t even crack a smile through the rest of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novel-referencing-three-men-in-a-boat/635782/12 "2012-09-26T17:00:47Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > Please note that this book’s dedication reads: > > “To Robert A. Heinlein, who, in _Have Space Suit - Will Travel,_ introduced me to Jerome K. Jerome’s _Three Men in a Boat._” > > So, Heinlein’s novel also references Jerome’s work. Basically, it’s the protagonist’s father’s favorite work, and there is at least one scene in which the father is reading out loud from it. Yep, and the hero gets out of the way quickly having noted that he’s heard that spiel 100 times.