The Passing of the Third Floor Back [Hardcover]

Jerome K. Jerome (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Dodd, Mead, and Company (1939)
• ASIN: B000RL4L4I
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sentimental, perhaps, but charming nonetheless, May 21, 2011

By 

P. Mann (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passing of the Third Floor Back (Kindle Edition)

In this charming short story, a stranger arrives at a boarding house in England, where the inhabitants and the landlady all have a variety of character flaws, from the penurious landlady to the vain 39-year-old woman trying to pass for much younger to the husband and wife who bicker constantly to the young woman determined on jilting her love in favor of someone with money. Around the stranger, however, they begin to act strangely, showing consideration for others.

"Passing of the Third Floor Back" (the title refers to the stranger's room at the boarding house) is one of my all-time favorite short stories, right up there with "The Story of an Hour," "One Ordinary Day with Peanuts," "The Open Window," "Popular Girls" (by Karen Shepard), "A Wagner Matinee," and several others. The writing is typical of Jerome K. Jerome's work--carefully crafted and often quite funny. This story, which was later made into a film, may be suitable for any age, but the prose is sometimes difficult to get through and requires a certain assuredness of the reader. The reward more than justifies the effort.