Three Men on the Bummel (Penguin Popular Classics) [Paperback]

Jerome K Jerome (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Popular Classics | Publication Date: January 26, 1995

'I did not intend to write a funny book, at first' wrote Jerome J. Jerome of "Three Men in a Boat", which has since become a comic classic. When J. the narrator, George, Harris, and Montmorency the dog, set off on their hilarious misadventures, they can hardly predict the troubles that lie ahead with tow-ropes, unreliable weather-forecasts, imaginary illnesses, butter pats and tins of pineapple chunks. Denounced as vulgar by the literary establishment, "Three Men in a Boat" nevertheless caught the spirit of the times.The expansion of education and the increase in office workers created a new mass readership, and Jerome's book was especially popular among the 'clerking classes' who longed to be 'free from that fretful haste, that vehement striving, that is every day becoming more and more the bane of nineteenth-century life.' So popular did it prove that Jerome reunited his heroes for a bicycle tour of Germany. Despite some sharp, and with hindsight, prophetic observations of the country, "Three Men on the Bummel" describes an equally picaresque journey constrained only 'by the necessity of getting back within a given time to the point from which one started'.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

5 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

David Case is the founder and current president of Live Free Ministries, a ministry dedicated to restoring kingdom power and authority to spiritual leadership. Since the early 1990s, David Case has held retreats for both pastors and lay persons, helping them break through bondages and pointing them toward fulfilling the call of God on their lives. Having pastored the same church for eighteen years, Pastor Case gives other pastors the tools they need to implement the lifegiver model into a whole-church setting. Case also co-hosts a radio program and ministers internationally. It is David Case's heart to blend "the supernatural of the spiritual realm" with a very solid application into the natural realm.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics (January 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140621458
• ISBN-13: 978-0140621457
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.6 x 4.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,974,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous tales of cycling the Black Forest, January 12, 2004

By 

K Scheffler (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Men on the Bummel (Paperback)

I read this book--which I assume is a fictionalized account of an actual journay--after having spent a year in Germany and I bemused by the fact that the Germans that Jerome K. Jerome characterizes in this book (published in 1900) are very similar to those of the present day. Added to this, is the fact that the book is mainly set in the Black Forest region of Germany, which is where I stayed. So not only was this book humorous and entertaining, it rekindled fond memories as well. The writing I fear will disillusion the more casual reader, but for those who have the inclination, this book is a very worthwhile read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars delightful, if not quite at the level of Three Men in a Boat, August 30, 2011

By 

Neurasthenic "neurasthenic" (New York City, New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Three Men on the Bummel (Paperback)

I read this book both because I, like so many, was delighted with Jerome K. Jerome's earlier book, Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog...), and because this sequel has the reputation of being a "bicycle book," a genre I often enjoy. In both regards I was slightly disappointed. Though entertaining, Bummel is not as funny as Three Men in a Boat, and though the protagonists in Bummel do travel in part by bicycle, the book is mostly a discussion of the process of planning a trip, and of the German cities they visited.

As with Three Men in a Boat, this book seems thoroughly modern in tone and style of humor. Jerome K. Jerome is particularly fond of comical exaggeration of the sort that would seem totally natural on a television sitcom today. After a mistake involving somebody else's bicycle, and a run-in with the authorities, he summarizes "My going scot free is regarded in police circles there to this day as a grave miscarriage of justice."
Portions read much like Douglas Adams ("I wish no one to read this book under a misapprehension. There will be no useful information in this book.") and others like John Cleese in Fawlty Towers (a discussion of an English shopkeeper frustrated when the protagonists, as a prank, pretend not to be able to speak English). The material near the start of the book about the friends and their wives is all quite funny, and thoroughly modern in the way the women effortlessly outsmart the men. The discussions of stereotypical German behavior are remarkable mostly for how little such stereotypes have changed. Germans were, 120 years ago and today, thought to be officious and compulsive in following rules. Fans of old bicycle books will find much here to like, with description of the hazards of amateur bike-tuning, and lies in bike advertisements, and the observation that uphills always seem to last longer than downhills.

The book is in some regards dated. These passages are in some cases fascinating -- the discussion of how beautiful Dresden is (in 1895), and other German cities that were burned out in World War II. Others are merely confusing (what is the significance of the hats owned by "Mrs Hemans"?). One brief section, told in stereotypical black dialect, will offend some modern readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Three Men Review, June 6, 2010

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Amazon User from Texas (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Three Men on the Bummel [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Fiction) (Preloaded Digital Audio Player)

This book is a long time favorite of mine and to have it so conveniently packaged on Playaway is such a luxury. Can now laugh out loud even at the gym! Would like to see more of the David Case(records under several names) recordings available on Playaway. If you haven't encountered this book in ANY format---do so quickly----you are missing a treat and a world of happy memories.