I'd like to suggest a double-entry.

The first would be Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog). Written in 1889, denounced by critics for its "vulgarity" and "colloquial clerks' English," the humor of the newly emerging middle class still rings true today. On top of this there is plenty of middle class Victorian phraseology to go over.

The second would be Connie Willis's 1998 Hugo winner,To Say Nothing of the Dog (or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump At Last). Ms. Willis has won more Hugos in a shorter time than practically any other author. This time travelling tale to the Victorian Era mimics the style of the earlier work, and it should be interesting to compare them and see if Ms. Willis actually captured the flavor of Jerome's book.

I'm up for reading either Jerome's Three Men in a Boat or Ditto on the Bummel. I'll look for my copies. And, perhaps, afterwards, we can read Max Beerbohm's Zuleika Dobson; or, An Oxford Love Story (1911).

[Fixed typos.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

I'd love to read the 1889 one. The language aspect seems intriguing. I will look for it in the book store.

Quick question...I've not heard of it. Is the Victorian phraseology understandable (by those of us on the amateur end of the language scale)?

The language is entirely comprehensible, although a little formal by modern standards. It's also one of the funniest books ever written in the English language.

Perfect. I will get it then, and I am excited!

My stepbrother is the barman at the Swan Hotel in Streatley, which is reputed to be one of those at which J and his friends were unable to get accommodation.

I have a standing invitation to spend a night there but so far haven't made it.

Is the book available in bookstores, does anyone know or do I need to order it used from Amazon?

I have a Penguin Classics edition which contains both Boat and Bummel. I bought it new from either Borders or Barnes & Noble a couple years ago. It has footnotes for many of the Victorian references.

Richard, your hotel comment has me wondering if one is still able to use the Thames for a similar idyll in the present day?

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Richard, your hotel comment has me wondering if one is still able to use the Thames for a similar idyll in the present day?

Oh yes. It's quite possible to rent a boat for any period from an hour upwards. When my mother and stepfather lived in Henley-on-Thames http://www.henley-on-thames.org/Pages/home.htm - we frequently hired from Alf Parrot (an old-established Henley company)- http://hometown.aol.com/boatbaron/apm.html and took a trip up or downstream.

There are still boats in use on the Thames that would have been around when J and his friends were around.

The 1909 edition of Three Men in a Boat has been scanned in and is available here, complete with pictures http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/boat/boat.htm

Here's part of the 'Author's Advertisement' to the 1909 edition Richard mentioned.

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The world has been very kind to this book. Mr. Arrowsmith speaks only of its sales in Great Britain. In Chicago, I was assured by an enterprising pirate now retired, that the sales throughout the United States had exceeded a million; and although, in consequence of its having been published before the Copyright Convention, this has brought me no material advantage, the fame and popularity it has won for me among the American public is an asset not to be despised. It has been translated into, I think, every European language except Arabian, also into some of those of Asia.

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Is the book available in bookstores, does anyone know or do I need to order it used from Amazon?

I am getting it from the library. (Lovely institution, that, and I know for certain you have nice ones, too!)