Helpful Score: 1
This is an amusing account which provides a bit of British travel history laced with humor.
Helpful Score: 1
The introduction purports that this is based upon real events. As it is written with subtle humor, a dab of satire, and a measure of exaggeration, as he essays their experiences enroute up the Thames River. I suppose it might be classified as a fictional travelogue, particularly as the narrator (the author) often treats the dog mentioned in the subtitle as having human qualities, such as speech. I found the first half of the book rather humorous as the author essays around the happenstances of his unwieldy crew. Then I seemed to get bogged down, much like the crew of his boat. The asides are more mundane, less witty, although the trout story near the end brings things back into perspective.
Since this book was an influence on Connie Willis' fabulous and funny novel, I figured I should read it and see what she was getting at.
It's a short, comic Victorian novel. The humor is based on the fact that none of the events of the book are of any importance whatsoever, but that the narrator makes every little thing out to be practically an incident from a heroic epic.
It's very short, and it is funny - but I think it's good that it's short, because I don't think that it could have been sustained much longer.
(Willis is funnier.)
It's a short, comic Victorian novel. The humor is based on the fact that none of the events of the book are of any importance whatsoever, but that the narrator makes every little thing out to be practically an incident from a heroic epic.
It's very short, and it is funny - but I think it's good that it's short, because I don't think that it could have been sustained much longer.
(Willis is funnier.)
A fun read.
Dry English kind of humor - tounge in cheek. I think its funny, but might not be for everyone.
This is a 1964 reprint by Time-Life Books. It contains the author's preface to the original edition, an "advertisement" by the author, and an introduction by Peter De Vries.
