Three Men in a Boat

http://www.amazon.com/

What can you possibly expect from three men in a boat with a dog of the same gender?

Lazy hours of pipe-smoking and whisky-drinking? No cooking or at least no edible result of it? Mysterious loss of anything essential for the trip? Occassional commotion over who is supposed to do what? The gloss of humour glinting off whatever trouble they get themsleves in?

Surely, you don't expect anything contemplative or poetic as the following. At least I didn't.

And yet it seems so full of comfort and of strength, the night. In its great presence, our sorrows creep away, ashamed. The day has been so full of fret and care, and our hearts have been so full of evil and of bitter thoughts, and the world has seemed so hard and wrong to us. Then Night, like some great loving mother, gently lays her hand upon our fevered head ... and the pain is gone.

Sometimes our pain is very deep and real, and we stand before her very silent, because there is no language for our pain, only a moan. Night's heart is full of pity for us ... she takes our hand in hers, and the little world grows very small and very far beneath us, and, borne on her dark wings, we pass for a moment into a mightier Presence than her own, and in the wondrous light of that great Presence, all human life lies like a book before us, and we know that Pain and Sorrow are but the angels of God.

Simply loved it.

Occassionaly, there's the odd passage like the one above; otherwise the book centers mostly on the experience of the four characters I already mentioned and their adventures on a boat trip along the Thames. It's full of humour and irony for classic stereotypes like fishermen, barmen, landlords and situations like packing, shopping, putting up a tent, playing a musical instrument, eating even.

Reflections on peeling potatoes, boiling water for tea and working in general are such joy to read!

I must say that this book surpassed my expectations. Generally I don't fall for an episodic, sketch-like of novels, I mean the Tristram Shandy kind of novel. I like continuos plots and characters I can love/identify with/learn something from, ie. anything to catch my eye and hold my emotions. Three Men in a Boat is funny and thoughtlful at the same time; definitely gives me something to take away with me.