readers advisory for all discussion

the members have spoken: Three Men in a Boat will be our first group read. if it goes well, we can read other books together and see what we learn.

so, again, the point of our reading a book together is so we can all learn how to extract appeal factors from a text, and learn how to discuss books in a way that is relevant to a readers' advisory scenario.

the deadline for finishing the book is june 1st.
i will be posting some information on here from NoveList, which will be useful to glance over before starting the book, just to help get a sense of what kinds of things to be on the lookout for.

are we excited?

I've heard it's pretty hilarious and given that it's already on my to-read list, yes we are excited!

I've downloaded and it looks like a fun read.

I'm excited

I'm good to go!

nah - it won't be a problem - as long as you weren't going to do one of your RA reviews that maps out all the appeal factors. then we will just cheat off your paper!

okay - they changed my schedule this week, so i have to go in earlier than planned, but i will be able to pop in periodically to contribute the discussion.

so it's not about whether we liked it or not - for our own personal selves, that's great, but the questions that we should focus on are more: what are the appeal factors? what are the features of this book? to whom would we suggest this book? to whom would we absolutely not suggest this book? i posted some stuff in the thread directly below this if you are looking for some appropriate keywords/starting points.

and i will be back on ASAP...

Um...Light and airy tone full of wafer thin sarcasm and giddy humor carefully conveyed through often over-restrained prose?

Jolly but slightly madcap adventure story abounding in wit and mild peril?

i would not recommend it to anyone looking for a prolonged narrative; it is definitely more a collection of episodic happenings.

Would you say that it is more a relaxed pace?

I mean, I hardly gnawed on my knuckles or anything.

ummmmm no, i think it is very fast-paced. they are always bopping off to one thing or the other. there are sections where it slows down a little, when nature is described, but those sections are not very numerous

I'm horrible at this. I'm equating pacing with gripping and intense situations.

I looked at your other page and wrote this:

Relaxed pace
Light airy tone
Big: Wafer-thin sarcasm and giddy humor, witticisms
Writing style seemingly carefree but carefully conveyed through well-crafted British restraint

I am not even going to tell you if I thought it was character driven or situationally driven. Just take whatever is the wrong answer and that is most likely what I wrote.

And I had the words:
feelgood, funny, sanguine, conversational, engaging, and witty

you're not at all horrible!! this is how we are learning! and since it's just you and me there's no pressure!

Enter Brian. And shame.

But that will not deter me. I will wave my hand again at the teacher and be spectacularly wrong.

And here I go. For me, the roadtrip is overwhelmed by the stories of the characters, their relatives, and little asides about how to properly go about doing this, that, or nothing.

But yes, I concede that the essence of the book is a boat trip down the Thames by three men and a dog. But it is more than the title.

but it is a convenient frame to show off these characters in their laziness and quirkiness.

The Ascent of Rum Doodle

i just added a link so i could check this book out...

i still think it is character-driven because it is the way these characters view their surroundings that drives the plot, and their innumerable asides...

I was kidding. Self-deprecating humor enters with me. It rides on my shoulder and whispers into my ear.
I think it is why I like Jerome Jerome.

Koeeoaddi wrote: "Add it to the stack of the person reading The Ascent of Rum Doodle, My Dog Tulip or Cold Comfort Farm."

And Fierce Pajamas

I wouldn't recommend this for the humorless.
But I would recommend it to an aspiring Anglophile.

yeah, it's definitely a very specific type of humor. that's why RA is so difficult when it comes to humor because everyone's got their own ideas about what that means. so many people just don't respond to british humor.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

for more modern humor writers featured in the New Yorker

I am not sure whether I would call this pretentious or unpretentious. If you consider it from the time of the writing, the style of the writing, or from a reader's perspective now. Would most find this pretentious, or only the people that hate what they might call highbrow humor?

It is like considering the word 'nostalgia' for this book. People might read this because it has a more genteel approach to humor and to life long ago, but I think that author might not be nostalgic for that reason- in fact, he is nostalgic in the book for an even more unhurried time of the Thames.

i think there are enough silly episodes for it to escape the highbrow label. "there's a man in my bed!!"
"what shall we put in the stew!!" "oh nooooo what is happening??"

ooh, and we forgot about writing style, which i think would be conversational, witty, and engaging

karen wrote"...conversational, witty, and engaging"

Wait. Those were the last three words on my list. Was I right about something? Hallelujah.

see what a genius you are!! i didn't even remember your list (i am at work so a little distracted), i just went to the page. JEEEENIUS!

Then let us spar about the pacing because I am still not convinced.

I don't get it. I thought something faster paced would be rivetting. This book felt to me more like a rollicking read. It was easy to pull in and out of it (twss). Explain pacing please. It is obvious I need the help.

well, there were parts of it that were slower; when i get home i will have my copy and will show examples. but slow-paced books tend to have a lot of description, and long passages where there is just no actual action happening. something can be fast-paced and not be riveting if you are just not into the story....

i will try to be clearer when i get home...

or someone with the book there can do it if they understand what i am trying to say...

I definitely agree with light hearted. I think this book is pretty funny. I've only read a third so far, sorry. My favorite part so far is in chapter four, that whole meandering aside about the oppressively smelly cheeses. More of a smile and chuckle than a laugh out loud.

I would probably recommend this to someone who liked Candide or Confederacy of Dunces, someone who does't take themselves too seriously. A good beach read perhaps for someone who likes literary fiction but wants something quick and light.

exactly: it's short, you don't have to concentrate on it too much, it's good for a chuckle or two...

Okay. I just thought that often in a book where there are asides and conversations and a focus on the development of character pacing suffers a bit and that in a more situational book (plot-driven) characters tend to suffer more at the expense of pacing.

But I would be more surprised to be right than more surprised to be wrong. I'm Eeyore that way. (and thanks for noticin' me)

no, you are absolutely right. this book is something of an anomaly because the tone of it is so breezy and the sections are rather brief. maybe i am wrong though, this could be a whole discussion if anyone's game.

there's not really any cause-and-effect beyond each individual section, either, so i think it makes it seem more like tiny little stories stitched together. but this is just my impression

I'm not done with the book yet and so haven't posted my thoughts on the appeal factors yet. My early impressions are that this novel reads like a series of short stories loosely stitched together with those little stringie things that hang from cut off jeans after they have been washed a few dozen times. While I'm not done I think Jen may have hit the nail on the head when she commented, "Relaxed pace, light airy tone, wafer-thin sarcasm and giddy humor, witticisms. Writing style seemingly carefree but carefully conveyed through well-crafted British restraint." I might add that fans of Monty Python or Woody Allen will likely find another alter to pay homage to in Three Men in a Boat.

Scott, wherever did you come from? Wherever that is, don't go back. Stay here and agree with me more. And, well, maybe... don't finish the book. Because if you do something may happen to cloud your judgement and then the universe would frown upon me again. Just a thought.

I just checked your profile. And. Of course. You are not really liking the book so far. I knew the sunshiny face of agreement could only stay out for so long. Crap.

Oh well. We'll always have Lord of the Flies to marvel at and Stranger in a Strange Land to grok.

i feel like i should be making more noise in here... but i don't know what else to cover here. i am horrible at my group. sadface

Perhaps you could let us know how you would describe the book.

i think if i were suggesting it to someone, i would say it was humorous, but with a very specific tone to the humor, and i would recommend they read the first page-and-a-half because if they aren't keen on it right from the get-go, it's never going to be their thing. but i would also say it was a quick read where many fun and silly things happen to a group of characters who see themselves one way, and the reader sees another way. because everyone likes an unreliable narrator, right? and i would definitely play uf the british humor thing, because this is not the same audience as the david sedaris crowd.

i find it hard to talk about this book for some reason - probably because it is more of a travelogue piece than a traditional rising action sort of story...

which might mean that it is more of a 'relaxed pace', right?

(*jab at your right shoulder*)

A promo for this book could be: Like Seinfeld? Steve Martin? Chevy Chase movies? Are You Being Served or that other old Brit sitcom about people working at a department store? Try floating down the Thames with Jerome Jerome (no, that is no typo, his mother really named him that) in Three Men in A Boat.

Oh, and...

WARNING: This book not for people like David Kowalski, or for anyone who would like to kill everyone involved in the making of a Ralph Lauren ad. Or people allergic to any type of plaid.

aww... david... i miss him.

i like jen's better - it is more enthusiastic. do you people realize i have to write a 200 page paper on the going-on in this group and i am starting to feel the pressure?

I felt that the story had a relaxed pace, maybe due to the narrator's habit of getting somewhat off-topic and telling little stories he is reminded of along the way. Which is really what the book is - a series of humorous anecdotes and little historical asides. It was definitely upbeat and I enjoyed the author's dry wit. The language is not highbrow, but very easy to follow, written for the common 19th century man. The author is quite wordy at times as the narrator relates each story in detail. I found myself skimming over some stories that seemed excessively long, but otherwise it was an enjoyable, quick read.

Okay, I'm a little late to the party here, but ... I really liked this book at first but then it got a little tedious, and I just wanted it to end so I could move on to something else. As if, "It's cute, but I get the point already." Two stars.