Jerome K. Jerome · 1889 · river

Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 comic classic, begun as a straight Thames guidebook and hijacked by its own jokes. Three hypochondriac friends and a fox terrier take a camping skiff up the river from Kingston to Oxford, and are defeated in turn by tinned pineapple, towpath navigation, a swan, the weather, and their own competitive laziness.

1. 1
   Kingston

   Having diagnosed themselves with every illness in the dictionary except housemaid's knee, J., George and Harris prescribe a river holiday - and load a skiff at Kingston with far more luggage than three men and a dog need.

2. 2
   Hampton Court

   Past Hampton Court, where Harris enters the maze with a map and a confident manner and has to be rescued along with everyone who followed him, the river settles into locks, towpaths and learning to row together.

3. 3
   Marlow

   Up through Windsor and Maidenhead to Marlow, the three of them contend with steam launches, a tin of pineapple and no opener, the packing of a hamper, and the perpetual question of whose turn it is to do the work.

4. 4
   Reading

   At Reading the Thames turns quieter and older, and the comedy gives way for a page to the body of a woman found in the water - the one moment the book stops laughing before picking the joke straight back up again.

5. 5
   Oxford

   They reach Oxford, spend a few days there, and start back down - until the rain sets in so comprehensively that the three of them abandon the boat, catch a train to London, and console themselves with supper.