Written at the end of the 1890s cycle craze driven by the invention of the safety bicycle, Three Men on the Bummel is a sequel to Jerome K Jerome’s better known classic Three Men in a Boat and follows the further adventures of the author and his two friends, George and Harris. It is, as the title suggests, a wander, this time through Germany, particularly the Black Forest region. However, the routes taken and the journeys themselves are extremely vague and the ‘story’ mainly consists of a series of anecdotes, some humorous, others less so.
Despite the fact that the men set off on two bicycles (one a tandem) this is not particularly a cycling book; for instance, there is little description of the cycles themselves and certainly no technical information. Nor is there any description of the means the friends used to carry their luggage, and very little information of what they took with them. One assumes the baggage was sent on by train but this is barely mentioned.
However, the book does give some interesting insights into twentieth century life, describing the domestic set-up and the means by which the two married men (Harris and the author) persuaded their wives to let them go on their wanderings.
While this is hardly a ‘laugh out loud’ story there is a gently humour about many of the incidents, such as George’s attempts to buy boots, the difficulties of speaking German, short strolls in Hanover and in Berlin, the delights and drawbacks of the Kneipe (German stag party) and the way the men wandered in ever-increasing circles due to their imperfect map reading.
Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men on the Bummel can be read for free through Project Gutenberg’s website. Project Gutenberg offers over 50,000 free e-books, which are all out-of-copyright and can be read either on your computer or an ebook reader.
Note: A bummel is a German word, described by one of the characters as ‘a journey, long or short, without an end’ with the only rule being that you must return to the start at some point. The word has some similarities with wander in English.
