Vintage Classics are always refreshing. "Three Men on the Bummel" oozes with not just any wit but pure British wit. Of course, it is condescending every day but Jerome. K. Jerome, with an elusive approach manages to do it with the art of subtlety. The three middle-aged men George, Harris and the author himself who is also the narrator of the story set out for a short trip a.k.a, a bummel to Germany. As they explore the cities, their streets, the people, the cuisine, the culture, law and order in the new country, they encounter and become a part of some funny incidents which are tragic for them but a comic relief for the readers. The author also provides an informative bite-sized language course from German to English and French/Italian to English here and there. The book, when released in the 1990s must have received some harsh censoring and policing before publication as it very much ridicules the German stereotypes and norms. The part you will enjoy reading a lot is where Jerome describes how nature behaves in Germany. Sometimes it makes one wonder if that was really the case or if Jerome has exaggerated it to bring in humour. This is definitely a recommended classic among the list of books, I'd read again, like "Pigs Have Wings" by PG Wodehouse.
THE CHARIOT OF OUR ANGELS! After so many phases of colour transformations, finally, our bus has become yellow....Yellow????.sigh........ Anyway, I've seen blue with penguins but not this. Sometimes I hate our buses for chasing us away with our books and lunch boxes during the casual turns...so much remodelling..so many cras.....ssshhhesss... oopsie!!! I didn't mean to say that...Well..now it's a vibrant bucket of bolts...good! THE GRAND GATEWAY! It's hard for me to not keep thinking about our old watchman. Sharp at 8:45 these huge pair of gates would be closed.There would be a little door too...for other people to enter..and the notice board that you see right there always captivated us during monsoons....we'd wait for some holiday notes to be written so we could run back home. Emails or Phones or WhatsApp didn't exist then. Though these gates did scare us a few times...it very well taugh...
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