Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog!) by Jerome K. Jerome

Compare and contrast Three Men in a Boat (published in 1889) and
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (published in 1885).

Finn is the story of a lower class american boy and a fugitive
slave escaping oppression by traveling down the Mississippi River on a
homemade raft. On the way, they encounter danger and adventure. This
book is often considered the Great American Novel.

Boat is the story of three well-to-do English gentlemen (to say
nothing of their dog) escaping the drudgery of work by traveling up the
Thames on a rented sailboat. On the way, they encounter insignificant
obstacles, and make a big deal out of it. This book was originally
intended to be a travel guide, but just got out of hand and became a
novel. For some reason, they also tacked on some ghost stories at the
end, perhaps to fluff up the page count.

Quote from Finn:
“It’s lovely to live on a raft. We had the sky up there, all speckled with
stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them, and discuss
about whether they was made or only just happened.”

Quote from Boat:
“I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”

All in all, I enjoyed the writing (likened to that of P.G. Wodehouse, but
I think that’s overstating it a bit), but was left with a “so what?”
feeling