Comment on the ending of the novel Three Men in a Boat.

The three friends—J., George, and Harris—and the dog Montmorency have embarked on a boating trip along the River Thames. They planned to take two weeks to go upriver from Kingston to Oxford, and then to turn around and head back downstream. Even though they had gleefully left London in order to get a restful vacation, they were not too big on adventure. After all, they had decided before they set out that they would find...

The three friends—J., George, and Harris—and the dog Montmorency have embarked on a boating trip along the River Thames. They planned to take two weeks to go upriver from Kingston to Oxford, and then to turn around and head back downstream. Even though they had gleefully left London in order to get a restful vacation, they were not too big on adventure. After all, they had decided before they set out that they would find inns to stay in overnight, if the weather got bad. All of them were easily distracted, too. So it shouldn’t surprise us that in the end, and in the middle of a steady and prolonged rainstorm, the four of them make a group decision that will lead them back to London a bit quicker than expected. And naturally, they agree that they have had “a pleasant trip.” Life is what you make of it.