The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl

[Bruin Fisher]

Sometimes a story just hits you right between the eyes, and sometimes you reel not only because of the impact but also in surprise.

Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) is of course well known, not only for having a silly name but also for having written the comic classic Three Men in a Boat.

A quick flick through Project Gutenburg reveals that he wrote thirty works, and that Three Men in a Boat is available as an Audio Book.

The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl

Here is a short story that knocked me flying. Its beauty, pathos, and evocation of a foreign place and time is breathtaking. So now I have to go read all the rest of his output. Project Gutenburg is a wonderful resource.

I hope you like it as much as I did!

Bruin

[Camy]

I love 'Three Men in a Boat.' It's one of the funniest books I have. I didn't know Jerome's middle name was Klapka, however. Why is it parents insist on weird middle names?

[Bruin Fisher]

I didn't know Jerome's middle name was Klapka, however. Why is it parents insist on weird middle names?

It gets wierder. His father was a cleric called Jerome Clapp, known as Pastor Clapp. When the family moved to a new town, the Pastor decided to be known as Pastor Jerome. His son was christened Jerome Clapp Jerome too. His sisters were Paulina Deodata and Blandina Dominica, and a brother, Milton Melancthon who died at the age of six. Jerome decided to change his middle name to Klapka after the young Hungarian hero General George Klapka, and told a story about Klapka having spent some time in England and stayed with the Jerome family. However that is now thought to be fiction.

The things parents do to their kids! Talk about A Boy Named Sue!!

Bruin

The Jerome K Jerome Society website on the subject