BIOGRAPHY:

Jerome Klapka Jerome is a humorist writer who collaborated on a regular basis with the satirical magazine Punch. The creator of the legendary book “Three in a Boat, Not Counting a Dog” has an amazing biography filled with events and experiments. From his pen came stories, novellas, essays, novels and plays that were included in the course of world literature.

CHILDHOOD:

Jerome K. Jerome’s birthplace is Walsall, Staffordshire. It was there that on May 2, 1859, a future writer was born into an already large family, who was destined to leave a mark on world literature. The boy’s father had a rather difficult time in his youth when, as a Hungarian general, he emigrated and was forced to change his name to Jerome Clap Jerome. In his new “guise,” he began working as a preacher without orders, selling hardware, working as a builder and mining coal.

Hoping that fortune would smile, Jerome Sr. invested all his available funds in mining production. This reckless act led to the fact that his wife and four children found themselves on the brink of poverty. The financial situation turned out to be so difficult that the family was forced to move to London, where there was at least some opportunity to earn a penny. The place of residence was one of the poorest areas of the East End. Despite the lack of funds, the children were enrolled in school.
Jerome Jr. was not particularly interested in his studies, and he did not try to make friends with anyone among his peers. His only hobby was books. The boy liked to walk around the city, he was especially glad that he had a transport pass, and thanks to this he could visit different streets. The inquisitive teenager was curious about the little things he saw on the streets of London. In this way, the boy replenished his piggy bank, which was very useful in his writing.

In 1871, Jerome Sr. died suddenly, so his son had no choice but to leave his boring studies and get a job to feed not only himself, but also his large family. His working life began as a clerk in a railway company. Already at the age of fourteen, Jerome brought the first money to the family, and since then he tried with all his might to help his mother, who died in 1875. Four orphaned children (two sisters and two brothers) were forced to take care of each other and support themselves. For several years, Jerome changed one job after another and made his first creative attempts, not forgetting to earn money for his basic needs.

Since 1977 Jerome. K. Jerome began performing as an actor in various troupes, and toured the country for three whole years, visiting most cities in England. His stage name was Harold Crichton. The aspiring artist did not have any special talent, so he did not achieve public recognition and was forced to leave the theater. After that, he worked as a private teacher, assistant solicitor, compiler, and journalist.

After writing his first essay, the young man received no offers for publication. A real shot in the writer’s biography was the short story “On Stage and Behind the Scene,” which was written in 1885. This work brought long-awaited success. The writer did not have to imagine much; in his short story he told about his path and bitter experience, which attracted readers.

CREATION:

The luck that Jerome had been waiting for for so long inspired him. New ideas appeared, and a year later the essay “The Idle Thoughts of a Lazy Man”, doomed to great success, was published. The public appreciated the work, and after that, the young author, who believed in his talent, understood which path to choose – literature. The writer’s most important work throughout the world is “Three in a Boat, Not Counting a Dog,” published in 1889. The heroes of the book have prototypes who became Karl Hentschel, George Wingrave and Jerome K. Jerome.

When the writer began to write the work, there was no thought that the main leitmotif would be humorous. The prototypes are not just real people, but real friends of the writer. The novel tells about the comic situations that happened to comrades while traveling by boat on the Thames.

The British sincerely loved this work. And it, in turn, encouraged many enthusiasts to cruise the Thames in the company of good friends. The number of tourists in this area has increased sharply. The book sold in huge quantities. Over twenty years, readers have purchased more than a million copies. The novel brought serious income to its creator, thanks to which Jerome had the opportunity to begin serious creative activity. The short stories and essays written after the sensational novel could not overshadow the previous success.

Since 1892, the author, in tandem with his comrades, worked on the publication of the Lazy Guy magazine, which quickly gained popularity in all corners of the country. The pages of the publication contained works by famous authors: Robert Stevenson, Mark Twain, and others. Among the genre diversity of the magazine were poems, stories, reviews of works and events, and interviews.

In 1893, Jerome opened the publication “Today”, but both the first and second magazines did not bring the expected profit, and were subsequently closed. In addition, the author spent all his free time proofreading other people’s works, but did not have time to write his own. When the editorial work was over, the writer took up the pen again and in a short time released a collection of stories, “Sketches in Purple, Blue and Green.”

In 1898, Jerome visited Germany. This trip became a real inspiration, and the author began to think about writing a continuation of the story about friends rafting down the Thames. The second part was called “Three on Four Wheels” (1900). The images of cheerful friends and good adventures that happened to the heroes turned out to be quite popular among readers, although the excitement caused by the continuation of the story was much less.

Returning from a trip to Russia, in 1899 the writer composed the essay “People of the Future,” which was published seven years later. In 1902, the novel “The School Days of Paul Kelver” was published, which, according to many researchers, was the real autobiography of Jerome K. Jerome.

The talented author was engaged in writing not only prose. His collection of works also includes poetic works. Jerome paid special attention to the genre of the play. “Barbara”, written in 1885, was very warmly received on the theater stages of America and Great Britain. “Miss Hobbes” enjoyed no less success. Another play, “The Tenant from the Third Floor,” was approved for production several times, despite the fact that the work did not delight critics. The author really liked to feel like a playwright, so he wrote for the theater very often. Researchers of the biography of Jerome K. Jerome see the reason for this in the fact that as a child the writer himself tried to play for the sake of an extra penny for bread, but due to lack of talent he was forced to give up this activity.

A new round in creativity was the collections of stories “Stories Told After Dinner”, “Sea City and Other Ghost Stories”, which combined mysticism, horror and fantasy. These works presented the writer from a different perspective. The novel “Anthony John” and the memoirs “My Life and Times” were published in the post-war period and largely overlapped with events from the life of the author himself.

FAMILY:

In 1888, Jerome began married life by marrying Georgina Mariss, nicknamed Etty. Before meeting this woman, the writer was in no hurry to arrange his personal life, and in general did not strive to become a family man. The love that covered him completely made him look at the institution of family with different eyes. Jerome was not embarrassed by the life of his beloved before meeting him: the woman already had a marriage behind her, and she was raising a five-year-old daughter. Less than ten days after the official divorce, the writer proposed his hand and heart to his beloved and adopted a girl whom he really liked. The honeymoon that the newlyweds took on the Thames became a real inspiration for Jerome and resulted in several successful works.

It was decided to live with the family in Chelsea; it was a representative area of London at that time. Finally, the author had a study, the windows of which offered an inspiring view. There the legendary book was created, which served as a script for the films. In 1898, the couple became parents. They named their common daughter Rowena. In the family, the writer felt like an absolutely happy person.

Being an ardent patriot of his country, in 1914 Jerome voluntarily went to the front to defend his homeland in the First World War. Already middle-aged, at the age of fifty-five, he transported wounded soldiers from the battlefield in an ambulance. The impressions that the creative person received during the battles largely changed his worldview. A serious blow for Jerome was the death of his stepdaughter, whom he loved as his own daughter. This happened in 1921.

DEATH:

The last years of his life the writer lived on the Monk’s Corner farm, located in Buckinghamshire. He died in Northampton Hospital in 1927. Jerome K. Jerome’s heart did not survive the stroke. The author of famous works was buried in the Church of St. Mary in Evilma, not far from the grave of Sister Blandina.

There, his prematurely widowed wife and stepdaughter found their final refuge. Etty remained faithful to her husband and mourned for eleven years, until her death. Daughter Rowena wanted to become an actress and made several attempts to make her dream come true, but she failed to gain fame. The writer’s heiress died in 1966.

The operating house museum, which allows tourists to get to know the writer better and learn new things about his life, is located in Walsall. The house welcomes guests year-round and takes them back to the era of Jerome K.’s life.

INTERESTING INFORMATION:

The writer inherited his unusual name from his father, whose name was Jerome Clapp Jerome. Already at a conscious age, the name Klapka was added. The author was never ashamed of his name and did not consider it necessary to use pseudonyms, as was fashionable at that time.
The autobiographical work “My Life and Times” presents memories that left a serious imprint on Jerome’s worldview. His father’s failed investments led not only to poverty, but to persecution by creditors.

The author could not tolerate hypocrisy and tried to avoid communicating with people caught in it.
Jerome Klapka Jerome knew Ivan Bunin and read his works. He respected the literature of Russian authors.Even in old age, the writer did not lose his taste for life. And, according to contemporaries, even sad events could not break his character.Having a travel card, young Jerome often left home and rode through the streets of London. These mini-travels opened the boy’s eyes to life: in one day he could see dressed up ladies and real tramps, hear enthusiastic speeches and drunken swearing, visit streets with expensive mansions and in a stinking neighborhood.

The author was incredibly popular in Russia and even visited the country on a friendly visit. He later described one funny story in his memoirs: right from under the writer’s nose, one charming Russian woman stole an autograph, which Jerome planned to send by letter to A.P. Chekhov in Yalta. Russian people, culture, customs, mentality – all this made a great impression on the British author, which later resulted in a famous essay. Having visited this country only once, Jerome Klapka Jerome felt the approach of revolution in his heart, which surprised many by writing about it in his article.

Many critics argue that when reading the works of this author, it may seem that he lived a happy life on a positive note, never encountering difficulties. And only by turning to the biography, one can understand that the writer went through a lot and did not lose the ability to believe in goodness, follow a goal and love.

SELECTED WORKS:

“Three in the boat, not counting the dog”
“Diary of a Pilgrimage”
“How we wrote a novel”
“Three on four wheels”
“Paul Kelver”
They and I
Tommy and Co.
Anthony John
Should we say what we mean and mean what we say?
Should writers tell the truth?
The Soul of Nicholas Snyders, or the Miser of Zaandam
Uncle Podger is hurrying to catch the train
If only we still had our tails!
People of the future
Stage World
Mrs Corner is paying
My introduction to bulldogs
New utopia
About the dangers of other people’s advice
About the weather
About vanity and vanity
Charming woman
Fall of Thomas-Henry
Why we don’t like foreigners
Absent-minded man
Should a married man play golf?
The Fate of a Writer, or “The Tale of the Good Dragon”
Mr Milbury’s Surprise
A touching story
Fascinating nature
The man who cared about everyone
The man who didn’t believe in happiness
Paul Kelver’s school days