In Three Men in a Boat, what problems do the three friends have?

If you refer to the problems the three men have at the beginning of the book -- the ones that set them on this journey -- then the answer is one of perceived ailments. All of them say they suffer from listlessness, from feeling “seedy,” from experiencing "fits of giddiness," and from being overworked. We readers are led to doubt whether or not these illnesses are real or are merely imagined.

During the actual river trip itself, the group has only minor problems. The trouble is that narrator J. likes to make mountains out of molehills, and he embellishes every story with salient details and a humorous bent. Additionally, he throws in episodes from a variety of past problems and stories, representing every member of the traveling party, including Montmorency. Nevertheless, along the River Thames the friends have these problems:

• Deciding how to travel and what to take (Chapters II-III)


• Packing (Chapter III)


• Setting up the tent (Chapter X)


• Making breakfast (Chapter XI)


• Opening a can of pineapple (Chapter XII)


• Washing clothes in the river (Chapter XVII)


• Traveling in the rain (Chapter XIX)

This last one does them in. They are on the return trip, moving downriver, when they have a few days of solid rain. This circumstance leads them to cut their travel plans short, to take a train back to the city, and to take in a good dinner and a show.