Three Men in a Boat

A classic that I've recently re-read and I loved just as much as the first time. The one book that catapulted Jerome into second place on my list of favourite comic authors(there's no one to beat Wodehouse). The best thing, however, is that it was published in 1889, and you'd never realise it. It would be just as brilliant if it had been published today.
The only problem? He tends to have short bursts of lyrical, poetic frenzy, in which he writes sentimental passages of great artistic merit. Therefore you skip those and go on to the next hilarious bit.
And Uncle Podger has to be his greatest character. How he puts up a picture(and later, makes a list or goes to the station) could be a classic humourous short story in itself.