Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

Three Men in a Boat, first published in 1889, is a humorous account of a two-week boating holiday on the Thames, taken by three English gentlemen. The book was initially intended to be a serious travel guide, with accounts of local history along the route, but the humorous elements gradually took over and turned it into a comic novel.
Surprisingly enough the jokes seem fresh and witty even today.