26 Books

I’ve never read any Wodehouse. The idea of a posh twit gadding about town with his servant just didn’t appeal to me. Still, I kept hearing how funny his books are so I thought I’d give one a try. It turns out my prejudice was wrong: Wodehouse is indeed funny and enjoyable.

Carry on, Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse
Arrow Books Ltd 2008, Paperback, 256 pages, £7.99

The stories here are formulaic. Bertie Wooster or one of his friends gets into some kind of difficulty, usually involving an inappropriate engagement or a threat of disinheritance, and Bertie turns to Jeeves for help. Jeeves’s plan back fires at first – or at least appears to until the manservant comes up with an ingenious twist that saves the day.

There’s nothing challenging in these stories and the characters being satirised are now so familiar that they are basically stereotypes. I suspect they were caricatures even at the time, though. That’s not really the point.

Everything is there only to showcase Wodehouse’s witty, descriptive writing: “Honoria, you see, is one of those robust, dynamic girls with muscles of a welter weight and a laugh like a squadron of cavalry charging over a tin bridge. A beastly thing to have to face over the breakfast table.”

It breezes by effortlessly and each story is like being wrapped in a warm blanket by a roaring fire. This is about as good as comfort reading gets. I’ll certainly be going back for more.

Possibly related posts:

1. Cold Calls by Christopher Logue (James’s book 47, 2009)
2. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Shane’s book 22, 2009)
3. The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector (James’s book 37, 2009)
4. Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler (Shane’s book 20, 2009)