Cocktail Time / P.G. Wodehouse

Cocktail Time

category: humour, author:

P.G. Wodehouse

book 3 of Uncle Fred
original copyright 1958,
read in October 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

What a pleasure to read another book by Wodehouse! It's been too long... I must do it more often :-)

I had been reading The Great Gatsby and -- realising that both Fitzgerald and Wodehouse were writing about the idle rich -- I took a break from Gatsby in the charm of Wodehouse's Uncle Fred.

What a relief!

Wodehouse writes with charm, with humour, with humanity. There's a tangled plot, with ultimate success depending on a dozen or so successful resolutions, several of these being successful romantic pairings. Uncle Fred -- Lord Ickenham -- strolls through the idyllic English countryside spreading sweetness and light and no little chaos amongst all of his friends and acquaintances.

Wodehouse also has an excellent -- amusing and clever -- way with the English language. It took me a second reading to absorb the reference to "the old son of a bachelor"... Then there are the classic and poetic references mixed in with the casual conversation.

Young Cosmo Wisdom is speaking with the elder Howard Saxby:

"How's your wife, My Wisdom?"

Cosmo said he had no wife.

"Surely?"

"I'm a bachelor."

"Then Wordsworth was wrong. He said you were married to immortal verse."

Now that meant absolutely nothing to me, either! But it did seem to be significant... and a little web searching found the original poem by Wordsworth... which still meant very little -- but was such a pleasure to find!

Two days after reading Cocktail Time I needed a book to fill in a few idle hours. I reread Cocktail Time. And enjoyed it just as much -- at least.

I must remember to check my sources, for more books by P.G. Wodehouse!

..o0o..

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