The White Feather / P.G. Wodehouse

The White Feather

(Wrykyn)

by P.G. Wodehouse

humour

copyright 1907

read in December 2015

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Another enjoyable Wodehouse romp :-)  I admit to a biased enjoyment of all things Wodehouse... If not for that, I could have rated this book as simply six, read to pass the time.

As with other Wrykyn books -- hmmm... I may have read only one other -- there is a lot of environmental understanding required of the reader. That is: it helps if you understand what life and language were like in Wrykyn-like schools !

In one small scene, the student consciously corrects his language, from student slang to correct English for the Headmaster. Aha ! I thought, That is slang ! All those conversations where I had to guess the meaning ! Now that I know, I am happy to flounder.

Then there is the sport. Detailed descriptions of the play. What, I wonder, is all this about ? With the sport, I suspect that a good knowledge of the particular game is all that I am lacking. Maybe :-)

It's a familiar problem. I read a horror story which was set in Hollywood -- and had trouble understanding some of the Hollywood references. Just for interest, I also read up on the biblical references which were the basis for the horror plot.

With Feather, I read the original sources of some poetic quotes. But I didn't read up on the rules of the various sports ! (Notice that this Feather reference is in a separate paragraph ? I do not want to mix a pleasant Wodehouse comedy with the reference to a rather nasty horror story.)

The White Feather is not the best of Wodehouse.

Yet even at his worst, Wodehouse writes stories which can be read -- and enjoyed. Though they may be a bit difficult to understand :-)

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