Piccadilly Jim / PG Wodehouse

Piccadilly Jim
by PG Wodehouse

humour

copyright 1918
read in April 2013

rated 9 / 10: really, really good

This is the all-American Wodehouse!

There's a brief visit to England. A few characters are English. The majority of this book is American... which is good...

There is no rough-tough American set against very proper English. There is a wide range of character types -- all American -- allowing Wodehouse to be more flexible with his stereotypes. Yes, stereotypes... that is a lot of the pleasure of Wodehouse books! But, dare I say it: less stereotypical stereotypes!

There is, however, the typical confusion... A character impersonating a character who is impersonating himself... With various others hiding behind the flimsiest of false identities. Plus girl meets boy and it looks as though they are doomed to a parting of the ways. You'll have to read the book yourself to see if that romantic conflict is ever resolved... :-)

Yes, it's Wodehouse at his best.

And that is a very enjoyable, laugh out loud, likeable best.

Brilliant!

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Hot Water / P.G. Wodehouse

Hot Water
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour
copyright 1932
read in March 2013

rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

Is this the American Wodehouse? Sure, it's set in France. There are a couple of English characters, some French... and mostly American. And the Americans are more than just the extremes of hero and villain...

Yet Hot Water is typically Wodehouse.

There is, for example, Mr Soup Slattery, safe-cracker. Reduced, by unfortunate circumstances, to stick-ups. Lots of muscle, very little brain. Yet when push comes to shove -- I like him :-)

In a Wodehouse book, nearly all of the characters are likeable. They may have their minor peccadilloes -- such as a tendency to live on other people's money -- but they are likeable. That is one of the great pleasures of reading Wodehouse!

There is also the clever use of words and the regular use of unreferenced quotes...

The lark is on the wing and the snail is crawling slowly across the thorn... I know I could place that... if only I knew my English poetry! I need to Google...

This book, I did read with the internet close by... So I learnt about Xenophon and his ten thousand. Bloomsbury authors. Macedoine. The Volstead Act. It's surprising how much of our language has fallen into disuse in just... eighty... years.

Hot Water can be read and enjoyed for its humour, it's characters, plot twists and overall sense of fun. It brings alive a -- possibly exaggerated -- sense of the Wodehouse world of the 1930s.

And underneath, is a depth of words, of life, of history. A whole host of common assumptions to add to our enjoyment of the book. Assumptions which have largely been lost, over the last eighty years.

Read, enjoy and -- if you want to -- discover the meaning of all the "current" references which are scattered throughout the book.

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Money for Nothing / P.G.Wodehouse

Money for Nothing
by P.G.Wodehouse

humour

copyright 1928
read in February 2013
rated 8 out of 10: really quite good

English country folk from upstairs and down, described with humour and affection. American con artists shown as cunning but not evil. Confusion, coincidences and -- surprisingly -- some almost cave-man action.

Yes, this is vintage Wodehouse. (Is there any other form of Wodehouse?!)

It struck me as I read the eminently satisfactory conclusion, that the world of Wodehouse is a little more fixed than I would expect in a more modern novel.

Sure, the various problems are all resolved. Yet there is no shifting of the relative positions of the characters. If one is a Lord at the start then one is a Lord at the end. There is no chance that a pauper will turn out to be a Prince who was exchanged as a baby. Case in point...

The hero begins the story as the obvious person who should inherit the estate. The actual heir has no interest in managing the history and the economics of a rich country estate. And at the end of the book -- there is no change.

The hero will continue to manage the estate. The heir will eventually inherit and continue his disinterest. There is not even the hint of the possibility of a change.

And there is not even the slightest hint of any jealousy on the part of the hero. He will continue to manage and protect the estate, on behalf of its owner.

A glowing, rosy world.

A Wodehouse world to be enjoyed.

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A Damsel in Distress / P.G. Wodehouse

A Damsel in Distress
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour
first published 1919
read in February 2013

rated as 9 out of 10: really, really good

Wodehouse at his very best :-)  Yes, at his very best, smiley-face :-)  I have just reread the last couple of chapters -- and am smiling again :-)

What an enjoyable romp! What a likeable lot of characters! Well, there is one cad -- an absolute bounder -- but he only appears for long enough to guarantee the happy ending :-)

One aspect of Damsel that is also in other books -- but that is very clear in this book -- is that Wodehouse is writing for an American audience.

The setting is England. The characters are English, upper crust and basic filling. A few Americans are thrown into the mix, with the requirement that they fit well into Society.

Yet there are regular comparisons to America. Comparisons to help the American reader appreciate the English-ness of the setting and the characters.

Oh... and there's a Limerick... About a man from Chicago named Young... Read it and laugh :-)  And note that he's from Chicago.

This book is the best Wodehouse that I have read for a while.

The others were fun. Damsel in Distress is absolutely joyous.

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The Crime Wave at Blandings / P.G. Wodehouse

The Crime Wave at Blandings
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour... of course!

copyright 1937
read in January 2013
rated 9 out of 10: really, really good

A lighthearted romp through the world of Wodehouse. A delightful short story...

Short story?!

Yes, this "book" is just one short story. One of fifty "mini modern classics", according to the publisher. A publishing rip-off, according to this reviewer.

Still, it was a gift, so I didn't pay. It's by Wodehouse, so it's great fun. But you may prefer to look for the earlier editions -- as an omnibus of short stories -- where you get a lot more stories for your money.

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Big Money / P.G. Wodehouse

Big Money
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour
copyright 1931
read in January 2013

rating 8 /10: really quite good

Wodehouse at his best :-)

I was surprised when the girl became engaged early in the story... Of course she was engaged to the "wrong" man. So there was plenty more confusion as the couples sorted themselves out.

There is also the need for money... Even at a double wedding the bally vicar will want to be paid twice...

Love is most definitely in the air but Big Money is the central theme. And all is resolved by the end.

Big Money is set in London -- and in London's outer suburbs. Outer?! Seven miles from the centre, very much on the outer as far as Society is concerned!

The English characters are distinguished by their Class. The Americans are a mixed bunch, with money not able to disguise their lack of class. Except, of course, for the girls. Who are sweet and beautiful and openly honest.

A pleasantly gilded romp in a golden, gilded and base metal cross-section of an eccentric and thoroughly enjoyable world.

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The Adventures of Sally / P.G. Wodehouse

The Adventures of Sally
by P.G. Wodehouse

humour
written in 1922
read in December 2012

rated 7 /10: well worth reading

Before I read this book I expected to write, Another great book by Wodehouse... What else can I say.

I mean, I've read enough Wodehouse to know the style: charming, light, warm.

Yet Sally is different...

The Adventures of Sally is set largely in America rather than England. The characters are mostly American. And not every character is likeable!

There is the boxer who enjoys hitting his opponents. There is the money man who is a fool for his woman. His woman, who is her own woman and a fool.

The first fiance turns out to be a self-centred, self-pitying incompetent. The second fiance -- despite being an Englishman -- is an unpleasant snob.

I am surprised!

Perhaps it's because the book is set in America... a melting pot of races, people and classes. Whereas Bertie Wooster and his friends live in splendid upper-class English isolation.

Perhaps the characters of Sally were based on observation of actual Americans... Wodehouse did live in America for most of his life. And, as a corollary, the Wodehouse England may have been based on youthful memories and rose-tinted imagination...

For whatever reason, this book includes several characters who may be actively disliked. Which is unusual -- in my limited readings of Wodehouse.

Is this really unusual? Or is my Wodehouse experience too limited...

I look forward to reading more books by P.G. Wodehouse. I know that I will enjoy them. And I am interested to see if I will meet more of these definitely dislikeable Americans.

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Problems ? Solved

Leave it to Psmith / PG Wodehouse

Leave it to Psmith

category: humour, author:

PG Wodehouse

book 2 of Blandings
original copyright 1923

read in June 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10... really quite good

Enjoyable, entertaining, light, likable: a typical Wodehouse book!

The hero -- Psmith -- is a bit of a rogue. A delightful, charming rogue. Also loyal, honest, dependable... Honest? An honest rogue?! Of course this is a book by PG Wodehouse.

Psmith sees an attractive woman, sheltering from the rain. Psmith selects the best umbrella available... it belongs to another member of the club but so what? Could Psmith leave a lady at risk of rain? A lady wearing such a beautiful hat, a hat that would obviously be spoilt by getting wet... In such need, a gentleman will happily offer another gentleman's umbrella...

And this is Wodehouse. The umbrella will eventually be returned to its rightful owner.

Wodehouse writes -- with humour and affection -- of the English upper classes. The characters are varied and distinct. Bright, dim. Strict, casual. Beautiful, ... pretty. Handsome, ... okay. Even the criminals are quite acceptable members of society!

Yes, there are criminals. And Psmith -- of course -- foils their dastardly deeds. Sends them on their way... no hint of police, no jail, no punishment. And Psmith gets the girl.

This is a delightful story about delightful people.

Read it, enjoy it, occasionally laugh aloud.

Leave it to Psmith to make your heart feel lighter.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

The Golf Omnibus / P.G. Wodehouse

The Golf Omnibus

category: humour, collection, author:

P.G. Wodehouse

original copyright 1916 on,
read in January 2011

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

A most enjoyable book: Light, funny, guaranteed happy endings...

Who would have thought there could be so many angles on the game of golf? Who would have thought there is any humour at all, in the game of golf!

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..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.