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This is my review of the book Jeeves in the Offing, by P G Wodehouse, which I read recently. The book is the ongoing saga of Bertie Wooster, and his family and friends. It starts with him reading about his engagement and forthcoming wedding to Bobbie Wickham in the Times. The only trouble is that this is the first he has heard about it, and he needs to investigate what is happening.
To do this he goes off to Brinkley Court, his Aunt Dehlia's house. Sadly it is time for Jeeves to have his annual summer holiday at Herne Bay, so he has to go on his own. When he gets to Brinkley he finds to his horror that the butler there has transformed into Sir Roderick Glossop, the famous brain surgeon, on undercover work. Also his awful former headmaster is around, as he is going to award the prizes at the local school – the Market Snodbury Grammar School. This bring back terrible thoughts of a previous prize giving for Bertie. Things go terribly wrong and the only way out seems to be to go off to Herne Bay and get Jeeves. Stop him doing his shrimping and let him come up with a way out of the mess. Sadly for Bertie the easiest way of doing this is not the most comfortable for him. Good fun, though a little formulaic. I think I will leave it for a while before I read any more of the series. This was book 21 week 16 fiction 18 (3 on audio) non fiction 2
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This is my review of The Mating Season by PG Wodehouse.
This book continues the crazy antic of Bertie Wooster and his “man” Jeeves. Bertie thinking he is doing a good turn to Gussie Fink-Nottle by impersonating him, turns up at Deverill Hall and idyllic Tudoe manor in the picture perfect village of Kings Deverill. Bertie is doing this because he thinks Gussie has been sentenced to fourteen days without the option for wading in the fountain at Trafalgar Square. But Gussie does not end up in prison and leans of Berties plans so turns up in the guise of Bertram Wooster, with Jeeves in toe. Then various relations, fiancées and other characters who either know the real person of who they are of the fake person as who they are, leading to a complex that only one person can put right. Fortunately Jeeves was at hand, ready with counsel and aid. The scheme he evolved to extricate Wooster from one of the worst spots of his chequered career must be counted as the most brilliant his master-mind had yet devised. This book is so off the wall as to be very funny. Maybe Christmas festivity helped. This was book 46 week 32 fiction 43 (13 on audio) non fiction 3 The Code of the Woosters is the ongoing saga of Bertie Wooster, and the chaos he seems to cause.
He is called to Totleigh Towers to pour oil on trouble waters, as the lovers match between Madeline Bassett and newt loving Gussie Fink-Nottle seems to be in trouble. Unfortunately Aunt Dahlia comes into the scene instructing Bertie to steal an antique cow creamer from under the watchful nose of Sir Watkyn Bassett. Sadly his situation is complicated further by the presence at Totleigh Towers of Stiffy Byng, Sir Watkyn's anarchic young ward, who draws Bertie into her plan to marry the local curate, another old pal of Bertie's named "Stinker" Pinker, and a certain leather-covered notebook of Gussie's, in which he has lovingly and extensively detailed Sir Watkyn and Spode's many character failings, and which has escaped Gussie's possession to roam freely about the local community. Bertie seems to get into deeper and deeper trouble, and the theft of a policeman s helmet could be his final undoing, but this is only a situation that Jeeves can unravel. An enjoyable read - this was book 34 week 23 fiction 32 (9 on audio) non fiction 2 I listened to this as an librivox audio book going up and down the motorway. A great way of making those miles zoom by. It is so unreal as to be just about believable. - Bertie's manservant, Jeeves, is renowned for his ability to apply his keen intellect to solve all problems domestic, and Bertie’s friends and relatives flock to him for his counsel. But he is, jealous of Jeeves’s fame.
So he decides to step in and take over as the fixer of his pal’s engagement, his aunt’s gambling debts and old school-mate’s desire to propose marriage. How far will Bertie sink them all in the soup? Will Jeeves come to the rescue? “Right Ho, Jeeves” also features of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Tuppie Glossop, Aunt Dahlia and Anatole the high-strung French chef. Somehow Bertie manages to cause trouble for them all and of course only Jeeves has the answer. This was a very enjoyable book 8 week 4 fiction 8 (4 on audio) non fiction 0 Not that I am reading these in the correct order as this is the first book in the series to mention Jeeves, but this does not seem to matter really. Bertie goes off to the country to get away from complaints about his banjo playing. He ends up as a guest of his chum Chuffy, only to find his peace shattered by the arrival of Pauline Stoker his ex fiancée.
Over the course of the story Chuffy falls in love with Pauline, and Bertie is caught hiding her. The house where he is staying gets burnt down, and the local police get in on the action, all requiring Jeeves to sort things out. So this was book 1 – week 1 – fiction 1 (0 on audio) non fiction 0 of my new list So life goes on for Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. This book is largely a collection of interlinked short stories mainly about Bertie's friend Bingo and his romances. How Bingo then decides that he is breaking off the relationships and what Jeeves does to help this come about. All goes smoothly till we come to the last, and Bingo is truly smitten and marries Rosie. I expect they will be mentioned later on in the series.
The book has the “Great Sermon Handicap” story as part of the collection that is meant to be a “classic”. I must admit it did not jump out at me as one, but maybe I just did not appreciate the subject matter. Not a complex book to read and an interesting all be it humorous insight into life that is often a favourite for film and TV series. (Actually finished last week but I did not have time to upload this) So this is book 36 week 30 – novels 25, poetry 1 study 2, audio 8 This collection of short stories introduces Bertie Wooster, a young somewhat foolish gentleman dependant on his aunt for money, and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves. Jeeves is incredibly clever and throughout these stories manages to solve every predicament that Bertie finds himself in, often with some benefit to himself.
Bertie spends some time in New York enjoying the high life there, and solving the scrapes his friends get into, which often seem to involve various aunts that cause great amounts of trouble. As much as Berties relations cause him problems Jeeves various relations mainly cousins seem to offer solutions to them. When reading the book it was very hard not to see the characters being acted out on TV, either by Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry or by Dennis Price as Jeeves and Ian Carmichael as a rather middle-aged Bertie Wooster before them. Not withstanding this it is a very enjoyable read about life in the 1920's as book 18 week 18. |
Tim Fuller
Dyslexic doodles on photography, food (growing, cooking & of course eating), faith and other fascinating things. This is a personal blog expressing my views. Archives
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