I’ve been reading and rereading the “Jeeves and Wooster” stories by P.G. Wodehouse for about 10 years. Over that time, I’ve tried 3 or 4 times to read some of his other fiction, only to find it dreadfully dull. I’ve tried a Psmith book and I think 2 others whose names escape me. They all seem to be missing a certain snappy wit that really defines the Jeeves stories.
Anyone agree / disagree, and can advise me on other Wodehouse worth reading?
hrh
I liked some of the Psmith books, but they seem like early works to me. The other Wodehouse stories I liked were the Mulliner stories. They may be hard to find though. My (falling-apart trade paperback) copy was bought in the early 1980’s.
Wodehouse at his best is just wonderful.
I used to love the Blandings Castle books though it’s been quite a while since I last read them. You might want to try one.
I love the Jeeves and Wooster stories but have had the same trouble getting into the other stuff. the one exception is Wodehouse’s golfing stories all narrated by “The Oldest Living Member” of a country club which I don’t remember the name of. I think Wodehouse is better when he has a first person narrator. Having a narrator with a certain off-kilter perception of events is what makes Wodehouse work for me. It’s Bertie that’s funny, not Jeeves.
I go through phases of reading Wodehouse. I think I’ve read the majority of his books by now. The Psmith books are undoubtedly my favorites so I’d advise you to try them again. The first one (Mike and Psmith) has a kind of slow beginning, but once you actually meet Psmith, it’s snappy wit all the way.
Other than that, my favorite stand-alone novel of his is called Hot Water. It’s set in a holiday resort in France and, like the best of Wodehouse, has a very complicated plot involving confidence men, burglars, beautiful girls and playboys. Great fun.
Looking back now, though, I can’t really think of many Wodehouse books I’ve actually actively disliked. They’re all much the same. You either go for that kind of humour, or you don’t.
I read most of the Jeeves and Wooster books when I was about 10 or 11 and after that I tried some of the others but I couldn’t get into them in the same way.
As an aside if you love the J+W books then you’ll also like the early 90’s television adaption with Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves, it was this that inspired me to read the books.
You could try “The girl in the boat” - if you can find it! It’s apparently out of print.
From amazon.com:
Synopsis: Wilhelmina “Billie” Bennett, daughter of American millionaire Rufus, is to marry Eustace Hignett, the weak, poetry-writing son of a famous writer on theosophy. Enter Sam Marlowe, who plays tournament golf, and Jane Hubbard, a big-game hunter, and another Wodehouse-style romp unfolds.
As a side note, something that occured to me the other day. If Wodehouse were alive today, with a slightly updated repertoire, he’d probably be writing the scripts for movies like Snatch and Pulp Fiction. I mean, violence aside, they’re really the classic Wodehousian imbroglio situations, complete with oddly lovable members of the underground, aren’t they?
He’d be writing sitcoms…
quite frankly, many of the plots are Three’s Company plots - just better written, better dialogue, better characterizations. And funnier.
In a way, it’s easier to get into the Jeeves/Wooster novels because I know who the characters are… (and the settings, and the supporting characters, etc.) The others take a bit to get into, but once I’ve started reading, I enjoy them fully.