# P.G. Wodehouse . . . where to start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138 "2013-09-06T02:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/21 "2013-09-07T16:41:13Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Any fans here have suggestions of specific books/collections? The Penguin collection “The World of Jeeves” has (I believe) _all_ of the short stories, adding up to about 650 pages. Of the J&W novels, my favorites are “The Mating Season” and the previously mentioned “Code of the Woosters,” but the novels tend to be more uneven than the short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/22 "2013-09-07T19:09:57Z")
I remember reading the series that introduces the Psmith character. It seems to have been aimed at an adolescent audience, about kids in UK public schools (which oddly enough is what in the US we call private schools – I never quite understood that). Lots of cricket. I enjoyed the series, but then I often enjoy books written for kids (yeah, I read all of Harry Potter and enjoyed them too), and I was able to muddle through the cricket stuff despite not really understanding the game. Probably not to most Dopers’ tastes, though. Later when I get at my Nook I’ll post the titles. The Psmith character is quite amusing in any case, and the later books in the series (after they’ve moved on to Cambridge and beyond) are better and a bit more like the Jeeves work. You can see PGW’s style developing, or perhaps he gives his sense of humor a freer range in what I assume are the later (Jeeves) works. IMHO, it’s a shame he didn’t write more Jeeves books. Despite the truth that he reuses a few jokes quite a number of times, I continue to enjoy them, and expect to re-read them again before long, especially when I’m overworked and need a nice break. I have only those that were available at [gutenberg.org](http://gutenberg.org). If there are more that are still under copyright, I’d be interested, but I remember not seeing any in bookstores. I don’t remmeber whether I checked online. It seemed to me that his full ouvre wasn’t particularly large; nothing like Dickens or even Twain. I’d be delighted to find out that I’m wrong and there are gems missing from my collection! [PS: I realize I can find out on wikipedia, so this is not a request. 🙂] ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/23 "2013-09-07T20:30:03Z")
You could also just go to the Wodehouse shelf at your library and start reading from left to right! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/24 "2013-09-07T21:49:33Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > I remember reading the series that introduces the Psmith character. It seems to have been aimed at an adolescent audience, about kids in UK public schools (which oddly enough is what in the US we call private schools – I never quite understood that). Hopefully one of our Brits will correct me if I’m wrong, but I was told the name came to be in opposition to private tutoring. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/25 "2013-09-07T22:26:39Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > It seemed to me that his full ouvre wasn’t particularly large; nothing like Dickens or even Twain. I’d be delighted to find out that I’m wrong and there are gems missing from my collection! > > [PS: I realize I can find out on wikipedia, so this is not a request. 🙂] He wrote 96 books, many more than Dickens and Twain combined. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/26 "2013-09-07T23:04:56Z")
Personally speaking, I think the order of the Jeeves and Wooster stories is somewhat important in that later stories often refer to events that happened in earlier stories. Also, you can see the development of some of the in-jokes and malapropisms over time. ---
**Author:** ![agnesnitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@agnesnitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/agnesnitt)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/27 "2013-09-08T02:33:56Z")
You can find some of his less well known stories here: [Classic Reader | Ponly](http://www.classicreader.com/author/75/) Tastes differ, but the Jeeves books and the Blandings books are his most famous for a reason. They are very good. Just don’t read a lot of them all at once, or the repetitious plots can get in the way of the splendid writing. I think his golf books are very, very funny. [The Clicking of Cuthbert](http://www.classicreader.com/book/3062/1/)still can get a good laugh out of most people And I’m a little embarassed that in my younger years I found his dog story, “[The Mixer](http://www.classicreader.com/book/3408/)” tugged my heartstrings. If you love dogs and are of a sentimental nature, maybe you’ll enjoy it too. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/28 "2013-09-08T07:02:33Z")
I am trying to think of another Wodehouse character, a wealthy, respected nobleman who had an outlook on life like that of an inebriated college student. In one of his stories he sits in the window of his stately home with a slingshot, knocking hats off the heads of passing gentlemen. In another he passes himself off as a veterinarian to gain entrance to someone’s home to treat a supposedly ill parrot. The only name I can think of is Uncle Fred, and the book I am thinking of is _Uncle Fred Flits by._ ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/29 "2013-09-08T14:55:04Z")
That does sound like Uncle Fred, but I haven’t read many of his stories. Another name that occurred to me was Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge (I _think_ I spelled that right!). He’s more of a con man, though. _Ukridge’s Dog College_ is particularly memorable. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/30 "2013-09-08T17:44:39Z")
Do the characters from the Jeeves and Wooster that have their own stories, such as Bingo Little, come across differently than they do when told through the eyes of Bertie? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/31 "2013-09-08T18:10:08Z")
Somewhat. Bertie as the ultimate unreliable narrator is really Wodehouse’s greatest creation. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/32 "2013-09-08T20:57:56Z")
I’ll join in the praise for Blandings - _Summer Lightning_ is definitely one of his best stories. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/33 "2013-09-11T00:44:31Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > I am trying to think of another Wodehouse character, a wealthy, respected nobleman who had an outlook on life like that of an inebriated college student. In one of his stories he sits in the window of his stately home with a slingshot, knocking hats off the heads of passing gentlemen. In another he passes himself off as a veterinarian to gain entrance to someone’s home to treat a supposedly ill parrot. > > The only name I can think of is Uncle Fred, and the book I am thinking of is _Uncle Fred Flits by._ "Uncle Fred Flits By " is the short story where Uncle Fred takes Pongo Twisleton on a tour of suburbia , invading a house with the ostensible aim of clipping a parrots claws and ending up furthering the course of true love. The knocking off of top hats with Brazil nuts took place as for as I remember on the steps of the Drones Club. I apologise regarding my previous post about the Jeeves collection. I had taken a sleeping pill and was not thinking straight . sorry , \*\* Exapno Mapcase \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/34 "2013-09-11T01:24:50Z")
> [@Damfino](#): > > I apologise regarding my previous post about the Jeeves collection. I had taken a sleeping pill and was not thinking straight . sorry , \*\* Exapno Mapcase \*\* No biggie. I just found it odd. And nothing odd can go uncommented on the Internet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/35 "2013-09-11T18:15:59Z")
I believe “Uncle Fred Flits By” is from the book _Uncle Fred in Springtime_. If it’s not, the more “Uncle Fred” in the world, the better. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/36 "2013-09-11T19:21:14Z")
“She was only Jeeves’ daughter, but she was a right ho’!” ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/37 "2013-09-11T21:14:54Z")
Another vote for Mulliner. They aren’t as famous as the Jeeves books but I like them better. They have a wider diversity of characters and settings, and I think the third person view-point allows Wodehouse more flexibility in his descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/38 "2013-09-11T22:42:45Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I believe “Uncle Fred Flits By” is from the book _Uncle Fred in Springtime_. If it’s not, the more “Uncle Fred” in the world, the better. It’s also in the collection "The best of Wodehouse " and consistently voted the number one story ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/39 "2013-09-11T22:45:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No biggie. I just found it odd. And nothing odd can go uncommented on the Internet. 🙂 Thanks. I’m learning l ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138/40 "2013-09-12T13:57:47Z")
> [@Damfino](#): > > "Uncle Fred Flits By " is the short story where Uncle Fred takes Pongo Twisleton on a tour of suburbia , invading a house with the ostensible aim of clipping a parrots claws and ending up furthering the course of true love… To clarify this use of “ostensible” back to its ultimate cause, Uncle Fred’s motivation for his entire life is to spread sweetness and light. It sounds silly, but I remember this phrase often. When sometimes I get thanked effusively for a rather small, nothingy aid to a stranger, who smiles at the whole engagement and says it’s a “Pay It Forward,” or “Good Karma,” scene, I think of, and occasionally say what to me is the equivalent: just spreadin’ sweetness and light. Even if you’re an Earl. Especially if you’re an Earl. I agree Uncle Fred Flits By is one of the greatest short stories ever written. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p-g-wodehouse-where-to-start/668138.md?page=3)