Hot Water by P G Wodehouse (Herbert Jenkins, 1932); audiobook read by Jonathan Cecil (Blackstone, 2012) Not from one of Wodehouse’s famous series, but ably representative of his work. There are facetious conversations and flippant undertakings aplenty—ill-fated engagements; romantic entanglements and misunderstandings; comedowns and comeuppances—all steaming towards each other like ocean liners converging on an iceberg.
Tag: P G Wodehouse
A Damsel in Distress
A Damsel in Distress by P G Wodehouse (Herbert Jenkins, 1919); audiobook read by Frederick Davidson (Blackstone Audio, 1993) For readers without a Blandings Castle novel to hand, this early Wodehouse comedy will oblige most admirably as a surrogate. While the plot involves misunderstandings of romantic entanglement, these serve merely to backdrop the page-by-page brush swirl of Wodehouse’s exquisitely trenchant…
Doctor Sally
Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse (Methuen, 1932); audiobook read by Paul Shelley (Bolinda, 2015) A short, frivolous bit of fun. As is his wont, Wodehouse construes love as arising from the drop of a hat, but in this instance the cast of dithering males play out their tangled misunderstandings for a woman of independence and discernment.
Lord Emsworth and Others
Lord Emsworth and Others by P. G. Wodehouse (Herbert Jenkins, 1937) Nine short stories evincing Wodehouse’s usual joie de vivre and knack for comedic happenstance, yet, save for ‘The Crime Wave at Blandings’, lacking closure, giving instead the impression of half-conceptualised novels (or subplots thereof) cut down in the mid stages of drafting.
A Gentleman of Leisure
A Gentleman of Leisure by P. G. Wodehouse (Alston Rivers, 1910); audiobook read by Frederick Davidson (Blackstone, 2012) An early example of the comings-and-goings type novel that Wodehouse would bring to perfection in his Blandings Castle series. While the plot in this instance is a twist or two short, the prose is fresh and the characterisation typically Wodehouseian. Audiobook recommended.…
The Adventures of Sally
The Adventures of Sally by P G Wodehouse (Herbert Jenkins, 1922); audiobook read by Frederick Davidson (Blackstone, 1997) Wodehouse’s American stories tend to be a little more staid than those set in England. The plot here is clever and the prose witty. Sally is a winning protagonist. But Davidson’s audiobook reading plays no small role in enlivening the whole shebang.…
P.G. Wodehouse: An Illustrated Biography
P.G. Wodehouse: An Illustrated Biography by Joseph Connolly (Eel Pie, 1981) A light and breezy biography with plenty of black-and-white photos (not all of which are of any great relevance to the text). There’s not much substance here but it’s a decent enough introduction. Contains a complete Wodehouse bibliography with notes for collectors.
Jeeves and the King of Clubs
Jeeves and the King of Clubs by Ben Schott (Hutchinson, 2018); audiobook read by James Lance (Bolinda, 2018) Schott faithfully dovetails his plot threads and recaptures much of Wodehouse’s loquacity, albeit without quite the same vim of expression or uproarious knack for aperçus. The world is right but the reading seems off. It really needed Hugh Laurie and/or Stephen Fry.…
Service with a Smile
Service with a Smile by P G Wodehouse (Simon & Schuster, 1961) More pig-stealing machinations at Blandings Castle. Wodehouse as ever constructs and demolishes, re-weaves and unravels a plot thick with thwarted marriages and jovial underhandedness. Ickenham performs admirably as Galahad’s understudy, yet the prose and resolutions fall short of Wodehouse at his best.
Blandings, Series Two
Blandings, Series Two adapted by Guy Andrews (BBC, 2014) As adaptations, these episodes can only disappoint. (Wodehouse’s narrative voice is, of course, absent, and the plot contrivances see Andrews playing overtly rather than slyly for laughs.) As a standalone production, however, there is much here to like, especially Timothy Spall’s Emsworth.