I believe it was my Dad who first introduced me to Wodehouse. I think that means that it must have been about 30 years ago, or more. What I can’t remember is which book I saw first. For some reason, I think it may have been one of the Psmith books. However, what I always truly loved most was Bertie Wooster. Later, I found other books, and recently I found a collection of Blandings Castle stories, which was another delightful find.
If you haven’t read Wodehouse, and I suggest you do, it can be hard to describe the appeal of the stories. The best word I can use to describe them is…fun. They are just fun. They certainly aren’t serious; at least I have yet to find a serious story by Wodehouse. Certainly, Jeeves and Wooster stories aren’t serious, and the most serious thing that happens in the Blandings Castle stories is that the prize pig goes off her feed. Usually, the stories are about one of Bertie’s friends trying to convince some girl to marry him, or Bertie trying to get out of some arranged marriage. Similar storylines abound in the Blandings Castle stories.
The second thing that makes them fun is the era. Well, at least I have fun with the era before the Second World War and after the First. In fact, most of the stories are set before the Great Depression, or at least the Great Depression seems to have little effect on Bertie Wooster.
Bertie leads a life of leisure. He obviously has a bit of money, but I would not actually say that he was rich. He has enough to live without working, to keep a house and a car, and most importantly, a servant. Jeeves, and I don’t believe that we ever actually learn if this is his first or last name, he is always just Jeeves. To continue, Jeeves is Bertie’s valet, his gentleman’s gentleman. Jeeves keeps his house clean, at least we never see a maid, though there may be someone who comes in to clean. Jeeves does occasionally cook, but he is certainly not hired to cook. He keeps Bertie’s wardrobe and generally takes care of Bertie, something which Bertie desperately needs.
The proper term for Bertie is a wastrel, but only if you can find a way to use that word without implying spendthrift, or drunk (though Bertie does drink rather a lot), or in fact, most of the negative connotations of the word wastrel. Bertie does no work, but he does not live extravagantly, except in that he has a personal servant. He makes no contribution, other than the contribution of funds to various clubs and restaurants, by his patronage. He enjoys the good life, but without being overly hedonistic.
Jeeves is the brain of the operation. Jeeves is always ready, with the proper drink, or the proper choice of attire, or good advice, or even a plan of attack for the many small problems provided by Bertie and his cast of friends and relatives, for it usually his old school friends, or his many aunts and cousins who provide the fodder for the stories.
Lastly, I must mention Wodehouse’s amazing prose. At least in the Jeeves and Wooster stories, he lets Bertie relate his story and the style of the storytelling is one of the joys of Wodehouse. In other stories, he may write in third person, but Bertie’s rather intimate narration of the story is always amusing. First is the manner of speech from the time, which I cannot hope to recreate in a few words here, but it is truly wonderful banter. Well, maybe I shouldn’t use the word banter, because that may conjure images of British WWII pilots speaking to each other in their indecipherable slang, but banter is what I mean. Rarely in these stories does Bertie speak in straight lines. I just cannot think of a better way to say it. Other characters are a bit more forth right in their speech, but there is always an sense of trying to work around subjects, rather than just coming out and saying it.
And, though this is not really a plug, you can read some of the stories for Free! Right now, I am reading them on my PC and my phone using Kindle software, and I found two books among the free titles on Kindle. So get out there and read something light hearted and fun. You’ll feel better afterward.
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