The Inimitable Jeeves, by P.G.Wodehouse

[rowyn]

the_gneech has been recommending the Jeeves books for basically forever, and a month or two ago jorrocks_j reminded me they existed and I decided to put a couple of the early ones on reserve.

I'm not sure if this was actually the first one or not, and pretty sure it doesn't matter. It's a collection of short stories with various recurring characters, and occasionally touching on events of previous stories. The narrator, Bertie Wooster, has a primary ambition of "being left alone" and spends most of the narratives letting various relations and hangers-on pushing him around. His valet, Jeeves, alternates between fishing Wooster and his associates out of scrapes and letting them stew in their own mess. The whole is played for comic effect.

The stories vary between "funny" and "cringe-inducing"; my biggest problem was that I found it hard to like any of the characters. Wooster is a spineless fop and his relations/friends are irritating bullies. Even Jeeves comes across as self-interested, with an agenda he often conceals from Wooster and which allows Jeeves to come out on top even when the 'help' he has offered to Wooster et al fails to be useful to them. They are by no means monsters or horrible people, but qualities to really like are few. At best, one identifies with Wooster's desire to be left in peace and not have to deal with these nuisances.

Having read some of the Wodehouse stories, I can see how the_gneech's "Brigid and Greg" vignettes were influenced by them. This is probably blasphemy, but I like Brigid and Greg better. c_c

I feel bad rating a classic so low, but I'm giving this a 6. I may read some more anyway: the stories grew on me as it got later in the book, so perhaps it's an acquired taste.

Comments

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

The J&W literary career spans ~50 years, so obviously there's going to be some variation in quality. The quality peaks in the early novel era (which is after the short stories), when Aunt Agatha fades into the background and the much more likeable Aunt Dahlia takes over as the whip-handler.

That said, diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks. ^.^' And of course I'm very flattered to be compared favorably with Wodehouse!

-TG

ETA: If I may, I recommend Right Ho, Jeeves! and Code of the Woosters as the best of the lot.

[rowyn]

Fair 'nuf! I have Carry On, Jeeves at home now, so I may read that next. But I will give the two novels you name a shot before I write the series off as not my thing. :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's more of the early stuff. Plum was younger and his wit a touch more acerbic. Or at least, as acerbic as it got. He definitely mellowed with age.

-TG

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

I've heard a lot about 'em but never read them myself! I ought to read them sometimes just to see what the fuss is about, but your review does reduce the urgency of that 'ought'.

On the subject of childhood books remembered fondly, have you seen the Don Camillo books?

[rowyn]

Lots of people not-me do love them, so I hate to be too down on the books. Especially having only read one of the umpteen. :D

I am not familiar with Don Camilo!

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

It's not at all like Jeeves and Wooster, but it is amusing... Don Camillo, a Catholic priest, crosses figurative swords with a Communist party leader running things in a small Italian town in their respective missions to save the people.

[rowyn]

They sound pretty fun!

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

So... Blackadder?

[rowyn]

Not nearly as cringe-inducing as first-season Black Adder. Not unlike QE1-era Black Adder, in the 'I don't like any of these people but one character is clever and it's kind of funny' sense, though. I liked the Wodehouse stories better than BA overall, though.

I am curious to see some of the TV versions of Jeeves, as I can imagine an actor imbuing the characters with more depth/likeability, just by giving them physical presence, if that makes sense.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

The first season of the Fry & Laurie J&W is excellent. Each following season is roughly 60% as good as its predecessor, alas. By the end, it's barely recognizeable.

-TG

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Blackadder was one of my favorite shows, and this honestly sounds like a less interesting version of it. I guess I'd have to actually read some to tell for sure, but fiction without sci fi or fantasy elements is kind of a turn off even if it's good.

[rowyn]

Yeah, there's a reason I always add random magic to my stories. The real world is kinda meh. c_c

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

I read quite a few of the W&J books when I was a teenager and found them hysterically funny- my mom and I were fighting over the books from the library. I haven't read them since, though I have bought an ebook to reread them.

[rowyn]

I remember my mother had stacks of Wodehouse books about, but I never got around to reading them as a kid.

[jorrocks-j.livejournal.com]

Actually yes, that's exactly how the early Jeeves and Wooster stories are. But the series caught on and after writing the characters over a period of time, Wodehouse evidently began to develop affection for them. Bertie Wooster mellowed into goodhearted cluelessness, Jeeves into something closer to the clever manservant of the commedia dell'arte who makes everything turn out alright in the end.

Of course to accept these later, nicer characters the reader also has to accept a sort of soft-focus view of the English class system, and indeed of England itself. That's become harder and harder for me to do over the past ten years as, through the magic of the Internet, I've read more of their papers and of my history. But I still enjoy The Lord of the Rings and if one can hold affection for Frodo as the Squire and the Shire as...well, the Shire...the suspension of disbelief required to like Jeeves and Wooster isn't that much of a stretch.

--Skarl the Drummer

[rowyn]

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were both slave owners. :( I am apparently willing to forgive quite a lot of people who are acting in ways typical of their era, even if that behavior is abominable by the standards of my own. :/

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

I love J&W! I love the breezy comedic writing. I love how PG writes first person clueless Wooster and you still understand what exactly is going on. I have no idea what order I read them in, I just remember loving them from the start. Possibly I did start with later ones where you develop affection for Bertie as a lovable idiot. Also the affection between Wooster and Jeeves is or becomes obvious. I think Jeeves strikes the right note between letting the characters suffer the consequences of their own mistakes and swooping in to save them last minute as his previous machinations become clear. Also it's fine with me if Jeeves himself is the one who benefits the most - he's the one having to do all the work!

If you like the writing style but not the characters you might try Wodehouse's other works. I don't remember enjoying anything else by him quite as much, and certainly nothing else by him is as popular still as J&W, but tastes vary.

My husband enjoyed the series with Fry and Laurie, although I never really did. You certainly might, I dunno. However, having to sit through some of the scenes real-time is kinda cringe-inducing. Much easier to read a breezy summary with Wooster's humourous idioms thrown in :-)

[rowyn]

It sounds like Wodehouse improves with age. :) I'll have to give one of the later ones a try! I remember Mommy had a ton of Wodehouse books too, though I never read them growing up.

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

I did :-) I think I still have some of those paperbacks, now falling to pieces *g*

[kores-rabbit.livejournal.com]

After seeing the show, I can't read the books without hearing Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in my head.
I met a fella who had a huge bag of Wodehouse novels. Then, I met Pyat and discovered he had a love for Wodehouse. The fella handed the bag over to me and Pyat was sweet on me forever. ;) Books can be sexy. I swear it.

[detroitfather.livejournal.com]

Cindy and I read that back in April and liked it. Kind of forumulaic, once you've read a chapter or two, I suppose.

[rowyn]

I read another short story-collection of them, "Carry On, Jeeves", and enjoyed it more, so I think they're growing on me. :) Definitely formulaic, though!