P.G. Wodehouse

Jeeves, valet to aristocrat Bertie Wooster, helps his employer's lovesick pal Bingo, who is deperate to marry.

The Inimitable Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

“To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language.”—Ben Schott Follow the adventures of Bertie Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves, in this stunning new edition of one of the greatest comic short story collections in the English language. This classic collection of linked stories feature some of the funniest episodes in the life of Bertie Wooster, gentleman, and Jeeves, his gentleman’s gentleman—in which Bertie's terrifying Aunt Agatha stalks the pages, seeking whom she may devour, while Bertie’s friend Bingo Little falls in love with seven different girls in succession (he marries the last, bestselling romantic novelist Rosie M. Banks). And Bertie, with Jeeves’s help, just evades the clutches of the terrifying Honoria Glossop. At its heart is one of Wodehouse’s most delicious stories and a comic masterpiece, "The Great Sermon Handicap."

Gavin

Musical, uplifting, and still so, so funny. Each story draws on a very small pool of the exact same jokes (Jeeves hates a new piece of Wooster's wardrobe; little old lady Aunt Agatha is completely inexorable; shit gambling on unconventional sports, headgear is misappropriated, monsters are slain) and only four supporting characters (Pals, Uncles/Fathers-in-law, Aunts/Fiancees, Trade). But they only gain from the repetition somehow. 

Even here, in Wodehouse's smiling, sun-dappled imperial nest, there are echoes from reality: for instance The War as well as the spiky and still-reigning art it set alight: 

  I suppose every chappie in the world has black periods in his life to which he can’t look back without the smouldering eye and the silent shudder. Some coves, if you can judge by the novels you read nowadays, have them practically all the time...



"Were you in the First World War, Jeeves?"
"I dabbled in it to a certain extent, m’lord."



"I'm lonely, Jeeves."
"You have a great many friends, sir."
"What's the good of friends?"
"Emerson," I reminded him, "says a friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature, sir."
"Well you can tell Emerson from me next time you see him he's an ass."
"Very good, sir."

So frivolous it loops back round to profound.


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Classification:

Wooster's taboo: 
Triangle: 
Subplot: 
Aunt: 
Antagonist: 
Expedient:

Ivan Shiel

With prattling vicars and annoying boys being hurled into ponds, this is classic Jeeves & Wooster. It is episodic being in the form of short stories strung together, but I think this just adds to the farcical feel of the whole thing. It is an utter joy.

Mary Horton

(Brief review because I still have a lot of thumb pain.)

Rather enjoyed this at times, but it got old after a while and I was SO ANNOYED with the majority of the characters. *grits teeth at Bingo* However, the British humour was lovely for the most part, and I loved Bertie. AND LONDON. I looooved that most of the stories were set in London. :)

Also wasn't a fan of all the language. There was more than I expected. (view spoiler)[Use of the d-word probably five or six times, God's name in vain several times, and the a-word quite often. Though I'm thinking that British people used to not consider it a curse word? *shrugs* Correct me if I'm wrong. (hide spoiler)]

Overall, enjoyable, but not something I would probably read again.

3 stars

Melissa Railey

"A Jeeves and Wooster collection An absolute classic collection of linked stories featuring some of the funniest episodes in the life of Bertie Wooster, gentleman, and Jeeves, his gentleman's gentleman in which Aunt Agatha stalks the pages, seeking whom she may devour, Bertie's friend Bingo Little falls in love with seven different girls in succession (he marries the last, the bestselling romantic novelist Rosie M. Banks), and Bertie, with Jeeves's help, just evades the clutches of the terrifying Honoria Glossop. At its heart is one of Wodehouse's most delicious stories, The Great Sermon Handicap.'