PG Wodehouse: the course of love
“I wish I had a quid for every girl Freddie Widgeon has loved and lost,” sighed an Egg wistfully. “If I had, I shouldn’t be touching you for a fiver.” Continue reading PG Wodehouse: the course of love
Tag: Meet Mr Mulliner
Highballs for Breakfast
Highballs for Breakfast is a new compilation of P.G. Wodehouse’s writing on the subject of liquor, drinking, Dutch Courage and mornings after, compiled and edited by Richard T. Kelly. It’s a well-researched collection that delves widely into the Wodehouse canon, … Continue reading Highballs for Breakfast
I have dyspepsia!
Yesterday I received the Doctor’s diagnosis of an ailment that has been troubling me for some time. I have dyspepsia! I don’t suppose a doctor ever received such a joyous response to this news as mine did. I practically whooped around the surgery. For now, I can read my favourite poem, by Lancelot Mulliner in ‘Came the Dawn’, with the added poignancy of personal suffering. DARKLING (A Threnody) By L. BASSINGTON MULLINER (Copyright in all languages, including the Scandinavian) Black branches, Like a corpse’s withered hands, Waving against the blacker sky: Chill winds, Bitter like the tang of half-remembered sins; … Continue reading I have dyspepsia!
P.G. Wodehouse in Bath: The Loafing Years
It is not unreasonable to assume that when the assorted dignitaries of Bath bunged off their application for UNESCO World Heritage listing, the fact that P.G. Wodehouse lived here as a boy was pretty high up on their list of … Continue reading P.G. Wodehouse in Bath: The Loafing Years
Wodehouse poets: I have got dyspepsia
In approximately 25 minutes, I will be heading off to explore P.G. Wodehouse locations in Shropshire, on route to the wedding of a Wodehouse lover called Bill. To mark the occasion, I’d like to share my favourite ‘Wodehouse’ poem — presented as the work of Lancelot Mulliner in ‘Came the Dawn’. I wanted this to be read at my own wedding, but the celebrant bucked. DARKLING (A Threnody) By L. BASSINGTON MULLINER (Copyright in all languages, including the Scandinavian) Black branches, Like a corpse’s withered hands, Waving against the blacker sky: Chill winds, Bitter like the tang of half-remembered sins; … Continue reading Wodehouse poets: I have got dyspepsia
Honeysuckle Cottage by Wodehouse: an antidote to Valentine slush and nonsense
He held rigid views on the art of the novel, and always maintained that an artist with a true reverence for his craft should not descend to goo-ey love stories, but should stick austerely to revolvers, cries in the night, missing papers, mysterious Chinamen, and dead bodies — with or without gash in throat. From ‘Honeysuckle Cottage’ This firm opinion belongs to mystery writer James Rodman, a cousin of Mr Mulliner. But then he inherits Honeysuckle Cottage from his Aunt, the romance novelist Leila J. Pinckney , and her house begins to exert a sinister romantic influence over him. First, … Continue reading Honeysuckle Cottage by Wodehouse: an antidote to Valentine slush and nonsense
The Truth About George
I asked my eight year old daughter to share her favourite Wodehouse romance and, after much umming and ahhhhing, she chose ‘The Truth About George’. In this short story (from Meet Mr. Mulliner) Mr Mulliner recounts the ordeal of his nephew George Mulliner, who must overcome his stammer in order to declare his love for Susan Blake. Many Wodehouse couples are brought together through a common interest — it might be golf, Tennyson’s poems, or a shared love of mystery novels, for ‘there is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature’ (‘Strychnine in the Soup’). … Continue reading The Truth About George
Meet Mr. Mulliner
Originally posted on The Grand Reviewer:
Meet Mr. Mulliner, a local fisherman and popular visitor of the pub, the Angler’s Rest, where he shares the almost unbelievable escapades of various members of the Mulliner family tree. From George the stammerer, who overcomes his stammer so he can marry the crossword-loving love of his life, to Augustine the curate, who after drinking some Buck-U-Uppo becomes a fearless aid to a bishop, to James the author, who finds his bachelorhood threatened by the sappy romance of his aunt’s novels, each tale in the collection shows how the Mulliners face adversity in the… Continue reading Meet Mr. Mulliner
Meeting Mulliners
Two men were sitting in the bar-parlour of the Anglers’ Rest as I entered it; and one of them, I gathered from his low, excited voice and wide gestures, was telling the other a story. I could hear nothing but … Continue reading Meeting Mulliners
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