I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–girls are rummy. Old Pop Kipling never said a truer word than when he made that crack about the f. of the s. being more d. than the m. P.G. Wodehouse ~ … Continue reading Tales from the Junior Lipstick: the F. of the S.
“That was Pongo Twistleton. He’s all broken up about his Uncle Fred.” “Dead?” “No such luck. Coming up to London again tomorrow. Pongo had a wire this morning.” Uncle Fred Flits By (Young Men in Spats) 26 July is Aunt … Continue reading Wodehouse quotes for every occasion: Aunt and Uncle Day
“Bertie, it is imperative that you marry.” “But, dash it all…” “Yes! You should be breeding children to…” “No, really, I say, please!” I said, blushing richly. Aunt Agatha belongs to two or three of these women’s clubs, and she keeps forgetting she isn’t in the smoking-room.” The Inimitable Jeeves Once again, Plumtopia is celebrating the romances of P.G. Wodehouse to commemorate the anniversary of his death on St Valentine’s Day 1975. Today’s subject: the romances of Bertram Wilberforce Wooster. It’s a potentially controversial choice because Bertie is best known — celebrated even– as one of literature’s bachelors. Despite numerous … Continue reading The Romances of Bertie Wooster
P.G. Wodehouse offers us so much as readers, but he’s an inspiration for writers too. I asked Auriel Roe, author of A Blindfellows Chronicle, about Wodehouse’s influence on her writing. How did you discover Wodehouse? Probably the Richard Briers and Michael Hordern radio version of Jeeves and Wooster. Dickens always intended his work to be read aloud and Wodehouse has just the right rhythms for this too, so that led me to read Wodehouse. Coming from a background in drama, I could tell instantly that Wodehouse’s characters and scenarios were theatrical. Do you have a favourite Wodehouse novel or story? Probably … Continue reading Writing under the influence of Wodehouse: A Blindefellows Chronicle by Auriel Roe
This second article in my reading guide for new Wodehouse readers offers a reading list for the Jeeves and Wooster stories. Jeeves and Wooster Reading List The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)* Carry On, Jeeves (1925)* Very Good Jeeves (1930)* Right Ho, Jeeves (1934; US title Brinkley Manor) The Code of the Woosters (1938) Joy in the Morning (1946) The Mating Season (1949) Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1955; US title Bertie Wooster Sees it Through) Jeeves in the Offing (1960; US title How Right You Are, Jeeves) Thank You, Jeeves (1934) Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963) Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971; US … Continue reading P.G. Wodehouse reading list: the Jeeves and Wooster stories
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
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
When Bertie Wooster is brimming with joy on a fine spring morning in The Inimitable Jeeves, he says: ‘In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove.’ It is one of many Wodehouse references to the works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (from the poem Locksley Hall). In Right Ho, Jeeves, Aunt Dahlia finds a bound volume of Tennyson just the thing for flinging at nephews, and although Bertie claims not to read Tennyson by choice, he is familiar enough with Tennyson’s stuff to quote him often. The following lines from Tennyson’s In memoriam, for example, will be … Continue reading Wodehouse and Tennyson
I’d like to take a short break from my series exploring Wodehouse on Women to share a remarkable piece entitled 111 Male Characters Of British Literature, In Order Of Bangability by Carrie Frye, in which Ms Frye lists 111 fictional characters she finds sexually desirable enough to take to her bed. Almost as astonishing as her stamina, is the fact that she includes not one, but three Wodehouse characters in her list of male sex objects. These are, in order of appearance: – Gussie Fink Nottle (at 106) – Bertram Wooster (at 87) – Jeeves (at 65) Gussie’s inclusion in … Continue reading Wodehouse’s men: objects of desire
It is commonly understood that, far from representing a bygone age, P.G. Wodehouse created an idealised England that never really existed. Yet I remain determined to find fragments of Wodehouse’s world in real life, and last October I immigrated to … Continue reading The four seasons of Wodehouse
