Criticism, P.G. Wodehouse, World of Wodehouse32 Comments

A matter of style: Wodehouse and the modern rules of writing.

December 23, 2013December 31, 2016 Honoria Plum

“I am no stranger to butterfly belly. A man who has had to pass himself off as Gussie Fink-Nottle to four aunts in a chilly Hampshire dining room with only orange juice in the carburettor knows the meaning of fear.” Jeeves and the Wedding Bells Sebastian Faulks presumably knows the feeling pretty well too. As the author of Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, Faulks has risked the ire of Wodehouse fans (already disgrunted after the BBC Blandings fiasco) and potentially his own reputation as a writer. For one of the problems with imitating Wodehouse in the 21st Century is that … Continue reading A matter of style: Wodehouse and the modern rules of writing.

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Guest Posts, P.G. Wodehouse, World of WodehouseLeave a comment

Was P. G. Wodehouse squeamish about sex?

June 30, 2013January 1, 2019 Honoria Plum

Originally posted on EMSWORTH:
We don’t mean this in a negative way, but the fact can’t be avoided: the Master wasn’t comfortable with sex. Not once in dozens of comic novels and hundreds of short stories with romantic plots, does any P. G. Wodehouse character indulge in the carnal passions, on-stage or off. Considering that people probably joke about sex more than anything else, it’s almost astonishing how well Wodehouse got by as a comic writer without it. Wodehouse wasn’t prudish in other respects. Bertie Wooster and his fellow Drones drink themselves silly, commit petty burglaries, fritter money away at… Continue reading Was P. G. Wodehouse squeamish about sex?

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Blub Squeezing, Finding Plumtopia, Plumtopia, World of Wodehouse20 Comments

The four seasons of Wodehouse

June 16, 2013December 31, 2018 Honoria Plum

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

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P.G. Wodehouse, Plumtopia, World of Wodehouse18 Comments

The desert island pickings of a quadragenarian

August 23, 2012January 1, 2019 Honoria Plum

Henry glanced hastily at the mirror. Yes, he did look rather old. He must have overdone some of the lines on his forehead. He looked something between a youngish centenarian and a nonagenarian who had seen a good deal of trouble. The Man with Two Left Feet (1917) I feel much like Henry did, as I glance in the mirror to inspect the remains of my former self on the eve of what I’ll just call a ‘significant’ birthday. But I shall resist the urge to impersonate the great Russian novelists, and reflect instead upon some of my favourite Wodehouse … Continue reading The desert island pickings of a quadragenarian