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55th out of 1,873 books
—
3,708 voters
The Code of the Woosters (Jeeves #7)
Nothing but trouble can ensue when Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia instructs him to steal a silver jug from Totleigh Towers, home of magistrate and hell-hound, Sir Watkyn Bassett. First he must face the peril of Sir Watkyn's droopy daughter, Madeline, and then the terrors of would-be Dictator, Roderick Spode and his gang of Black Shorts. But when duty calls, Bertram answers,...more
Hardcover, Everyman Wodehouse, 286 pages
Published
April 28th 2000
by Everyman's Library
(first published 1938)
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Classic Wodehouse. It doesn't get any better than this...actually it doesn't get much different than this either.
Perhaps that's not entirely fair. For me at least, The Code of the Woosters contains some of my favorite scenes and some of Wodehouse's most memorable characters. Herein his hero Bertie Wooster is at his daffiest, unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks, berating a cow creamer, without getting himself in thick soup. Soon after he's got a Bassett and that malodorous Spode badgering...more
Perhaps that's not entirely fair. For me at least, The Code of the Woosters contains some of my favorite scenes and some of Wodehouse's most memorable characters. Herein his hero Bertie Wooster is at his daffiest, unable to accomplish the simplest of tasks, berating a cow creamer, without getting himself in thick soup. Soon after he's got a Bassett and that malodorous Spode badgering...more
No one weaves a plot like Wodehouse. Also, if you have a cow creamer, guard it with your life.
The 2012 re-read:
Aunt Dahlia dispatches Bertie to Totleigh Towers to purlorn a silver cow creamer coveted by his uncle Tom from Sir Watkyn Basset. Unfortunately, Bertie has his work cut out for him in the form of Stiffy Byng and Madeline Basset. Can Bertie escape with the cow creamer without winding up married to either woman?
This is my second reading of Code of the Woosters and I can definitely say the...more
The 2012 re-read:
Aunt Dahlia dispatches Bertie to Totleigh Towers to purlorn a silver cow creamer coveted by his uncle Tom from Sir Watkyn Basset. Unfortunately, Bertie has his work cut out for him in the form of Stiffy Byng and Madeline Basset. Can Bertie escape with the cow creamer without winding up married to either woman?
This is my second reading of Code of the Woosters and I can definitely say the...more
50 likes · like · see review
Jul 20, 2008
Alison
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
looking for light, clever fun
Recommended to Alison by:
Morfeus
Shelves:
rgbookclub
"You might put it that Hell's foundations are quivering. That is not overstating it, Jeeves?"
"No, sir."
P.G. Wodehouse was an English writer whose career spanned over seventy years and whose work included almost 100 novels, numerous short stories, 15 plays and 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. Despite his impressive resume and reputation as a "master of English prose", I, unfortunately, wouldn't have known he existed if it hadn't been for Rory Gilmore. I guess that makes me more of a B...more
"No, sir."
P.G. Wodehouse was an English writer whose career spanned over seventy years and whose work included almost 100 novels, numerous short stories, 15 plays and 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. Despite his impressive resume and reputation as a "master of English prose", I, unfortunately, wouldn't have known he existed if it hadn't been for Rory Gilmore. I guess that makes me more of a B...more
15 likes · like · see review
Review written the 29th of July, 2012
“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.”
“I mean, imagine how some unfortunate Master Criminal would feel, on coming down to do a murder at the old Grange, if he found that not only was Sherlock Holmes putting in the weekend there, but Hercule Poirot, as well.”
There was a temptation, for my second review of this novel in what I now term the ‘Goodreads period ‘ of my life, to just illustrate the wonder and genius of this...more
“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.”
“I mean, imagine how some unfortunate Master Criminal would feel, on coming down to do a murder at the old Grange, if he found that not only was Sherlock Holmes putting in the weekend there, but Hercule Poirot, as well.”
There was a temptation, for my second review of this novel in what I now term the ‘Goodreads period ‘ of my life, to just illustrate the wonder and genius of this...more
7 likes · like · see review
This is a nice "feel good" story that will both entertain and genuinely brighten your mood. It's the kind of story you read when you need to recharge your happy battery and need a big fat smile. Bernie Wooster is especially attrative if you are a fan of British comedy, which I have a real weakness for. The dry humor, the purposely clever phrasing and the awkward social settings were right in my wheelhouse. It reminded me of a gentler, less acerbic (and, admittedly, less funny) version of the 70'...more
I'm always shocked to find that hardly anyone in these United States has ever heard of or read the works of Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.... most indians who read english stumble upon his works sooner or later-more so, I dare say, than the english themselves.
I've always maintained that if a Wodehouse book cannot lift your spirits, you must be pretty close to suicide.
Amazing plots, memorable characters and superb prose. Long winding complex sentences that never fail to incite peals of laughter,...more
I've always maintained that if a Wodehouse book cannot lift your spirits, you must be pretty close to suicide.
Amazing plots, memorable characters and superb prose. Long winding complex sentences that never fail to incite peals of laughter,...more
Jan 22, 2012
Emily
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
aspiring Brits (Think Madonna ten yrs ago), witties, from India, sick in bed, suicidal-but-not-sure
Recommended to Emily by:
Dan Schwent
Shelves:
classics,
i-wouldn-t-mind-that-life
The English have us beat. They have cuter bulldogs, remarkable speech (I side with the Brits on this one), tastier teas, a long rich history, Downton Abbey (!!!), and of course, they have PG WODEHOUSE. Aside: (COLIN FIRTH TOO, BITCHES!) This was the first book of his I've read--(Thanks, Dan!), and I found it utterly charming.
I thought about going off and talking about how this was like tea and crumpets on a Sunday morning, or a spot of tea when you're wataching a detective story on PBS, or a ho...more
16 likes · like · see review
I want to say that this was a 'laugh out loud' kind of book but I'd be lying because I don't laugh out loud when reading a book nor have I seen many people laugh out loud while reading a book. I think there may be exceptions to this but have no explanations for this phenomena except maybe the possibility of drugs or the lack thereof. I do laugh inside my head pretty loudly and with this book the inside of my head was roaring. My brain was in tears.
Bertram Wooster and Jeeves are able to solve eve...more
Bertram Wooster and Jeeves are able to solve eve...more
3 likes · like · see review
Without question the BEST of the Jeeves and Wooster novels--and I have read them all. I last read this worthy tome in 1987 and had fogotten what a masterpiece it is, brilliantly crafted like a fine symphony, with all characters and plot devices coming together at just the right moment to deliver the maximum hilarity.
I don't think I can recap the plot except to say that it concerns two loving couples torn asunder through various misunderstandings, a stolen 17th century "cow creamer", a little bro...more
I don't think I can recap the plot except to say that it concerns two loving couples torn asunder through various misunderstandings, a stolen 17th century "cow creamer", a little bro...more
3 likes · like · see review
Oh my god this is so, so, so funny. I was discussing Wodehouse with someone yesterday and, as he put it, "There are passages that you want to chase people around the house with, saying, 'Wait! Wait! Just listen to this bit!'"
Haven't laughed so hard in a good long while. God, but I love Wodehouse.
Haven't laughed so hard in a good long while. God, but I love Wodehouse.
13 likes · like · see review
If you want a happy book that's guaranteed a laugh, be sure to read anything by P.G. Wodehouse. He's a gem of a writer. Sometimes it's good to break away from 'serious' literature & enjoy laughing. Wodehouse is the perfect solution to life's misfortune. Enjoy the ride!
Although not as laugh-out-loud funny as I'd been built up to believe, this book remains a completely wonderful experience. It's my first P.G. Wodehouse, and so my introduction to Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, and I will certainly be hunting more of them.
Wooster is a seriously endearing guy -- a little bumbling, but with great intentions -- who just couldn't make it through the day without his manservant, Jeeves. Whom of course makes sense of all the world for him in an almost parental and certainly...more
Wooster is a seriously endearing guy -- a little bumbling, but with great intentions -- who just couldn't make it through the day without his manservant, Jeeves. Whom of course makes sense of all the world for him in an almost parental and certainly...more
‘The Code of the Woosters’ carries on from where ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’ left off with the same cast of characters but with the location shifted from Brinkley Manor to TotleighTowers the ancestral home of Sir Watkyn Bassett father of Madeline Basset whom had been restored to her fiancé Gussie Fink-Nottle at the end of ‘Right Ho, Jeeves’. Once again the engagement is under the cosh and Bertie and Jeeves are summand to restore the larch to the thorn and God to the heavens. Matters are not helped by the...more
P. G. Wodehouse makes me happier than any other author. I think I've read (and re-read multiple times, in most cases) about 70 of his 90+ novels and short story collections.
_The Code of the Woosters_ is from the Jeeves and Wooster series, which is by far Wodehouse's best-known and also his best. (The Blandings Castle novels are a close second, I think.) Jeeves gets top billing but is actually Bertie Wooster's butler. Wooster is a lovable upper-class twit, while Jeeves is the brains of the opera...more
_The Code of the Woosters_ is from the Jeeves and Wooster series, which is by far Wodehouse's best-known and also his best. (The Blandings Castle novels are a close second, I think.) Jeeves gets top billing but is actually Bertie Wooster's butler. Wooster is a lovable upper-class twit, while Jeeves is the brains of the opera...more
Mar 08, 2008
Don
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
cow-creamer aficianados and helmet pinchers
It's quite possible that a world without Wodehouse would be a world without Three's Company, a world without Frasier, a world, in short, without convoluted situations from which much comedy is derived. That is to say, the old s.c. The mind reels.
There's something to be said for a prolific author that can at once delight so many and fail to register with even more. Some of my best friends are non-Wodehouse readers, which is to say that none of my friends appreciate the Wodehousian wit. For better...more
There's something to be said for a prolific author that can at once delight so many and fail to register with even more. Some of my best friends are non-Wodehouse readers, which is to say that none of my friends appreciate the Wodehousian wit. For better...more
This is one of the best pieces of humorous prose ever written. If you are breathing and have even a rudimentary sense of humor (and a modicum of intelligence) you will come away from this one with tears of laughter rolling and sides sore.
Within this volume (whether you choose to read text, listen to a GOOD narrator, or go Ebook) you will find the hilarious story of the "imbroglio" of Stiffy Byng, The Curate H.P. "Stinker Pinker", Madeline Bassett, Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle, the eighteenth ce...more
Within this volume (whether you choose to read text, listen to a GOOD narrator, or go Ebook) you will find the hilarious story of the "imbroglio" of Stiffy Byng, The Curate H.P. "Stinker Pinker", Madeline Bassett, Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle, the eighteenth ce...more
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I started reading P.G. Wodehouse this summer and I really enjoy his writing style. It's definitely lighthearted reading, but the amazing number of scrapes that his characters manage to get into is astounding. All of his books are similar in tone and basic plotline, so it might be fairly easy to get an overdose of Wodehouse. However, he writes funny, clean, witty literature, and I am planning on reading all of his books. I will probably space it out a little- it's like eating a really rich piece...more
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although i am mostly a fan of cutting-edge and very contemporary fiction, i also have a weak spot for victorian and edwardian class-conscious british satirists, and it doesn't get much better when it comes to that than pg wodehouse. his series of wooster and jeeves tales have not only been adapted numerous times in all kinds of media, but even sparked the cultural understanding of "jeeves" automatically standing for a butler -- they're that well-known. highly worth checking out if you're just st...more
Although I don't normally read humorous fiction (more of a sci-fi and serious novel type of girl) once I picked up some P.G. Wodehouse I simply couldn't get enough. I've enjoyed reading his short stories about silly young men, and this book was in the same hilarious vein. I'd never read any of the Jeeves and Wooster books before this one, but I happened to have this one around the house. I decided to give it a try, and it greatly impressed. It's a story about how a cow-creamer, a small dog, and...more
P.G. Wodehouse has a few sets of characters that he revisits in multiple novels. Code of The Woosters is one of the Jeeves and Wooster books — probably my favorite of the bunch.
In Code of the Woosters, Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves are dispatched by Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia to pop up to Totleigh Towers and steal a horrendous piece of antique silver — a cow creamer that Wooster’s uncle Tom has his eye on. Sir Watkyn Bassett, the current owner of the cow creamer, is all too savvy to Wooster’s pla...more
In Code of the Woosters, Bertie Wooster and his man Jeeves are dispatched by Wooster’s Aunt Dahlia to pop up to Totleigh Towers and steal a horrendous piece of antique silver — a cow creamer that Wooster’s uncle Tom has his eye on. Sir Watkyn Bassett, the current owner of the cow creamer, is all too savvy to Wooster’s pla...more
Bertie Wooster is summoned by his Aunt Dahlia, who requests first that he poke fun publicly at a strange antique called a 'cow creamer', then that he travel down to Totleigh Towers to steal it. Bertie has also received a summons to the same country estate from his newt-loving friend Gussie, who is engaged to the fluffy Madeline, and another from her cousin Stephanie (Stiffy). Clearly Bertie is in great demand, so with Jeeves in tow he tootles down in his natty little car.
Unfortunately, Madelein...more
Unfortunately, Madelein...more
Another one of the Wodehouse masterpieces! The back cover page of my book has a line from Stephen Fry - "You don't analyse such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendour." And that is precisely how I feel about The Code of the Woosters (and most of the P.G. Wodehouse books). P.G. Wodehouse is the master when it comes to creating loveable characters out of thin air, he is the master when it comes to creating the most awkward and yet funny situations out of nothing, and he is th...more
When I started reading this particular installation of P.G. Wodehouse's 'Jeeves & Wooster' Saga, I was a bit skeptical. The main reason for this was that before starting this book I had read in my opinion two of P.G. Wodehouse's best novels- 'Service With A Smile' and 'Uncle Fred in The Springtime'. I had previously read only one 'Jeeves & Wooster' book which was 'Much Obliged,Jeeves' but I found that to be very slow and kind of lacking in the overall plot development but as soon as you...more
‘Jeeves, you really are a specific dream-rabbit,’ says Stiffy Byng, and it’s true. My favorite Wodehouse so far. Pure joy.
I especially enjoyed Bertie’s moments of reverie. For example, his reflections on Archimedes discovering the principle of displacement while in the bath:
Harking back to Archimedes just once more, Jeeves’s description of him discovering the principle of displacement, though brief, had made a deep impression on me, bringing before my eyes a very vivid picture of what must have...more
I especially enjoyed Bertie’s moments of reverie. For example, his reflections on Archimedes discovering the principle of displacement while in the bath:
Harking back to Archimedes just once more, Jeeves’s description of him discovering the principle of displacement, though brief, had made a deep impression on me, bringing before my eyes a very vivid picture of what must have...more
Years ago, when I was much to young really, I read a book by P.G. Wodehouse entitled Bachelors Anonymous. I found it pleasant enough, but rather pointless. Years later, being familiar with Wodehouse's reputation, I decided to give him another chance. After all, one can't expect a 92 year old writer (the age at which B.A. was published) as prolific as Wodehouse was, to be at the top of their game. This book seemed to be as good a candidate as any...suffice to say, I was disappointed. I realize it...more
For some reason, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster came to mind, so I sought out some Wodehouse. I've never read the entire series, thought I would tackle it now, then changed my mind after reading this. It's...amusing, but it still doesn't make me roar the way Nancy Mitford's Love in a Cold Climate does. I did savor one quote, regarding the type of person who is a blown up ego and asshole. Wodehouse is describing a character called Sir Roderick Spode (a mockery of Oswald Mosley and his black shirted Br...more
I really enjoyed this one. But my favourite joke in the whole thing was when Wooster refers to someone as a ‘sensitive plant’ and is told, “You know your Shelley!” To which he replies, “Am I?” That just about sums up everything I love about Wodehouse. The poetic reference Wooster only uses because he steals it from Jeeves and then his utter bewilderment at what he takes to be a bizarre adjective being used to refer to him. Utter joy.
And the women in this one are even more selfish and manipulativ...more
And the women in this one are even more selfish and manipulativ...more
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for a summary of the plot you can do no better than the great man himself:
And half an hour later I was toddling up the steps of [Aunt Dahlia's] residence and being admitted by old Seppings, her butler. Little knowing, as I crossed that threshold, that in about two shakes of a duck's tail I was to become involved in an imbroglio that would test the Wooster soul as it had seldom been tested before. I allude to the sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett, old Pop Bassett, Stiffy Byn...more
And half an hour later I was toddling up the steps of [Aunt Dahlia's] residence and being admitted by old Seppings, her butler. Little knowing, as I crossed that threshold, that in about two shakes of a duck's tail I was to become involved in an imbroglio that would test the Wooster soul as it had seldom been tested before. I allude to the sinister affair of Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett, old Pop Bassett, Stiffy Byn...more
1 like · like · see review
There are two schools of thought on re-reading books. One contends that with so many excellent books in the world, it is a shame to waste time re-reading any. Another contends, in the words of C.S. Lewis, "any book worth reading only once was probably not worth reading even then." Few authors serve as greater evidence for Lewis' contention than P.G. Wodehouse.
This was my third time reading The Code of the Woosters. For a Wodehouse uninitiate, this book would not be a bad place to start. The nove...more
This was my third time reading The Code of the Woosters. For a Wodehouse uninitiate, this book would not be a bad place to start. The nove...more
1 like · like · see review
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hmm. . . | 8 | 103 | Feb 21, 2013 06:44am | |
| Between the Wars: * Code of the Woosters | 39 | 16 | Feb 09, 2012 08:26pm |
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 30 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class so...more
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“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.”
—
248 people liked it
“There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, 'Do trousers matter?'"
"The mood will pass, sir.”
—
243 people liked it
More quotes…
"The mood will pass, sir.”
Apr 04, 2013 03:17am
Apr 04, 2013 07:32am