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Jul 20, 2008

Alison rated it:

"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 f More...

1 comment like (11 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Stephen rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2008

Sriram rated it:

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 i More...

0 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2012

Emily rated it:

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 st More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Brian rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2008

M0rfeus rated it:

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 crea More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2009

Michael rated it:

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.

6 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Faith-Anne rated it:

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!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 27, 2008

Rebecca rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 22, 2008

Ian rated it:

‘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...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2007

Joanna rated it:

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 br More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

Don rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 07, 2008

Maria rated it:

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...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Jason rated it:

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' More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Yash rated it:

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 get into More...

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Dec 22, 2011

Douglas rated it:

‘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 p More...

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Dec 20, 2011

jingybopa rated it:

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...

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Aug 30, 2011

False rated it:

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 More...

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May 18, 2011

Trevor rated it:

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 More...

19 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2011

meeners rated it:

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 More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 24, 2011

Joe rated it:

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 p More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Priya rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Dec 10, 2010

Jack rated it:

My grandfather was a wonderful pal with a great sense of humor. He was a master of the grandfatherly non sequitur, always asking in deadly earnestness if the water was wet after I'd been for a swim. However, summer visits to the grandparents' house could be a little dry. Aside from the wet water at a neighbor's pool and the yearly visit to the amusement park, AstroWorld, Houston was so hot and muggy that outdoor activities were limited. One summer, it rained every afternoon for More...

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Aug 25, 2010

Dan rated it:

actually discovered the Jeeves & Wooster stories only rather recently – on a road trip vacation several years ago I grabbed a bargain audio book at the bookstore and was laughing all the way to the beach. Unfortunately, that was about the best part of that trip as it turned out that the campsite in which I stayed was in a jungle-like environment with huge black & yellow spiders everywhere, not to mention record high temperatures, to boot. Since then, I’ve read several more of the Jeeves & Woo More...

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Jan 24, 2010

Nadia rated it:

The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse is another hilarious romp involving Bertie Wooster and his faithful valet, Jeeves. Bertie has been instructed by his dear Aunt Dahlia to go to an antique store and make a negative remark about a silver cow creamer that her husband, Tom, is extremely interested in procuring for his silver collection. Aunt Dahlia believes that Bertie's negative comment will induce the proprietor of the antique store to lower the price of the cow creamer, thereby ensuring More...

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Jan 04, 2010

Andrew rated it:

I’ve heard it said that Wodehouse is an author equivalent in talent to Shakespeare. With this book, I come very close to believing it. He has that ability in metaphor to be both funny and yet still perfect in his imagery, when he says “She snorted like a bison at the trough” the image appears vividly and immediately. His characters voices are audible in their dialogue, their minds and moods almost palpable on the air as you read. But for me, the real triumph of Wodehouse is the construction of More...

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May 12, 2010

Bridget rated it:

Actually, I listened to this from an audio version of this produced by the BBC. Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia assigns him to go to an antique store and pooh-pooh a silver cow creamer, hoping that the store owner will mark down the price so her husband can buy it. Needless to say, Bertie runs into trouble, in the form of Sir Watkyn Bassett, who is also interested in the cow creamer. And of course, there is a mixup so that it appears that Bertie was trying to steal the cow creamer.

Th More...

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Oct 15, 2009

Amber rated it:

Bertie Wooster, narrator and oddly loveable upper-class twit, is deliciously idle and pals around with other hoighty-toighty wealthy folk who privilege decorum to such an outrageous extent that they inevitably wind up in the goofiest, most trifling predicaments. It’s up to intuitive, imperturbable Jeeves, Bertie’s valet (or “manservant” if you want to be creepy about it) to sort them all out.

On the face of it, The Code of the Woosters is 286 pages of unbridled hullabaloo (the bulk of More...

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Jan 21, 2012

SarahC rated it:

These pages tell the continued life events of English gentleman Bertie Wooster and his gathering of oddly nick-named family and acquaintances. A few points become obvious quickly in the story: who will end up with the collectible cow creamer, who will end up with the constable’s helmet, and who will in future enjoy the culinary excellence of Chef Anatole. Bertie hooks up again with friend Augustus Fink-Nottle, who must walk the fine line to stay engaged to Madeline Bassett. In the process of a More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Punk rated it:

Fiction. My first Wodehouse book! I liked it! This is the one with the cow creamer. It's a bit heavy on the wacky misunderstandings, which I normally can't stomach, but Wodehouse's writing is so wonderfully breezy that I was able to enjoy the story without getting too frustrated by how stupid everyone was being, and, yes, I do realize that's the point of these novels. If the women are ridiculous, they're matched by the haplessness of the men, so in the end, neither gender looks very good.
More...

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