The Swoop! And Other Stories

by P.G. Wodehouse

The legendary novella The Swoop, a comic masterpiece describing a starcrossed invasion of England, is combined with other humorous Wodehouse tales that have been unavailable for many years

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Historical Fiction

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

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 40 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 society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[S. Suresh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edited by David Jasen, this collection comprises of ten short stories and a novella, The Swoop!. Written at the turn of the century, this collection gives a glimpse into the early writings of Wodehouse.

The Swoop! is an irreverent, farcical, comedic satire on the English. The story is about the invasion of England by no less than nine countries, including Germany, Russia, China, Swiss and obscure ones like Monaco, Morocco and Turks. The special report by Bart Kennedy (Ch 7, Part Two) ought to crack you up; as should the specially coded diplomatic conversations between the Germans & Russians.

Tales from St. Austin’s, Wrykyn & Eckleton schools make up half a dozen of the short stories. The final four are from the short story collection I recently read – The Man Upstairs.

[Intoxicatedcake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fun and imagination in Wodehouse's writing is matched by his eloquence and turn-of-phrase.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects early stories by P.G. Wodehouse published in various magazines in England. They show the development of his writing style and humor.

In The Swoop, nine foreign armies conquer England while the public goes on as before. It takes a Boy Scout to figure out how to save England. This is a total nonsense story. I didn't quite understand it. I can see how it's supposed to be funny, especially pre-WWI, but I guess I didn't see the humor in it.

Bradshaw's Little Story is about schoolboys. I couldn't relate to this one at all and found it boring. Thankfully it's very short.

A Shocking Affair tells of further antics by the above schoolboy. This one is actually a little funnier and easier to relate to.

The Politeness of Princes is another schoolboy tale. It's unmemorable.

I skipped Shields' and the Cricket Cup not knowing or caring anything about Cricket or schoolboys.

An International Affair is about American one-stop shopping vs. English mom and pop enterprise. It could be a social satire on Wal*Mart if Wodehouse had lived long enough to see the rise of the big box store. I found it interesting that that sort of store started so early. It may be skewering Selfridge. The story itself is dull and I didn't really understand it.

The Guardian is another tale of two schoolboys. It's slightly more interesting than the earlier stories. It features a different sort of character and plot than the typical schoolboy antics. Neither character is likeable but it's a good story for boys. Boys going off to school could learn something from the story.

Something to Worry About is a light romance that pits the country vs. the city. A young woman is sent to the country to keep out of trouble and ends up creating more trouble. Wodehouse is never sappy or sentimental in his romances. I didn't like this one much because it shows a girl falling for cave man behavior.

The Tuppenny Millionaire is my favorite story of the bunch. Boring old predictable George Albert Balmer inherits a small fortune from a relative and intends to go on with his boring life as before until a co-worker goads him into doing something wild and crazy. This story gets a little zany but features a sweet romance. It's a very cute story.

Deep Waters is another sweet romance set in the theatrical world. It shows Wodehouse's intimate knowledge of the theater and the things people do to drum up business. I wish the story was a bit longer to develop the romance but I enjoyed it a lot.

The Goal Keeper and the Plutocrat is a star-crossed romance. It features satire of aristocrats and millionaires and rugby football. I thought the romantic plot was silly and unrealistic but both the characters are rather dim-witted. The story is infused with sly humor.

The stories in the collection get better as they go along. There's something for everyone in this anthology.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was curious about P.G. Wodehouse, and tried to pick a copy of Laughing Gas. Since my local library didn't have one, I went for "The Swoop". Upon reading the first -and longest- story of the book ("The Swoop") I was very disappointed, and was considering whether or not to read the rest of the book. I'm glad I did read it. Some of the stories where pretty good and rather short. If you like happy endings, you will not be disappointed

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are some of Wodehouse's earliest works, and they are funny, but they lack the timelessness of his best works. The title story is funny, but very dated.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

It saddens me to say it, but this is pretty dated stuff. It does not resonate.

[Lyg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable. I have appreciated some of his later books more, but this was also quite a joy to read.

[Somdutta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories that does not contain the laugh-out-loud humour and brilliance of his later works. However, it is a good read with some nice humour.

[John Hubbard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the silliest Wodehouse. Not focused on Jeeves.