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Jeeves and the Wedding Bells

Sebastian Faulks

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Dec 28, 2018 Tony rated it it was amazing

Shelves: setting-england, novels, own-loanable, humor

Sebastian Faulks has to go down as the foremost literary mimic of the day. Already an accomplished novelist in his own right, he was brave enough five years ago to write an new authorized James Bond book, Devil May Care, which he did very consciously in the style of Fleming's prose. A few years later released a compilation of his short literary pastiches as Pistache. Now he's turned his hand to perhaps the most second most beloved English duo in modern literature -- Jeeves and Wooster (Holmes an Sebastian Faulks has to go down as the foremost literary mimic of the day. Already an accomplished novelist in his own right, he was brave enough five years ago to write an new authorized James Bond book, Devil May Care, which he did very consciously in the style of Fleming's prose. A few years later released a compilation of his short literary pastiches as Pistache. Now he's turned his hand to perhaps the most second most beloved English duo in modern literature -- Jeeves and Wooster (Holmes and Watson are obviously #1). But while the Bond brand has been through countless hands across various media, and not a year goes by without several more Holmes pastiches published, almost no one has dared to try and imitate the deft droll touch of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories.

Comedy is possibly the trickiest of genres to get right, and so it's not surprising that few have tried to recreate the cadence and tone of the writer who is widely considered the foremost comic writer of modern, if not all times. However, in my estimation, Faulks nailed it. Although I am not a member of any of the various worldwide Wodehouse societies, he is my favorite writer, and I've loved the Jeeves books since I was a child. The full bag of tricks is in evidence here: false identities, pratfalls, country houses, romantic entanglements, blowhards, willowy examples of the fair sex, scary old ladies, horse racing, burglary, Latin maxims, and so much more. Both in language and storytelling, the book is a remarkable example of mimicry.

There are a few very minor choices one could question as deviating from the original -- two mentions of World War I, and one allusion to a boarding school friendship that might have been more. I'm sure Wodehouse fanatics will find other nits to pick, but they'll probably also recognize some good Easter eggs as well. I suspect most Jeeves and Wooster enthusiasts will find it a rollicking good time, doff our hats to Mr. Faulks, and turn the last page hoping for further installments.
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