Reading the 20th Century discussion
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P.G. Wodehouse
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'I think you're terribly conceited.'
'Not at all,' said Psmith. 'Conceited? No, no. Success has not spoiled me.'
'Have you had any success?'
'None whatsoever.'
I'm thinking of getting an omnibus or collection of some sort of PGW's work. Does anyone have a recommendation? I've only just found him, so don't know yet which are his best books or stories. I thought perhaps an omnibus would be a good way of exploring his various characters to see which ones I like best. :-)
Do you have a kindle Susan? I’ve gotten a lot of P.G. Wodehouse novels for free on kindle.
Lynaia wrote: "Do you have a kindle Susan? I’ve gotten a lot of P.G. Wodehouse novels for free on kindle."Yes I do Lynaia, although I haven't been lucky enough to find his books free so far. If you have any links or details that would be ever so helpful.
I got most of mine on amazon but looking now, there’s only 2 that are free although I do see the collected works of P.G. Wodehouse for 99 cents. Of course this is in the US so I don’t know what the UK has. Are you in the US or UK?
Lynaia wrote: "I got most of mine on amazon but looking now, there’s only 2 that are free although I do see the collected works of P.G. Wodehouse for 99 cents. Of course this is in the US so I don’t know what the..."I'm in the UK, but I'll have a look for the collected works, thank you Lynaia!
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There are quite a few themed omnibus collections around Sue....
e.g. The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 1, The Golf Omnibus, World of Psmith Omnibus, Uncle Fred: An Omnibus, The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 2: Right Ho, Jeeves / Joy in the Morning / Carry On, Jeeves etc etc
...many are available very cheaply second hand
I prefer reading the individual novels and short story collections but I am sure there's lots to enjoy in the various omnibuses too and it would be a quick way of getting 3 or 4 novels in one volume.
To be honest, whatever you decide you can't go wrong with PG.
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Some of his books are available to download free from Project Gutenberg UK. His earlier works are in the public domain. Smith in the City was particularly good. I'm sorry, I can't link at the mo, also, there is a silent P at the beginning of Smith, but my kindle won't let me add it!
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But some of Wodehouse's books are very cheap on Kindle anyway - I've just noticed an omnibus for 99p which contains 8 novels, including Psmith in the City, so that could be a good place to start, Sue?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/P-G-Wodehous...
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This is great - thank you everyone for the suggestions! I’m aiming to have one PGW on the go at all times until the winter gives over, as an antidote to the grey weather. 😄
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😄"
What a wonderful aspiration - and one that should make your life more joyous too. Bravo Sue. Please keep us posted with how you are getting on.
I've just found the official PGW website which has a quote of the day at the top. Today's made me laugh out loud:“She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and had forgotten to say ‘when’.”
I'm sure many of us can sympathise with that, post-Christmas!
I just bought What Ho! The best of P.G. Wodehouse which has lots of extracts, letters and so on, plus an intro by Stephen Fry. I thought that would give me a flavour of the different series and I can go from there. I'm pleased to see my library has loads of his books too.
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Great purchase Sue. I should have thought about that one when you asked for suggestions - it's the perfect PG primer. I'm sure you'll love it.
My succinct review
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I've read some of these stories before as I believe some of them also appear in My Man Jeeves (1919)*, albeit in a slightly different form
These are the stories contained within Carry on, Jeeves (1925)....
"Jeeves Takes Charge" — Bertie hires Jeeves for the first time, and Bertie's fiancée Florence Craye wants Bertie to destroy his uncle's memoirs.
*"The Artistic Career of Corky" — Corky, a struggling artist who relies on his uncle, is afraid his uncle won't approve of his fiancée. Jeeves suggests a plan involving books about birds.
*"Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" — Bertie is told to look after Motty, the sheltered son of a friend of Aunt Agatha's, and keep him out of trouble. Motty, however, wants to make the most of his time in New York.
*"Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg" — Bicky, one of Bertie's friends, has lied to his uncle about his wealth and is in trouble when his miserly uncle comes to visit. Jeeves suggests a plan involving a convention of gentlemen from Birdsburg, Missouri.
"The Aunt and the Sluggard" — Bertie's friend Rocky, a poet who lives quietly in the country, is troubled when his aunt tells him to go to parties and clubs in New York and write her letters about it.
"The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy" — Biffy, who is forgetful, can't remember the surname or address of the woman he loves. After he ends up unhappily engaged to Honoria Glossop instead, he goes to Bertie for help.
"Without the Option" — Sippy, who is financially dependent on his aunt, is expected to stay with his aunt's ghastly friends. After Bertie inadvertently gets Sippy stuck in prison, Bertie must take Sippy's place.
*"Fixing it for Freddie" — After Freddie Bullivant is rejected by his fiancée Elizabeth Vickers, Bertie invites him to Marvis Bay. Bertie gets an idea to reconcile the two when he sees Elizabeth playing with a child on the beach.
"Clustering Round Young Bingo" — Bingo Little's wife wants a new housemaid, Aunt Dahlia wants a new cook, and Bingo Little wants his wife's article suppressed. Bertie tries to sort everything out with help from Jeeves.
"Bertie Changes His Mind" — After Bertie expresses interest in taking in his three nieces, Jeeves, who is against this idea, arranges for Bertie to give a speech to an audience of young girls.
Nigeyb wrote: "Another day another Wodehouse. This time I am diving into Carry on, Jeeves (1925)I've read some of these stories before as I believe some of them also appear in [book:My Man Jeeves|2..."
I'm yet to read any of Wodehouse's short stories (except the golf ones)- sounds like fun.
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Generally I prefer novels to short stories however when it's PG at the helm all rules go out of the window.
These early J&W stories are especially interesting as it's so early in the development of the books and regular readers can observe how Wodehouse is starting to get ideas about their respective characters that will become more pronounced as the years roll by. His descriptive writing is also not quite fully formed yet either.
Bottom line though, and as you suggest Lady C, they are fun. Unapologetically so.
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Two separate appearances by Sir Roderick Glossop in two separate stories. Scenes involving Bertie and Sir Roderick Glossop invariably end in much rib tickling mirth.
Nigeyb wrote: "Nigeyb wrote: "Another day another Wodehouse. This time I am diving into Carry on, Jeeves (1925)"Two separate appearances by Sir Roderick Glossop in two separate stories. Scenes invo..."
Did he already become Swordfish in these stories or does that come much later?
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Nigeyb wrote: "Much later. He still just a leading psychiatrist - who thinks Bertie is insane. Always makes me laugh.":)
I have been reading Wodehouse: A Life which has been making me want to read every one of his books as I come across them. I have got to the part where he is held prisoner by the Germans. The only novel he wrote during his time in captivity was Money In The Bank. I particularly want to read this one now, I have checked my collection and it is not one I have so I will see if the library has a copy. Has anyone here read it?
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A wildly successful American composer of popular musicals, George Bevan, whilst working in London, falls in love with a mysterious young lady who takes refuge in his taxicab one day and tracks her down to Belpher Castle in Hampshire, home of her father Lord Marshmoreton and aunt Lady Caroline Byng. Whereupon ensues the usual tales of unrequited love and thwarted romance. So far it's another treat. Reggie Byng is particularly amusing.
Anyone read it?
A Damsel in Distress (1919) by P.G. Wodehouse
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Nigeyb wrote: "I'm about a third of the way through A Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse which was published in 1919.A wildly successful American composer of popular musicals, Georg..."
I have - it was great fun. Seeds of Blandings in here as well. I loved it, especially the end.
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It is indeed great fun isn't it Lady C?
Seeds of Blandings? Yes!
Nigeyb wrote: "I'm about a third of the way through A Damsel in Distress by P.G. Wodehouse which was published in 1919.A wildly successful American composer of popular musicals, Georg..."
I haven't read this one but I do have a copy, so perhaps I'll bump it up my list. I read the first couple of pages and was smiling already, which bodes well!
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As is so often the way I am completely absorbed in this now. I'll probably finish later today. There's been a couple of laugh out loud moments and it is all ludicrously charming and delightful. Truly PG is the master.
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I chuckled, I laughed, and, on a couple of occastions, I guffawed.
By the end, all was right in this best of all possible worlds.
Here’s my review
4/5
A Damsel in Distress (1919) by P.G. Wodehouse
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Joy in the Morning (1948)
...in mid June
Needless to say we would love it if you joined in too
The Guardian rated it 66 in the 100 greatest novels....
PG Wodehouse’s elegiac Jeeves novel, written during his disastrous years in wartime Germany, remains his masterpiece
Article here...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
The blurb...
Trapped in rural Steeple Bumpleigh, a man less stalwart than Bertie Wooster would probably give way at the knees.
For among those present were Florence Craye, to whom Bertie had once been engaged and her new fiancé 'Stilton' Cheesewright, who sees Bertie as a snake in the grass. And that biggest blot on the landscape, Edwin the Boy Scout, who is busy doing acts of kindness out of sheer malevolence.
All Bertie's forebodings are fully justified. For in his efforts to oil the wheels of commerce, promote the course of true love and avoid the consequences of a vendetta, he becomes the prey of all and sundry. In fact only Jeeves can save him...
Joy in the Morning (1948) by P.G. Wodehouse
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And what a fantastic photo on that cover!
Nigeyb wrote: "Judy and I have decided to do a buddy read of....Joy in the Morning (1948)
...in mid June
Needless to say we would love it if you joined in too
The Guardian rated it 66 in the 10..."
I love this one-the Sinbad costume and Florence's brother.
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Judy wrote: "Can't wait, Nigeyb."
Me neither. See you in about a month.
Everyone's welcome - come one, come all
I may well read that one with you. Today I picked up Piccadilly Jim at the library.It takes a lot of effort for Jimmy Crocker to become Piccadilly Jim - nights on the town roistering, headlines in the gossip columns, a string of broken hearts and breaches of promise. Eventually he bacomes rather good at it and manages to go to pieces with his eyes open.
But no sooner has Jimmy cut wild swathe through fashionable London than his terrifying Aunt Nesta decides he must mend his ways. He then falls in love with the girl he has hurt most of all, and after that things get complicated.
In a dizzying plot, impersonations pile on impersonations so that (for reasons that will become clear, we promise) Jimmy ends up having to pretend he's himself.
It sounds like fun and I was smiling even on the first page, so I'm looking forward to it.
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Piccadilly Jim is one of my favorites! Lots of fun!
They made a movie of Piccadilly Jim with Sam Rockwell as Jim and Tom Wilkinson as his father.
I’m a big fan of the audiobooks done through LibriVox. All are in the public domain and they have several Wodehouse files. There are these standalone titles...
William Tell Told Again (1904) LibriVox
Not George Washington (1907) LibriVox
The Swoop! Or, How Clarence Saved England (1909)(graphic novel) LibriVox
A Gentleman of Leisure (1910) LibriVox
**as Intrusion of Jimmy
The Prince and Betty (1912) LibriVox
The Little Nugget (1913) LibriVox
Uneasy Money (1917) LibriVox
Piccadilly Jim (1918) LibriVox
A Damsel in Distress (1919) LibriVox
The Coming of Bill (1920) LibriVox
Jill the Reckless (1921) LibriVox
The Adventures of Sally (1922) LibriVox
And also some Jeeves & Wooster...
-My Man Jeeves, which has 4 Jeeves & Wooster and 4 Reginald Pepper.
-Right Ho, Jeeves
-and a bunch of J&W short stories that were published in the Strand.
Plus, some Psmith...
-The White Feather (1907), which (I think) was republished later as Mike and Psmith.
Psmith in the City (1910) LibriVox
Psmith, Journalist (1915) LibriVox
Leave it to Psmith (1923) LibriVox
Mike and Psmith (1935) first, 1909
**See The White Feather (above)
And, Something Fresh/Something New, which is the first Blandings novel
Oops, I forgot...Love Among the Chickens
The Clicking Of Cuthbert
And some other story collections...
A Man Of Means (1914)
The Man Upstairs & Other Stories (1914)
Man w/2 Left Feet & Other Stories (1917)
Indiscretions of Archie (1921)
Sorry the word LibriVox is repeated so often. I cut and pasted from a list I made of all the Wodehouse books and forgot to edit. :(
Reading the 20th Century
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Authors mentioned in this topic
P.G. Wodehouse (other topics)P.G. Wodehouse (other topics)
P.G. Wodehouse (other topics)
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Judy wrote: "I'm finding Leave It to Psmith an enjoyable read, if not as hilarious so far as Something Fresh/New!"
I seem to recall I found both very amusing and downright hilarious in parts.
Judy wrote: "Laughing Gas is still "on its way" from the library, so I'm hoping to finish this one before it arrives."
Good luck.