Friday, 2 March 2018

P.G. Wodehouse - Carry On, Jeeves


Rating: 5/5

Review:
Simply brilliant



This is the book of short stories in which Jeeves first shimmers into Bertie's life and sees him involved in all sorts of rummy business both at home and in the USA.  It is, needless to say, brilliant.

Wodehouse was a genius.  It's a very over-used word, but it's justified in his case.  His plots are always funny, but it is his brilliant, hilarious prose in Bertie's narrative voice which I really love.  He was a truly great writer of English who used his greatness to brilliant comic effect.  This, for example: "Corky's uncle, you see…was always urging him to chuck Art and go into the jute business and work his way up.  And what Corky said was that, while he didn't know what they did at the bottom of a jute business, instinct told him that it was something too beastly for words."  Or Jeeves's, "…it was her intention to start you almost immediately upon Nietzsche.  You would not enjoy Nietzsche, sir.  He is fundamentally unsound."

This is an unmitigated delight.  It is very, very funny, awe-inspiringly well written and very warmly recommended.

No comments:

Post a Comment