Carry On, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse

Carry On, Jeeves is a set of ten short stories surrounding, well, Wooster and Jeeves. This is the book where Wodehouse gives the history of Jeeves entering Wooster’s employment. And a pretty expected explanation of Wooster’s never ending income. For a bit of a spoiler, it’s the hangover-buster drink of Jeeves that Wooster is swept of his feet with. While in the TV series of Wooster and Jeeves, Jeeves keeps the recipe a secret, in the book he spills it out without any hesitation.

The stories themselves are not as top grade as a full blown Jeeves novel. Some of the stories are pretty tame actually. And Jeeves, as Wooster points out time and again, is not at the top of his usual form. He does come to the aid of the crisis in most of the cases, but he takes an unusual amount of time, is frequently displeased with his master, and in a couple of cases actually just lets things go on! Now that’s not like good old Jeeves at all! And in one of the stories, one of Wooster’s friend really bites the dust, so to speak. Now what is a Wodehouse story without an overall happy ending? Well, it is still a happy ending, but not as happy as I’d want it to be.

The writing is funny as usual; which is the biggest selling point of any Wodehouse book for me. I just have to pick up a book, start reading, and all my worries melt away as those brilliantly phrased dialogues keep coming one after another. I once started out on a project of jotting down memorable quotes from Wodehouse books, and discovered that I was jotting down every alternate sentence. So I chucked it and started collecting his books.

So maybe story-wise this book is not up to the really high Wodehouse standards. But entertainment wise, it still is.

Eggs, Beans and Crumpets - P.G. Wodehouse

A collection of Wodehouse short stories are always a delight to read. Bingo Little, Bertie’s childhood friend stars in many of the stories in his book. He is married to a novelist named Rosie M. Banks. How he managed to pull that one off, I will never really understand. Anyways, granting that as one of those things that have to be for a story to be told – like superman can fly for all the superman stories – Bingo has developed this gambling habit (don’t remember him having that in any of Wooster/Jeeves stories) and keeps getting into trouble by betting on horses which finish last and those sort of things. Of course at times he does win, like this historic moment at the roulette table which you can read about in the book and it really makes you feel happy for him, regardless of his dog-napping antics. Eventually he does turn a good leaf and finds himself a respectable job. Wonder if he would ever publish a book that I might write.
There are some other stories featuring one time stars – or at least people who I don’t really recognize from other stories – in their romantic tangles and trust funds and inheritances. These are as rib tickling as any Wodehouse stories.
And then to top it off the book concludes by some stories of the most delightful conman, Ukridge. Corky and him make a great inseparable twosome. His “Buttercup day” day scam in the book is pure genius. Not that he is too well off after that, but what the heck, Corky will keep him afloat so no worries. Had the Ukridge-Corky stories been popularized enough they might have rivaled Laurel and Hardy in their own way. Well for now, I am fine with enjoying them in the books.

The Adventures of Sally - P.G. Wodehouse

When you enjoy Wodehouse for what it’s really worth – the wonderful phrases, the multi-layered (even if similar) plots, the endearing if not exactly heroic protagonists, etc. that’s all you want from his books. And I thought that’s all his books would ever be about.
But then I read The Adventures of Sally. And it is totally different from any of his other books. Well not totally different – the writing is still as rich and amusing. But the plot! It is an out and out love story. And for once, not one of those love-at-first-sight stories which are so rife in Wodehouse books. This one is spread over several months… in fact more than an year, in which characters develop, people get over their flaws, they evaluate their feelings, businesses are built and destroyed, and what not!! This is a Wodehouse book like no other.
Having inherited 25000 dollars, Sally sets off on a holiday in France, where she runs into Ginger, an amateur pugilist, office assistant, and among score of other things, a dog trainer, and one with an uncanny talent of screwing up everything he ever does. She also runs into a sophisticated businessman wise with the ways of the world, and Ginger’s cousin brother, Bruce Carmyle. Both fall for her over a period of time. Mind you, a period of time and not at the first sight. Well Ginger does somewhat fall for her at the first sight, but truly realizes his love only later. When Sally gets back, she becomes the financier for the production of a play, which is owned by her brother Fillmore. The playing becoming a runaway success, and with Fillmore finding his love in life, all seems to be going okay, except for one little thing: Sally’s betrothed, the playwright Gerald Foster, has gone and married an actress. Though broken hearted, she is not alone, for pining for her affections, both Ginger and Bruce come to America. And Sally flees to London to escape the haunting ghosts of the romantic adventures that she had with her Gerald Foster in the streets and restaurants of America. The peaceful and idyllic London sway her heart one way as she picks a man for herself. Meanwhile there is a ruined marriage of Gerald Foster with his actress wife, a betting business in boxing which goes awfully wrong. And of course, everyone knows one another they way they do in Wodehouse novels.
So you get the picture. The book is about the love story of Sally Nicholas, complete with love letters and tears and everything. I never had an appetite for mushy love stories. But this one was quite delightful. Not that the characters grow and mature and all of that they way they do in Booker prize winners. They do, but in a more Wodehousian way. And they sure as hell make you smile by their quirks and eccentricities like Wodehouse characters always do.

A Pelican At Blandings - P.G. Wodehouse

Things are stirring up at Blandings castle again, disrupting the peace in the life of Clarance Threepwood, or Lord Emsworth.
The first ominous signs are when his formidable sister Constance, shows up. As if that wasn’t enough, she has invited a Duke Dunstable, a loud and rude mustached walrus who loves throwing his weight around. And to add to that company, Dunstable brings his niece, Linda Gilpin, along. He also invites Wilbur Trout, a habitually marriage-and-divorce addict who is pining for his last wife. Of course Duke’s intentions are not to give Trout the necessary distance and healing touch of a new place and new air, but to make money out of his misery. He plans to sell a painting of a woman, referred to as the reclining nude, which reminds Trout of his last wife and something that he’d pay anything for to possess. And in the spirit of treating Blandings Castle as his own home he invites a John Halliday around who is supposed to observe Lord Emsworth and suggest psychiatric treatment to cure the whims of nightly prowls in pig sties that Lord Emsworth was so prone to. Lastly there is a Vanessa Polk, daughter of the American millionaire J.B. Polk who Connie invites along hoping she could marry old Duke of Dunstable. That’s quite a few characters. Oh wait, there is one more, a friend of Clarence’s son, Freddie Threepwood, This is not mentioning some other peripheral characters, who while not important will still make you laugh, doing their good deed for the day.
Ok, so let’s take an imposter count.
Freddie’s friend, is not really is friend but an American crook come to make merry in foreign lands. Vanessa Polk is not J.B. Polk’s daughter but his secretary and has the same last name by mere coincidence. John Halliday is not a psychiatrist but a barrister and a sleeping partner at an art gallery from where the Duke has bought the reclining nude to sell to Trout.
And now let’s list down the tangles.
John Halliday is actually the heart broken lover of Linda Gilpin, Duke’s niece, who has turned him down because of professional reasons. And when they do make up, they realize that Linda is a court of ward of the Duke, effectively giving the Duke the veto power to decide who she married. Vanessa Polk is an ex-flame of Wilbur Trout, and is being wooed by the Duke. And she plans on stealing the reclining nude from the Duke for Trout while their romance rises from the dead and sways its merry head. The crook who is enjoying the English weather is in danger because John Halliday knows his identity and could bust him. And John Halliday’s art gallery has accidentally sold the fake painting of the reclining nude putting the reputation of the art gallery in a grave danger. So he is after the painting as well, wanting to replace the fake with the original.
That is all too much to handle for Clarence alone ofcourse. So he calls in for reinforcements, or back up if you prefer US Police lingo. Enter Galahad. And sit back and enjoy as he weaves his magic to lead to the eventual happy ending.

Hot Water - P.G. Wodehouse

Ex-flames, murder, blackmail, break-ins, imposters… you might associate the adjectives better with a Sidney Sheldon novel. But when you mix all that with light hearted humour, you know it could only be Wodehouse.
Hot Water is an exceptional novel amongst all Wodehouse novels. Firstly, it’s more international than a normal Wodehouse novel which centers either in England or U.S.A. This one has France as the land of the crimes.
So there is a Wellington Gedge, an oppressed husband of a domineering wife who insists on him becoming an Ambassador of America to France. And with a phobia of all that is genteel and diplomatic, Mr. Gedge’s pining for his homeland America increases all the more. He breathes with relief as he finds out that his wife is planning to travel to England, which would give him the opportunity to participate in the merriment of the local carnival. And he is determined to do so despite being saddled with uncharitable guests like anti-alcohol senator Opal and his daughter Jane Opal, along with the proprietor of his rented Chateau Blissac, (his home for the non-French speaking audiences) Vicomte De Blissac.
A Packy Franklyn, the millionaire American football star, engaged to a Lady Beatrice Bracken, a sublime but scathing beauty, both get dragged into the plot when Lady Bracken asks his beau to befriend an intellectual novelist and a part time sound impressionist, Blair Eggleston, who in turn, is engaged to Jane Opal, the daughter of Senator Opal. Packy Franklyn finds himself increasingly drawn to Jane Opal, ever since he takes up the assignment of cutting Senator Opal’s hair. And as an additional favour to her, he agrees to withdraw a damning letter from the safe of Mrs. Gedge, who is using it as a device to blackmail the Senator into granting ambassadorship to her husband. And since Vicomte De Blissac is a friend of Packy, the footballer manages to get an admission when apparently Mr. Gedge murders the Vicomte.
That’s just the tip of the confusion, really. See, the problem is that Senator Opal thinks that his daughter is really engaged to Packy, and ends up hiring Eggleston as his valet. And then there are other people like a safe blower and a stick-up man and a con-man, Soup Slattery and Oily Carlisle, with their own twisted and sad love stories, who are after some jewels in the safe. Add a cook and her lover, a menacing secretary who could potentially be a detective, a butler who pronounces ‘Madam’ as ‘Modom’, and Lady Bracken and a boat, it certainly is an eventful book. And boundlessly funny I might add. You really ought to read up to find out who gets to the safe and which guy ends up with which girl. It’s a guaranteed stress buster.

Blandings Castle - P.G. Wodehouse

This collection of short stories begins with a lovely preface from Wodehouse and his inner workings which led to this book and for that matter, any of his ‘series’. Well, it’s good for us that Plum likes his characters like Bertie and Jeeves, and Lord Emsworth and Mr. Mulliner, and the rest of them as much as we do. It would have been so sad if there had been only one story of each!

Bladings castle, well it is a misleading name, since the short stories are from Blandings Castle as well as elsewhere, as it is made clear right from the table of contents. In the Blandings Castle, we go through an important phase in Lord Emsworth’s life, where he finally gets rid of his young son Freddie who gets married to the daughter of a dog-biscuit tycoon. And even excluding that, the book highlights some important chapters in Lord Emsworth’s life, like him winning the contest for the biggest pumpkin and the fattest pig; and then getting punched in the nose as he took a pleasure swim and lastly mustered enough courage to confront and overpower his virago sister Constance. Amongst these adventures he even witnessed, and I am sure he would have been surprised, a substantial professional success of his son who the Lordship believed was the most confounding menace on the planet.

From these adventures of Blandings, Plum takes us to a brief chapter in Bobbie Wickham’s life who successfully averts marriage with a highly undesierable certain Mr. Gandle. Her display of ready with leaves you wanting for more.

And from there, we get transported to Hollywood. And get a sighting of the darker, murkier side of the glamour world, where gorillas go loose, where people have to take up demeaning jobs of simply nodding their agreement to their boss, to being forced into bonded labour of writing dialogues. Mr. Mulliner, with his vast insight and steady contacts into the workings of the movie industry in America highlights how his relatives found love, togetherness and success in such a malaise stricken environment.

The stories are pure brilliance, and will keep you smiling and chuckling as you read. I loved this book!

Big Money - P.G. Wodehouse

Berry Conway and Lord Biskerton make for very different kind of Wodehouse heroes. While we are used to the suave and glb talking PSmith, and the helplessly dependent on the faculties of his buter, Bertie, these are very likeable guys whose characters are without a blemish.
The same can not be said about Berry Conway. Because playing an imposter of an officer of the law is a serious criminal offense. Though he had good reasons to play the part, but that does not excuse him of his felonies.

And Lord Biskerton, or Biscuit as he is called, is worse off. He is one of those money swindling characters who can never have a meal of their own sweat and toil. And he seems to have inherited that from his father!

There is a Patterson Frisby who is the miserly employer of Berry Conway, who is interested in a copper mine held by Conway. And he employs his aide, more of a sniveling, servile, yes man who performs any duty a rich man will ask him to perform to be in the rich man’s good books. But the yes-man, Hoke, gets his brain cells working and spots a money making opportunity of a lifetime in the mine.

And if you are thinking Big Money is only about the money, you are gravely mistaken. What would a Wodehouse book be if there was no love at first sight and angels singing romantic songs on their harps? There is an Ann Moon the girl who makes men weak in their knees wherever she goes, who Berry Conway loves like a dog loves his master. But she is engaged to the Biscuit and Conway is not a friend who can inflict misery on his pals. Biscuit and Ann came in contact through Biscuit’s aunt, Vera (somehow there are a great many Vera’s in Wodehouse books, possibly the only name he has ever repeated) who is playing chaperone to the American Ann in London. And Ann is also Frisby’s niece which brings Aunt Vera and Patterson quite close.
The fundamental problem however, remains that Berry has no dough and Biskerton is an impoverished Lord, and for their love tangles to be sorted they will need some lucre in good time. And the copper mine, while an asset is a dud hole in the ground, which Berry can not get a lot of cash for, but Frisby’s acute money making mind has some different plans with the “Dream come true”. Oh that’s the name of the mine.

And in resolving this problem come the hilarious tangles and misunderstandings and violence which will leave you with an aching tummy. This is one of Wodehouse’s best!

The Girl in Blue - P.G. Wodehouse

I imagined The Girl in Blue, knowing Plum’s romantic side, to be that angel of his dreams conjured up in words. It turned out to be a miniature statue of some sort of an ancestor of a certain Will Scrope with enough money to waste on such cravings. Not that I was disappointed, since there were other pretty girls to take her place! And while one of them was Vera Upshaw, a devil in Prada so to speak, the other was an airhostess going by the name Jane, with her figure and her heart in the right place. Our protagonist, Jerry West, falls in love, and as always, in first sight, with the airhostess, but is deterred in making a move by the fact that he is engaged to be married to the former girl. Jerry, also happens to be the nephew of Will Scrope, and by extension, the poor Scrope brother, Crispin.

If only the cast stopped there. But it’s good that it doesn’t.

Tying all of them together is a kleptomaniac American woman, Barney and her rich lawyer brother Homer Pyle, who know Will Scrope. And they travel to England, the brother for a writer’s gathering, and the sister, to get away from the shopkeepers whose wares Barney might have inadvertently stolen.

And then, the pricey, or priceless if seen from the rich Scrope’s eyes, goes missing. And the ensemble gathers at the poor Scrope residence, which is a Mellingham hall, which is kept above the red financial line through the money doled out by guests who can acquire the status by paying a fee. And adding some spice to the story is the fact that Homer Pyle, like many other men before him, falls in instant love with the lovely Vera Upshaw. And while he has no greek God body to boast off, his financial muscle is considerable and enough of an incentive for girls to take him seriously. And then there are some other miscellaneous characters, like Vera’s mother, and a broker’s man posing as a butler, and a hefty policeman which bring as much delight in their limited roles as any of the other prominent members of the story.

This is a tale of treasure hunting, mystery, and as usual, love, both pure and adulterated.

So go ahead, find the Girl in Blue for Mr. Scrope. Two Hundred Pounds reward is up for grabs!

Stiff Upper Lips, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse

Bertie Wooster is at it again, getting mixed up in affairs which he would do well to stay away from. But then with his taste for twisted situations in life, it can’t be helped that he lands up at Totleigh Towers, the infernal landmark that housed Bertie’s arch enemy Spode or Lord Sidcup, his prime hater, Sir Watkyn Basset, his mistaken love, Madeline Basset, and if that were not enough, he is not exactly in the good books of the butler Butterfield either. Plus there is a rugby player seeking explorer, Plank, who is in for Bertie’s head for stealing an eye-sore statuette from the ownership of the Bassets.

Yes, burglary is a skill for which Wooster is known in the circles at Totleigh towers. He has a history of stealing artifacts, and except for Madeline, is hated by one and all. But Wooster had to answer the call of duty. It’s for his old pal Gussie’s sake that he is prepared to brave it all. Gussie and Madeline, engaged to be married, have hit an iceberg in their relationship. And it is to save this Titanic from sinking that Bertie has taken on the mission. He has his selfish motives too, considering that Madeline has vowed to become Mrs. Wooster if things were to terminate with Gussie, and the our Bertie, the commitment-phobe that he is, wants to avoid that outcome at all costs.

So at Totleigh towers he runs into other people, Stiffy, an old friend, and her affianced, who is a Vicar trying to become a Curate, and a function for rowdy school boys, and a cook, who pours a lot of unwarranted care and love in Gussie’s direction, distracting him from patching things up with Madeline.

Bertie’s mission, should he choose to accept it, is to not get married to Madeline. And it’s up to him to survive the other adventures that cross his path in achieving this mission.

This book, while funny, doesn’t have too many intertwined plots. It has its share of mix-ups, which are more or less, disparate. And so the confusion, which is an essential part of a Wodehouse book is not present in as liberal doses in this one. Nonetheless, the writing is as funny as ever. And you will surely laugh out of pity for Bertie as he keeps getting pummeled page after page

The Small Bachelor - P.G. Wodehouse

I wonder if anyone would ever use the phrase “small bachelor” for anyone in real life. But this is a Wodehouse book we are talking about. And as always it depicts life in the rose tinted glass with an attached oxygen mask that really contains laughing gas.

George Finch is the small bachelor in this case. At least I think so, because there were in all three bachelors in this book, but the smallest one of them seemed to be George Finch. One of the other two, is the imposing, intelligent author of self help books, Hamilton Beamish – Jimmy for his near and dear ones – and George’s butler, Mullet. George falls head over heels in love, as usual, at first sight with a girl named Molly Waddington. The girl has a villainous mother, of course, who objects to the marriage and a father who dreams about the west and is generally ignored by everyone. Mullet is in love with an adroit pickpocket, Fanny Welch, who is in the business as much for the fun as for the cash. And then there is a police officer, Barroway, with an especially large adam’s apple who is a budding poet receiving training from none other than Beamish. See how the threads begin tangling? This is not all. Fanny Welch tries to steal a pearl necklace from the wedding of our Finch and Molly. Mr. Waddington is looking for Barroway because the former has sold substantial stock of a company he thought to be worthless to the later, and it eventually turned out to be quite a fortune after all. Mrs. Waddington is out spying on Finch because she thinks him to be what I would call a womanizer, but Wodehouse finds a bunch of other very amusing adjectives conveying the same thing. And while on her espionage mission, she messes with the law and hot on her trail is who else, but Barroway. Oh this is complicated, isn’t it? And believe me, I have left out a bunch plot threads out here for the sake of simplicity of summarizing. Needless to say, ending is happy as always.

This book is loosely based on a play co-written by Wodehouse. How would I have loved to see the play! The book also has a very honest preface to it, which is a delight, to be able to peek into Plum’s simple way of thinking.

Another highly recommended book for Wodehouse lovers!

Summer Moonshine - P.G. Wodehouse

While I can sing an ode praising this book, let me get the one negative point away at the outset. The title… is chosen completely at random. It seems that Plum just ran out of titles for his stories and picked any convenient phrase out of the book.

The story… if one has to criticize it… is based on the usual Wodehouse formula. Someone has a money problem. Someone has a love problem. And everyone’s entangled in more ways than you can imagine. So I will commence upon my favourite exercise after reading a Wodehouse book, that is, trying to summarize the plot in a paragraph. I have had my Scooby snacks. Here goes.

Sir Buckstone Abbot, the apparently rich heir of the ancestral home, Walsingford Hall, is actually hard pressed for cash. And the only way out of his cash-flow problem is to sell his palatial house, which he runs as a sort of a motel, taking in spendthrift guests who are willing to pay a sum. The problem in selling the palace is that it has been hideously renovated, and it would take someone of eccentric tastes to buy a house like that. Thankfully Buck has found a customer, Princess Dwornitzzchek, who fits the bill. All of Buck’s hopes lie in keeping her happy. But the problem is that The Princess’ son, Tubby Vanringham, who is staying at Walsingford Hall, is sued by Buck’s secretary, and if the news reaches the Princess the deal would be off. So it is in the best interest of Buck that the paper server (for those who don’t know, paper server is the person who gives the court summons to the sued party. As it turns out, it is an adventure frought occupation) away from Tubby. The twist is that the paper server, Sam Bulpitt, is Buck’s brother-in-law, and while he goes about his job, also takes a liking to his niece, Jane Abbot, daughter of Buck. So another of Bulpitt’s agenda is to straighten out the love life of Jane, who is love with this Adrian fellow, who also secretly happens to be betrothed to the aforementioned Princess! Last but not the least, is our hero, if we can call him that, who also loves Jane and, without much success, tries to woo her. Our hero Joe, also is Tubby’s brother, and the estranged step-son of the Princess! That, pretty much completes the circle!!

Love triangles are all too common in Wodehouse books. But this one was exquisite. And the dynamics entirely different. I loved the way Joe went about wooing young Jane. While no single character is as forceful as a Bertie Wooster or PSmith or Galahad, the combination gives enough food for some extremely hilarious dialogue. The plot keeps getting more and more tangled, as only Wodehouse can manage. And gives a neat solution to all the problems in the end. There have been better climaxes to Wodehhouse books, but this one’s not far from the best.

Lovely book this one. A must read for Wodehouse fans!

Mating Season - P.G. Wodehouse

After a heavy economic, cum history, cum business book, it was time for some light reading. It had to be Wodehouse.

Mating season is a book for those sentimental, romantic people who are capable of writing never ending odes about a strand of hair of their loved ones. The book will give you a lot of strength in case you ever face an ordeal in your love life, where separation from your lover seems inevitable. It will strengthen your belief that all will turn out to be fine in the end. If you have Jeeves by your side that is.

The book has a plethora of characters who are in love with this person and that person. This creates a tangle of human emotions where everyone seems to find themselves distanced from their better halves. In the center of it all is Bertie Wooster, the good Samaritan who sets to sort out things. So there is Gussie FinkNottle (what a name, even for a Wodehouse book!) who is originally in love with Madeline Bassett, the girl who has categorically stated that if things ended with Gussie she would come hopping into Wooster’s arms. And Wooster in turn, pales at this knowledge and is therefore committed to ensuring that the two are on the best of terms. That endeavor finds him at Deverill Hall where he must go because Gussie gets himself imprisoned. So that means that Wooster goes there as Gussie, which is convenient for his old chums Catsmeat and Corky, who are brother and sister. It is convenient because Corky’s ex-fiance Esmond Haddock who was given the brusheroo because he did not have the spine to stand up to his five aunts is apparently now swooning over Gertrude Winksworth who is the daughter of one of the aunts, the formidable Dame Daphne Winksworth. And Gertrude is the lodestar of Catsmeat’s heart. Eventually Gussie comes there as Wooster, because even Wooster is an expected guest, Jeeves comes there as his man, Catsmeat comes there as Gussie’s gentleman. 

Oh the mind boggles! But wait… I am not done.

Gussie, who is posing as Wooster, falls in love with Corky, and Catsmeat finds himself mistakenly engaged to the Jeeves’s Uncle’s Daughter. Oh Yeah, forgot that. Jeever’s Uncle, Charlie Silversmith is the butler at Deverill Hall. And the daughter, Queenie, is slated to marry the local police constable Dobb. And there is Aunt Agatha’s son, Wooster’s young cousin, a dog and five aunts to contemplate… Jesus… Wodehouse really outdid himself in plotting this one.

The story basically unwinds with the philosophy of from the frying pan into fire where things keep going from bad to worse and it is all upto Wooster and his aide Jeeves to sort it out.

Believe me… this book is non-stop funny.

Quick Service - P.G. Wodehouse

What do you get when you mix Ukridge, Jeeves and PSmith. You get Joss Weatherby: J.B. Duff’s irritable and self proclaimed right hand, Mr. Steptoe’s agreeable valet and Miss Sally Fairmile’s discovered love interest.

Set in an English Castle, Claines Hall, which houses the erstwhile American Steptoes, who pine for the American way of living, Quick Service revolves around a portrait of Mrs. Chavender, a relative of Steptoes who resides in the premises. J.B. Duff, the undisputed ham merchant, who was originally engaged to Mrs. Chavender before breaking it off, wants the portrait for his own business reasons. And he is ready to employ a bevy of criminal masterminds for the purpose. And his cronies have their own things they would like to barter the portrait with J.B. Duff for. So, Sally’s betrothed, Lord Holbeton, wants to get his money from Duff which he is holding on to as his trustee, Sally wants Duff to give it to Holbeton so is a willing accomplice, Joss wants a job as Head of Art department (somewhat in line with the modern day marketing function) at Duff’s Ham selling company, Mr. Steptoe wants to get some cash to pay of gambling dues and to fly back to the America, and even Mrs. Chavender, who also is the subject of the rather fearful portrait wouldn’t mind getting some dough. So there are quite a few contenders for the prized portrait. Add to that a vigilant butler who is somewhat of a champion boxer, who is bent on preventing any crimes inside the mansion, the situation is bound to get complex.

To sum it up, which would be quite a bit, this is one of the most complicated and intricate plots of Wodehouse. And I really enjoyed the simplicity of how it unraveled itself in the end. And the humour in the book is priceless. J.B. Duff is quite a character. And his chemistry with the Joss is something to really enjoy. It’s a boss and subordinate relationship, where the subordinate ends up calling the shots, despite the boss making all attempts to keep a grip on things.

Also, this is one of those novels where the ending is happy for absolutely everyone. So everyone is a good guy in their own place. Therefore, the book’s a happy read, which will bring an unadulterated smile on your face.

Leave it to PSmith - P.G. Wodehouse

PSmith is at it again. As usual he is doing his good deeds for his friends, searching for adventure, and taking a slight deviation from the normal scheme of things, is falling in love.

And pursuing all these things, he finds himself in the idyllic locale of Blandings Castle. So you also have the delightful Lord Emsworth in the plot. Though the screen presence, or should I say, page presence, of Lord Emsworth is fairly constrained, he doesn’t fail to put a smile onto your visage.

Leave it to PSmith is an extremely entangled plot with past friends, burglars, imposters, secretaries, hen-pecked husbands, poets, and what not thrown in. There is no way I can get into that in much detail. It should suffice to say at this point that PSmith ends up in Blandings with the task of stealing Lady Constanance’s twenty thousand pound necklace. Before you start doubting his noble intentions and pass a judgement on his flawless character let me bring upon you the fact the benefactor of this little scheme would be his childhood friend Mike Jackson and his wife, and the wife’s genial step-father and Lady Constanance’s husband and the bumbling Freddie Threepwood. And if your righteous side still denounces the act of crime, I will let it be known that the original perpetrator of the idea was the victim’s husband who is kept on a tight financial leash by his wife. Now, if you ever did, I hope you do not sympathise with Lady Constanance. And it is a cause of great convenience and joy for PSmith that his heart keeper, his love of life, Eve Halliday should be camping at Blandings in the same period. Of course this is just the beginning. The plot gets infinitely complicated after that. The only thing that I can assure you off is that all of the threads are very satisfactorily tied together. The story is as gripping and hilarious as a Wodehouse novel can be.

A prominent change in the novel is PSmith’s name… which changes from Rupert to Ronald Eustace! I have no clue why that happened. I tried googling it with no satisfactory result. Well, as Shakespeare said, a PSmith with any other first name is just as engaging.

Ukridge - P.G. Wodehouse

Stanley Featherstonehaugh (it’s supposed to be pronounced as Fanshawe. I don’t know why though) Ukridge is one of the most delightful scums you will ever run into. He is a wily opportunist, whom fate never seems to favor. But he is undeterred nonetheless, and never loses his optimism in the face of stormy weather. That is, in a nutshell, Ukridge for you.

Ukridge has a friend who always holds him in good stead; a Mr. Corcoran, or as Ukridge calls him, Corky. All the stories in the book are narrated in first person by Corcoran. Corky has witnessed the blossoming of Ukridge from a little child to a shrewd man. And there are but a few changes in the character of his childhood friend over the years. And Ukridge demonstrates his flair to earn a quick buck, or get screwed trying to, in the stories in this book.

The grand plans include training pet dogs amusing tricks, being a manager of a sentimental and a moody boxer, swindling insurance companies and so on. But lest you lable him as a money hungry, corrupt, immoral swine, let me also point that there are a handful of anecdotes which highlight the nobility of this fellow. He is the kind who helps out his friends in need and damsels in distress. He therefore comes up with an ingenious plan to finance a girl 100 pounds when she needs them and goes all the long way to help his friend win an election. Now wouldn’t you call that angelic?

Accompanying Ukridge are several other characters which make this book a delight to read. Amongst them my favourite were the two other stars, Corky, and his land-lord, an ex-butler who looks upon Ukridge like the son he never had. Corky has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour that I could really relate to. And even though he is not that well off, he always has a few coins or even socks to lend to Ukridge. That is the material good friends are made of. There are other characters of course who contribute to your laughter in their own way. Tying them all up is Ukridge, whose adventures, will blow away the dark clouds wandering over your heads and lighten up your day.

The Old Reliable - P.G. Wodehouse

The characters Wodehouse creates have a wide range of professions. While there are some standard professionals, like butlers, and rich, young men who don’t have to wag a whisker for their pennies, and lawyers, etc. some harbour, and live some very unique careers.

In this book, The Old Reliable, Wilhelmina Shannon, the protagonist and the wonder woman to the rescue (therefore the title, ‘the old reliable’) is a writer who finds herself out of job. And therefore she accepts the lowly task of writing the biography of her sister, Mrs. Adela Cork, an actress from the era of the silent movies. Mrs. Adela Cork happens to have purchased a property belonging to the late Mexican actress, Carmen Flores, who while alive, led a scandalous life and documented it all in her secret diary for the benefit of the future generations. And the diary would sell for good bucks in the Hollywood market. And who doesn’t want good bucks? Well, it’s not just Ms. Bill Shannon. There is a brother in law of Mrs. Cork, Semdley, who Ms. Bill has the hots for who originally plans on hunting the diary. The butler at the house (who else) reaches the same conclusion. And thankfully Semdley has the entire family, which also includes a cousin of Ms. Bill, a certain Kay, and her lover on his side. But it is upto Ms. Bill to outwit the butler in the chase for the legendary diary.

The plot as usual, is pretty thick with a lot of very lovable characters thrown in. And for the more intellectual reader, Semdley and the butler, really have multiple dimensions if you’d really want to look for them. The butler, though clearly the villain, is extremely likable. And Semdley, with the good guys behind his back, is the kind of a guy who you’d see with a girl and wonder what the hell she saw in him.

It’s a hilarious read, with a longish climax, which is fun all the way. And this is one Wodehouse novel which the ending is not predictable in your usual way. So, well, have fun!

Do Butlers Burgle Banks - P.G. Wodehouse

This has to be one of the catchiest Wodehouse titles around. A question which not a lot of Indians would relate to for sure since the domestic help here sure has made a veritable business model out of taking off with their master’s belongings and riches. British butlers, apparently, are not quite like that. Their nobility is so unquestioned, that when one of them does go down the crime lane and busting banks, it is an event big enough to publish a book on.

And hell, I am not complaining that they have a book on it. Especially since it is authored by Plum.

The book is about a syndicate of thieves, headed by the wily, though not so fit, Horace Appleby who decides to take a detour from his usual modus operandi of stealing jewels and decides to plunge into a new line of business of burgling banks. And once Appleby gets his cronies on the line for the plan of action, he sets off to the Bond residence to establish a base to study and formulate and execute his plans and takes over as a temporary butler. Of course that’s where the plot just starts.

Michael Bond, the inheritor of the Bond Bank, who ends up employing Appleby as his butler, is not quite in the pink of health. With his love life flagging away into nothingness, he has business worries that any owner of a bank would. And maybe his worries go a shade deeper than the usual amount.

Appleby realizes that this one operation is not going to be as smooth as his previous achievements. He has his arch rival, the Chicago Gunman, hounding him to clear past dues. And then he has a love life of his own that he has to sort out.

In this little gem of a book, both the victim and the villain are actually the heroes of the story. And between the aims of Appleby to burgle the bank and Michael Bond to run it smoothly are thrown in several characters who make the plot as mixed up as a heap of spaghetti. There are trustees trying to sort out the bank owner’s and by extension their own problems. The secretary and the love interest of Mr. Bond help in every way they can. And then where you have burglary and gunmen, there are cops as well. And from Scotland Yard, no less!

You will have a roller coaster sort of a ride when you get through this book. And unlike the usual Wodehouse books where though the ending is happy, there is an eventual loser, it doesn’t happen so in this book, as the ending is happy for everyone. Well, almost. That said, the ending is a bit too forced in this book, and it does take away some of the shine off the book when you flip over the last page, though the story in itself is quite hilarious and will have you laughing from pretty much the starting. And I am all ok with that. As long as I get my two cupfuls of laughter, I can live with the contrived ending.

And yeah, don’t you try to imitate the bank burgling business at home. It isn’t quite as simple as Wodehouse house writes it to be. And be wary of your domestic help. If butlers can rob banks, your maid will definitely not have any qualms about flinching some money from your wallet.

Bachelors Anonymous - P.G. Wodehouse

Bachelor’s Anonymous is one more of Wodehouse’s cross country comedies. A tie up of American culture with British humor. And again, Wodehouse “scores” on his readers.

The name of the book might just be vaguely familiar to the drunks out there, especially the transformed and improved drunks who call up on their groupies from Alcoholic’s Anonymous to help them get over their pangs of consuming liquor. Bachelor’s Anonymous is a group of like minded individuals who are marriage phobic, who are out there to protect the young, gullible minds from getting trapped into the vicious pit of marriage. And they are proactive too. For they don’t just help people who seek out their help, like the marriage addict Mr. Llewellyn, the movie producer who married starlets at will and then shelled out oodles of money in alimony, but the good Samaritans also try and prevent young men who voluntarily want to get married, like the not-so-budding Joe Pickering.
So when Trout, a veteran Bachelor’s Anonymous member, goes to London to ensure that his client and friend, Llewellyn didn’t marry yet again, he finds that Joe Pickering is hopelessly in love. And while Llewellyn appoints Pickering to keep him away from women he (Llewellyn) might accidentally propose marriage to, Trout, instead of counseling Llewellyn, finds his hands full and time taken in trying to convince Pickering the advantages of bachelorhood. And when sweet talk doesn’t work, it was time to use brute force. And amidst all the helping and loving and panicking the lives of these three men, with a bunch of women thrown in became inexplicably tangled. There’s money, greed, lust, glamour, even private detectives, in this romantic comedy. Eventually it takes a healthy dose of pure, unadulterated love to unravel it all. And the reader can simply lie back, and relax as everyone, without exception makes you laugh. What more do you want?

Very Good Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse

I have been steadily climbing up in the charts of the most active Wodehouse adulator. But all the books that I had read so far had been full fledged novels. With so many books yet to read, I always preferred novels over short stories. But the time came, and eventually I picked up Very Good, Jeeves, featuring the good ol’Bertie and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves.

Short stories tend to be tricky affairs. Having a satisfyingly complete plot is no mean thing. A lot of short stories tend to be purely about emotions, without a real story. (Either that, or I have been reading all the wrong short stories) And though my confidence in Plum was complete and unwavering, I was feeling loaded under my own expectations about the entertainment value of short stories by Wodehouse versus his novels.

And Bertie and Jeeves, under the masterful direction of Plum are up to the task.

The stories are essentially abridged versions of any Wooster-Jeeves novel that you might have read. Reduce the complexity. Reduce a couple of tiers from a multi-tiered plot and voila, you have a short story. It sounds like a formula, doesn’t it? But it would be naïve to vehemently oppose the idea. Wodehouse stories are quite formula based. But it’s the individuality of every plot within the formula which makes him so good. And that is exhibited in all the stories in this book. Each one of them will have u snickering and laughing at the situations Wooster finds himself in and they way Jeeves always manages to find a way out.

And over the course of the stories you will get better associated with Tuppy Glossop of whom I haven’t read that extensively in any other Jeeves book so far. He is an entertaining addition to the Jeeves ensemble.

So sit back in a comfy chair and let Wooster, Jeeves and the gang go about tangling and entangling their daily lives. Its all for your benefit!

Galahad at Blandings - P.G. Wodehouse

I had heard so much about Galahad Threepwood and Lord Emsworth! Finally I got around to reading about their exploits at the famed Blandings Castle.

Blandings somehow reminded me of the Udaipur palace, except that Udaipur palace is actually only a tourist spot. Blandings is a castle-cum-home to the wealthy royalty who don’t really work for a living. Anyways, I digress. Galahad and Lord Emsworth are quite the brother-in-arms, the smarter one looking out for the loonier one. And at the scenic, apparently blissful locale of the Blandings a scheme is on the way to rob Lord Emsworth of his happiness. And between the baleful sister and the successful execution of her fiendish plans lies the gallant Galhad; the protector of hapless brothers!

Ofcourse the plot is not as simple as that. To start with, there is the wealthy American Tipton Plimsoll who wants to marry Galahad’s niece, the naïve (read dumb) but good looking girl of yore who is easily molded the way her mother wants. And that can have scary implications when the mother happens to be Hermione, the vilest of Galahad’s and Lord Emsworth’s sisters. The sister, while being fickle like a confused rabbit about the worthiness of young Tipton, goes about meddling in Lord Emsworth’s life. What with hiring him a nagging secretary, she plans to get her brother married off to some other equally atrocious woman. And the secretary, Sandy, once in budding love with Sam Bagshott who turned out to the son of an old friend of Gally in this small world was hardly in the pink of the spirit since her break up with Sam. Oh, and I totally forgot about Willfred Allsop, nephew of Aunt Hermione, is in love with the caretaker of the award winning pig at the Blandings Castle (I didn’t know pigs could win awards for fatness. Wodehouse even manages to teach culture through his books!) And there are as many misunderstandings as there are love stories. And Galahad, as he comes to the aid of his brother in need is also a soul who can not stand a heart pained by the loss of its love. So he makes a personal agenda of seeing through all the couples to their happy endings. Cupid personified for you!

The character of Lord Emsworth and the villainy of his sister provide a very good platform for a lot of chuckles. The story begins at a drunken revelry in America and ends in Blandings Castle just outside of London. Totally disassociated things like romantic tangles, the hand of the law and the obese pig all come together in this delightfully funny novel in which a multi-layered plot eventually unravels to the happy ending.