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.

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

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.

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!

Aunts aren't Gentlemen - P.G. Wodehouse

The terrific twosome are at it again. Reginald Jeeves and Bertram Wooster join hands to foil devious schemes of villains out to disrupt the quiet English life. And this time it starts with a handful of pink spots on Bertie Wooster’s chest. And the doctor says that it is the stressful life that Bertie, of all people, leads and he must take a break in the countryside to become healthy again.

Not the last Wooster has a hectic life in the first place, but he still decides to retire to the countryside, alarmed by the consequences of not doing so as pointed out by his doctor. And that’s where adventure embraces him with open arms as he runs into a whole bunch of undesirable people when he was looking forward to meeting only his very desirable aunt. And while the aunt was not very villainous, the moral of this story, as the title suggests, is that aunts aren’t gentlemen.

Really speaking, the plot isn’t the strongest ever written by Plum. But it is gripping none the less. In fact, the happy ending turned out to be slightly different than what I thought it would be. And of course, when you have a Wooster around, you are bound to have quite a lot of laughs. So all said, this was one more satisfying Wodehouse book. He never disappoints, does he?