Customer Reviews

The Coming of Bill (Collector's Wodehouse)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The synopsis on the back of this book indicates that this is "The nearest Wodehouse ever came to a serious story," which I initially thought was not a very accurate description of the story. The opening part of the story is fairly typical Wodehouse, as he describes an assortment of characters, perhaps the most interesting of which is Mrs. Lora Delane Porter, a woman of very strong opinions who is more than willing to run the life of her niece Ruth, and Kirk Winfield's, the man that she has selected for Ruth.

The characters though are unable to save the plot which, soon after the introduction of the characters, lives up to description of being the most serious story that Wodehouse ever wrote. It seems as if Wodehouse took a rather mundane plot, perhaps from another work of fiction, and inserted his characters into it. Unfortunately, Wodehouse characters need a Wodehouse plot for the story to work. Instead, the reader is left waiting for the story to come to life, and it never does.

I am a long time fan of Wodehouse's work, and it pains me greatly to give such a low rating to one of his books. I struggled with whether to give this book one or two stars, but ultimately I realize that there wasn't anyone to whom I would recommend this book. Completists will read this regardless of the rating, and all others would do well to stay away.

This is a fairly early Wodehouse book which was first published in the United States under the title "Their Mutual Child" in 1919 by Boni and Liveright. In the United Kingdom, it was first published under this title on July 1st of 1920 by Herbert Jenkins. This edition is part of The Collector's Wodehouse series published by Overlook Press in the U.S., and us similar to The Everyman Wodehouse series published by Everyman's Library in the United Kingdom. This title is not part of one of Wodehouse's series.

Many authors today find it interesting to write novels about the early part of the 20th century. I prefer generally to read novels written at the same time by fine authors. The period details are ever so much more accurate and convincing that way. With the long and distinguished career of that brilliant comic author, Mr. P.G. Wodehouse, there are many treasures to be enjoyed in this vein.

In The Coming of Bill, Mr. Wodehouse wrote a classic about the troubled nature of wooing, family influences and rivalry among spouses for the upper hand. Into all of this turmoil comes one delightful little boy, Bill, who turns out to have the right stuff to be a future boxer.

The Coming of Bill is the unlikely story of how Ruth Bannister and Kirk Winfield came to meet and marry, abetted by Ruth's Aunt Lora Porter and Kirk's friend, Steve. Banished by an angry John Bannister, Ruth's father, they live in bliss as their marriage begins and Bill is born. Kirk abandons his feeble artistic efforts to spend time with Ruth and Bill. But unexpected setbacks in his investments make him take the desperate gamble to leave for a year to find his fortune in South American gold mines. He returns, lucky to be alive, with a greatly changed personal situation. His wife's father has died, leaving her wealthy and bored, and she soon finds Kirk and Bill boring, too. To save herself from distasteful duties, Ruth has turned over her parenting duties to a nanny and Mrs. Porter's obsessive fear of germs. To come near Bill, you have to be bathed in boric acid. The marriage is about as friendly.

Then, the marriage is rocked by Kirk's unwillingness to play along any more. Can this marriage be saved?

In most of Mr. Wodehouse's books, the plots are very predictable and the humor mostly comes in specific comic situations and funny dialogue. The Coming of Bill has all the usual comic elements, but has a quite surprising plot that takes many intriguing turns. I found myself wondering right up until the end how in the world all the problems could possibly sort themselves out.

At the bottom of all the humor, you will enjoy Mr. Wodehouse's fine sense that people are basically good and admirable . . . if you just let them do what comes naturally. Society and civilization just tend to misdirect the natural instincts, usually in the most ridiculous ways.

Bill himself is quite a charmer, as he struggles to learn how to speak and deal with all those "goims" that his Godfather Steve warns him not to worry about.

If you've liked any of Mr. Wodehouse's books, you will probably find The Coming of Bill will be one of your favorites.

I had the pleasure of listening to the Blackstone AudioBooks version which is read by Frederick Davidson. I found the reading to be an especially entertaining one that emphasized the humor effectively with many different funny voices. If you can find this version, I highly recommend it to you.

After you have finished, think about where you could show your love more clearly. Act naturally!!

This novel is a very atypical Wodehouse undertaking, and it's a lucky thing, because "The Coming of Bill" is not particularly successful. Wodehouse departs from his usual cast of zanies to embrace a couple of fairly straight (i.e., non-misanthrophic) characters (Kirk and his wife Ruth), who are not entertaining in the usual Wodehouse way. The greatest flaw in the novel is the voice of Bill himself. P.G.W. simply cannot capture a child's voice, and what reader of Wodehouse wants to listen to a child speak anyway? The plot, at least with regard to Ruth, is completely unbelievable, which doesn't matter in the usual Wodehouse fare, because nothing ever comes close to being believable, but here it does matter and makes "Bill" an unsatisfactory read.

I read "Bill the Conqueror" before "The Coming of Bill." I could not put either one down. Though it's true that "The Coming of Bill" is much more serious than other Wodehouse books, it gives rare insight into the dangers of letting too many people into your marriage, especially controlling relatives. A happy ending made it all worthwhile.

Sure, some of you know this author already, but I'd never heard of him before. Well-written, amusing, touching.

P.G. Wodehouse has long been a favorite of mine, and I found this book to be a wry delight. No Jeeves in this one, but still fun.