Customer Reviews

Jeeves in the Offing (A Jeeves and Bertie Novel)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bertie Wooster is one of P.G. Wodehouse's greatest comic characters. He is normally balanced by the quick wit, aplomb and shimmering progress of Jeeves, his butler. But even butlers need a vacation. So Bertie bids good-bye to Jeeves for the year . . . and promptly faces all sorts of unexpected problems.

The troubles begin a most distraught telephone call to Bertie from Lady Wickham. She sobs between words as she demands to know if "this awful news is true." The awful news is in this morning's Times. When Bertie opens the Times, he finds an announcement of his engagement to Lady Wickham's daughter, Bobbie, a woman to whom he has tried to become engaged to in the past. Darned if Bertie can figure out what it's all about. Bobbie, although beautiful, is one of those women who want to improve their men, and Bertie isn't up for such improvements. The path to solving the challenge leads him to his aunt Dahlia's country home, Brinkley Court, to help her entertain Homer Cream, an American tycoon who is doing a deal with her husband, Tom, where Bobbie is also staying. Bertie's old headmaster is also in residence, which leaves Bertie quaking. But the lure of Anatole's delightful cooking draws Bertie to Brinkley.

Once there, events become ever wackier. Sir Roderick Glossop, who thinks Bertie is dotty, is posing as the butler to evaluate a fiancé.

As usual, romance, plots to gain funds, weird collections and mistaken identities quickly twist the story into unexpected complications and directions.

The pages are filled with original similes and metaphors that will delight any student of the English language. This story has great fun with the fish theme. Bertie's great friend Reginald Herring has the nickname of "Kipper." At one point, Bertie says coldly that "I have every right to goggle like a dead halibut . . . ." Elsewhere, Bobbie's motives are described as, "She wanted you to see the big fish . . . you must have been surprised to see Kipper . . . ." Cream and cream pitchers are also done well in this story.

But the best schemes of Bertie and Kipper come a cropper, and Jeeves has to be called back to make a miraculous recovery for the causes of love and the old feudal spirit.

Right ho!

Poor Bertie Wooster. He's an amiable enough fellow and while not too bright, is smart enough to avoid creating trouble; unfortunately, trouble always comes to him, typically through friends and relatives. Fortunately, he has the ultimate butler, Jeeves, who is able to extricate Wooster from his problems and resolve all the messes. In Jeeves in the Offing, Bertie is yet again in the soup and it will require Jeeves to ladle him out.

This tale opens with Bertie entertaining his old friend "Kipper" Herring; Bertie and Kipper once attended Malvern House, a private school run by the rather totalitarian Aubrey Upjohn. That was years earlier, but the man still gives them nightmares. As Jeeves is getting ready to set off on his vacation, Bertie gets an invitation by his favorite relative, Aunt Dahlia, to stay at her home. Bertie, knowing he will be Jeeves-less for a while, decides to go and take advantage of Dahlia's top-notch chef, Anatole. Bertie, however, will not be alone at Brinkley Court.

Also visiting is Bobbie Wickham, a flighty young lady who has previously rejected Bertie's marriage proposals. That doesn't stop her from announcing their engagement as part of a ploy to make her parents accept her true fiance Kipper (who doesn't know of the plan). Bertie's occasional nemesis Roderick Glossop, the esteemed brain specialist, is there in the guise of a butler to observe Willie Cream (attending with his mystery writing mother), a potential deadbeat who is courting Dahlia's goddaughter, Phyllis. Finally, we have Phyllis's step-father, Aubrey Upjohn himself. Between Bobbie's schemes and Glossop's undercover work, complications ensue (especially when the notorious silver cow creamer goes missing), and Bertie is caught in the middle, requiring eventual intervention from Jeeves.

This is not the best Jeeves and Wooster story, but it is still fun to read. Occasionally, Bertie's narration is a bit too over-the-top even for him, but usually it is as delightful as always. Jeeves's absence for much of the book, however, may be necessary for the plot but still leaves the tale a little emptier. In an era where most humor (enjoyable as it may be) is typically dark, ironic and/or an inside joke, it's nice to read material that is more straightforwardly funny.

With this play on lines from Robert Burns, Bertie Wooster, the aristocratic and and dithery protagonist of P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" novels, expresses his dismay at the way matters of love and quiet country life have "ganged" since his arrival at his aunt Dahlia's country estate. Shortly after his arrival, he is surprised to read in the newspaper that Roberta "Bobby" Wickham is engaged to marry him. Bobby, upon her arrival, quickly sets him straight--she is in love with his best friend Reginald "Kipper" Herring, and because she knows her parents find Herring unsuitable, has made them believe she will marry Bertie, whom they dislike even more. She believes that their discovery of the truth will be a relief.

At the same time, Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to try to break up the budding romance between Phyllis Mills and the American Willie Cream, also staying at the estate. Phyllis's mother, Aunt Dahlia's friend, does not like "Broadway Willie." Tact is necessary in dealing with this matter since Willie's father is a wealthy man negotiating important business deals with others at Aunt Dahlia's country estate. Jeeves is on vacation, and Aunt Dahlia, needing a butler of her own, hires Sir Roderick Glossop, a well known psychiatrist, to act as butler, his real job being to spy, purportedly, on Willie Cream to uncover unsavory details which can be used to break up his romance with Phyllis. During Bertie's stay, a piece of valuable antique silver, a creamer in the shape of a cow, disappears--perhaps a result of Willie Cream's "kleptomania."

As always, Bertie engages in word play and puns, the coining of new words, and quotations from well known works. He sometimes massacres English words, and he delights in misquoting in foreign languages. As always, he must rely on Jeeves, called back from a fishing vacation, to rescue him from the complications which result from his meddling.

The intricacy of the plot, the overlapping relationships of the characters, the use of irony and gentle satire, and the sparkling dialogue keep the reader engaged, despite the predictable outcome of the plot. First published in 1960, this type of mannered novel is now dated, and many readers will expect more from the novel than "just" entertainment. Wodehouse, however, is as good as it gets in providing clever, light entertainment, with delightful wordplay--while poking fun at the English countryhouse life which has now largely disappeared. Mary Whipple

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit

Wodehouse in usual delightful form, zany situations and characters, some familiar to fans already. However, please note this title is a re-issue and was formerly published as How Right You Are, Jeeves, a book I already had without being aware. One can never have too much Wodehouse!

This book has also been published as "How Right You Are, Jeeves". This fact should be noted by Amazon so that we don't think that we are getting a new Jeeves story.

"Jeeves in the Offing" was originally published in the United Staes as "How Right You Are Jeeves" and is still being sold under that title. Although a wonderful and humorous book you may want to know that before ordering. Since I did not know this I ended up with two copies of the same book. And yes, the book does get five stars.

...and I can't say exactly why. P'rhaps it's because Jeeves is absent for a good deal of the book. There are all the Usual Suspects, but their presence seems forced.

With this play on lines from Robert Burns, Bertie Wooster, the aristocratic and and dithery protagonist of P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" novels, expresses his dismay at the way matters of love and quiet country life have "ganged" since his arrival at his aunt Dahlia's country estate. Shortly after his arrival, he is surprised to read in the newspaper that Roberta "Bobby" Wickham is engaged to marry him. Bobby, upon her arrival, quickly sets him straight--she is in love with his best friend Reginald "Kipper" Herring, and because she knows her parents find Herring unsuitable, has made them believe she will marry Bertie, whom they dislike even more. She believes that their discovery of the truth will be a relief.

At the same time, Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to try to break up the budding romance between Phyllis Mills and the American Willie Cream, also staying at the estate. Phyllis's mother, Aunt Dahlia's friend, does not like "Broadway Willie." Tact is necessary in dealing with this matter since Willie's father is a wealthy man negotiating important business deals with others at Aunt Dahlia's country estate. Jeeves is on vacation, and Aunt Dahlia, needing a butler of her own, hires Sir Roderick Glossop, a well known psychiatrist, to act as butler, his real job being to spy, purportedly, on Willie Cream to uncover unsavory details which can be used to break up his romance with Phyllis. During Bertie's stay, a piece of valuable antique silver, a creamer in the shape of a cow, disappears--perhaps a result of Willie Cream's "kleptomania."

As always, Bertie engages in word play and puns, the coining of new words, and quotations from well known works. He sometimes massacres English words, and he delights in misquoting in foreign languages. As always, he must rely on Jeeves, called back from a fishing vacation, to rescue him from the complications which result from his meddling.

The intricacy of the plot, the overlapping relationships of the characters, the use of irony and gentle satire, and the sparkling dialogue keep the reader engaged, despite the predictable outcome of the plot. First published in 1960, this type of mannered novel is now dated, and many readers will expect more from the novel than "just" entertainment. Wodehouse, however, is as good as it gets in providing clever, light entertainment, with delightful wordplay--while poking fun at the English countryhouse life which has now largely disappeared. n Mary Whipple

I have enjoyed the books of P.G. Wodehouse for nearly 40 years, and yet have not read them all. I spotted this title, which I did not recognize, offered at a good price and ordered it. Turns out I owned the book under a different title. I can't imagine why publishers would do that other than to trick people like me into buying the same book twice.

Anyhow, it's a great piece of classic Wodehouse story-telling, and by whatever title, well worth reading.

I first began reading Wodehouse 24 years ago (1985) and found the Jeeves stories most entertaining. Being a lover of the English language I was always fascinated with Jeeves' wonderful command of the language. Ironically, in his stoical, unfunny and businesslike demeanour he turns to be the exact opposite. That, in my opinion is what makes the stories so wonderfully funny.