Customer Reviews

Love Among the Chickens - From the Manor Wodehouse Collection, a selection from the early works of P. G. Wodehouse

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Ukridge is the most interesting Wodehouse character on which the least has been written. So when I found that there are other stories apart from the ten in the Ukridge collection Ukridge, I was overjoyed. Upon my Sam, its a little hard if you expect to read all about Ukridge in this book, and then find out that it was not to be. There is a
reason that these stories are called Ukridge stories, and its because they primarily focus on Ukridge with only a minor peek into the narrator's life.

The premise for this book is very promising. Ukridge intends to create a chicken farm in the country and come to riches through this grand plan. He does not worry about his complete lack of knowledge about raising chickens, or that he does not have enough money for running the farm. The man has a grand vision and intends to achieve it inspite of these shortcomings.

The problem arises because half the pages are spent on the narrator's love life, and in this aspect, there are countless other engaging writers. Wodehouse falls way short of engaging our interest in this love story. Maybe I have a little less sport in my blood than the average Wodehouse reader, but when I buy a Ukridge book, the expectation is that he would occupy most of the pages.

For a similar story (short story though), try "Ukridge's Dog College", part of the Ukridge short story collection, which is much better as Ukridge occupies front, right and center and there are no distractions.

Read it if you want to complete your understanding of P G Wodehouse and get a feel of his early writings before he perfected his art, otherwise give it a wide miss.