Customer Reviews

The Pothunters

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

 

 

Written in 1902, The Pothunters was the first novel of P.G. Wodehouse's 70-year career. As might be expected, it is somewhat immature, but shows signs of his eventual genius.

The Pothunters is set is an English boy's school at the turn of the centurry, an environment Wodehouse was familiar with. As such, it was written with those young readers in mind, and is consequently may not be very interesting to the modern reader.

The plot concerns some stolen prizes (the "pots" of the title). As a mystery, the book is not particularly well done, but the characterizations of the heroic though mischieveous boys would appeal to the young readers of the time.

As is the case in many of Wodehouse's works, characterization and plot are secondary to his amusing language and style. There are signs throughout of this development, which alone makes the book readable today.

Generally, one gets the impression that the book was written quickly, almost dashed off without the careful polish exhibited in Wodehouse's later works. Generally, the book would probably appeal most to a Wodehouse collector.

There is a glowing review appended as an afterword to the story in this novel about schoolboy adventures in England. That review would be 5 stars, and I would probably agree, except I want to save 5 stars for later Wodehouse works such as Luck of the Bodkins. I discovered Wodehouse because Douglas Adams praises him in his final book, The Salmon of Doubt. I love Wodehouse and think of him as an older, even more English version of Adams. In Pothunters, some trophies are stolen from a boarding school, and the adventures of the boys involved are intricate, extremely well written, and quite entertaining. Wodehouse peppers his prose with extremely clever phrasing, which causes me to laugh out loud. In the Pothunters I only laughed once per chapter. In Luck of the Bodkins it was every other page. Still, this book is worth the reading!

Apparently the very first book he managed to get published - but a far cry from being the last! And no wonder: I won't be surprising any of his legion of fans by mentioning that Wodehouse is wonderful. Who can turn a phrase like him? The dialogue is gorgeous. The descriptions likewise.

I think some have criticised this book because of its `Boy's own' public school style, but for me that was just an added bonus. Besides, Wodehouse never let a plot drag him too far from his all conquering wit and charming characters. Perhaps that happens a little towards the end of this story, but it's the smallest distraction from a constantly amusing book.

I consciously went back to the start and intend to work my way through as much of his mountain of publications as possible. One handy thing about doing this is that since the royalty sun set for Pelham Grenville some time ago you can download a stack of his books gratis at Gutenberg, and his style works very nicely with dipping in and out on your PDA in queues or wherever.

While pleasant enough, this book lacks the careful plotting and pointed characterization on which Sir Pelham worked so hard in his later books.

The coincidences are there, not because they're funny, but to save the author a small amount of work. I confess that I had to keep jumping back in the book to keep the various characters straight, and I never did discern much, if any, plot. Wodehouse poked fun at plotless, coincidence-driven novels in his later books; perhaps he was trying to atone for his first one.