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The Swoop!

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Legendary humorist P.G. Wodehouse is best known for his upper-crust, screwball comedies, especially those of aristocratic goof Bertie Wooster and his serene valet Jeeves.

But Wodehouse was only embarking on his long, prestigious literary career when he wrote "The Swoop! Or, How Clarence Saved England." It's a very brief novel, lacking in Wodehouse's usual complexity, but it's still an amusing (if brief) read.

A faithful Boy Scout, Clarence is one of those kids who worries a lot about their country -- almost too much. He belongs to a pleasantly staid family who think he's a little nuts, because of his constant moans about how England has deteriorated. But it seems that he might be at least partly right when German prince invades during tea.

Nine other hostile armies invade England, much to the indignation of the populace. Unfortunately, the English don't put up much of a resistance, since "the Socialists had condemned the army system as unsocial." And suddenly Clarence and the Boy Scouts are the thing standing between Endland and total occupation.

"At last I begin to realise the horrors of an invasion -- for the invaders." Wodehouse wrote this amusing little book before World War II -- during that war, the idea of Germans invading wouldn't have been as funny. But the ideas are still quite amusing: of a smallish invasion force being politely but firmly ejected from an Essex house, because they interrupted teatime.

Plotwise, it's not very complex. In fact, compared to his usual tangles of love, blackmail and stolen policemen's helmets, it's simple. But it is amusing, the idea of a bunch of Boy Scouts overthrowing nine different invading forces. Wodehouse's entertaining dialogue is brilliantly absurd. ("An hour ago your camp was silently surrounded by patrols of Boy Scouts, armed with catapults and hockey-sticks").

"The Swoop! Or How Clarence Saved England" is a fun little novel by a master humorist, who was just starting to find his niche when he wrote it. It's not the best that P.G. Wodehouse wrote, but it's still amusing.