Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vintage Wodehouse!, March 16, 2000
"Carry On, Jeeeves," a collection of ten short stories first published in 1925 involving the adventures of Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, provides an excellent introduction to the world of P.G. Wodehouse. The collection contains the first Jeeves' story, in which the valet comes to work for Bertie replacing a valet named Meadowes, evidentally a hypocrite who converted to evangelism (as we find out in the story "The Aunt and the Sluggard".) At any rate, Meadowes was sacked by Bertie when the valet was caught stealing his silk socks. The stories take place in New York, briefly in Paris, and, of course, in London, although Wodehouse, as usual, does not delineate any part of New York except to place Bertie in a flat on 57nd Street and mention Washington Square as a place of Bohemianism, and Long Island as rural countryside. The stories contain the usual Wodehousian social parasites living off wealthy aunts, and develops such characters as Aunts Agatha and Dahlia, Bingo Little, Sir Roderick Glossop (the loony doctor) and several of Jeeves' numerous relatives, including a relatively incompetent constable and female model and partime "actress." The charm of the Jeeves-Wooster stories, I have always thought, comes from Bertie as speaker, and Bertie narrates the action in nine of the ten stories. Wodehouse is at his best in characterizing Bertie: Wooster's prose tends to be rich in unusual similes, metaphors and 1920's slang; there is a cadence to Bertie's narration, as well as a refreshingly humorous charm to his perception of the world. Bertie has been termed "a useless blot on the fabric of society" by his former valet, and a "wooden-headed blighter" by others. Bertie, himself, admits to having "half the amount of brain a normal bloke ought to possess." Even the discrete Jeeves considers Bertie "mentally negliable," although, of course, this is an unspoken thought. (In the final story in this excellent collection, Wodehouse uses Jeeves as narrator, an unusual occurence in Wodehouse, but one which enriches the character of Jeeves and makes him more meaningful in later works. Wodhouse seemed to have exerted more care in the Jeeves' stories throughout his writing career. Wodehouse admits that he always took particular care to be especially humorous and witty in these stories because he thought that the reader demanded more with Jeeves and Wooster. "Carry On, Jeeves" is a highly recommended introduction into the world of Wodehouse; a first-time reader may, like most of us, become quickly addicted to Wodehouse and further explore the richly humorous world of this marvelous author. Longtime admirers will, of course, return frequently to these miniature gems.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Corking Stuff, September 17, 2001
These ten short Jeeves and Wooster tales originally appeared in 1925 and three-quarters of a century later provide an excellent entry point to Wodehouse's comic series. The Jeeves and Wooster stories generally follow the same template, the young, wealthy airhead Wooster or one of his upper-crust pals gets in some sticky social situation, and it is up to his genius butler Jeeves to devise an ingenious solution to the quandary. Often the stories involve some manner of deception, misunderstanding, or often, mistaken identity-and sometimes, Jeeves' scheme backfires, resulting in even greater hilarity (although as with every comic tale, all is set right by the end). The stories can fairly be compared to contemporary TV sitcoms, as they to reply on recurring (often over the top) characters, a rarefied setting, a single type of humor, and recurring situations. Simply put, if you like one Wooster story (and don't get sick of them), you're going to like them all. Much of this can be explained by Wodehouse's mastery of the language and constant deft turns of phrase, period slang, and comic timing. Those who deride the shallow subject matter and milieu of the Jeeves and Wooster series need to recall the context in which these stories appeared. Only a few years removed from the horrors of World War I-an event that is never alluded to in the series, despite the loss of an entire generation of British young men-the stories can be viewed as a bandage of sorts, an attempt to transport the reader to a world far removed from the traumatic recovery from the Great War. Not to mention Wodehouse's clear depiction of the upper classes as wastrels and idiots of the highest order when compared to the street savvy of the servants (as exemplified by Jeeves). Of course, one doesn't read Wodehouse for social commentary or as a salve these days, but for his dry wit and keen command of the written word.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The original show about nothing, May 13, 2006
I had never got around to reading any P.G. Wodehouse until I read this volume, and now I regret the delay.
My first exposure to Wodehouse, at least the first I can remember, was the great Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (better known from "Black Adder" and "House") TV series "Jeeves and Wooster". That series, plus a few artsy articles on Wodehouse (for example this one by Christopher Hitchens [...] ), turned my Wodehouse radar on.
Even though the world of butlers and aristocratic drones in the 1920s may as well be life of the Siberian Steppes to us web connected suburbanites, the human comedy never really changes. It was the Jeeves and Wooster stories, not "Seinfeld", that was the original "show about nothing."
Every story starts from a minor mishap that turns into major mayhem, requiring the sagacious Jeeves to slide in and rescue his well meaning but social accident prone patron from the self induced quagmire.
This is humour that is sympathetic to all the parties involved. As such it is a pleasant change from the rude brood of "cruder than thou" comedies that has dominated mainstream TV / movie comedy from both England and America for most of the last dozen years. My guess is that generation of young media consumers has grown up that know no humour other than the stick it someone else variety. Not to say there is anything wrong with that, it's just the monotony of it all that I am tired of.
Bring back Wodehouse!
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