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the_discworldian's review
4.0
Oh, wow. This is an undeniably entertaining collection of stories (except maybe the last one, which felt as if Wodehouse just threw together some bits from earlier stories and called it a day) featuring some undeniably stupid young men. Not two brain cells to rub together among the Drones Club. By and large, they make Bertie Wooster look like Einstein. However, as daffy as Bingo, Freddie and company are and as silly and self-inflicted as one finds their predicaments, it's hard not to hope they come out unscathed (for all of them except Oofy Prosser, natch, who deserves every comeuppance these stories dish out).
The real winner here is Wodehouse's turn of phrase, though. It particularly shines when he describes Algy Little. I'm guessing Wodehouse, like many of the rest of us, when faced with a baby automatically said "oh, how adorable" while thinking "looks like a baby. Yup. I wonder when lunch is?" However, he must have met some fairly ugly babies in his time, because he really pulled out all the stops for Algy. "Looks like a homicidal fried egg" was one of my favorite descriptions. The unfortunate infant is also compared with Jimmy Cagney, in a story whose resolution was one of my favorites.
Nothing much happens in these stories, but that nothing is described in an extremely entertaining way. That's really about all you could wish for with Wodehouse.
The real winner here is Wodehouse's turn of phrase, though. It particularly shines when he describes Algy Little. I'm guessing Wodehouse, like many of the rest of us, when faced with a baby automatically said "oh, how adorable" while thinking "looks like a baby. Yup. I wonder when lunch is?" However, he must have met some fairly ugly babies in his time, because he really pulled out all the stops for Algy. "Looks like a homicidal fried egg" was one of my favorite descriptions. The unfortunate infant is also compared with Jimmy Cagney, in a story whose resolution was one of my favorites.
Nothing much happens in these stories, but that nothing is described in an extremely entertaining way. That's really about all you could wish for with Wodehouse.
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