Reviews

Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse

dantastic's review against another edition

4.0

The 2012 re-read:
Bertie Wooster, with Jeeves in tow, is dragooned into visiting Steeple Bumpleigh, home of Aunt Agatha and her husband, Lord Worplesdon. Bertie soon walks into a web of broken engagements, arson, and delightfully horrible misunderstandings, including an engagement to Florence Craye. Can Jeeves extricate Wooster from what will be known as The Steeple Bumpleigh Horror?

Of course he can. See how Jeeves' head bulges out in the back? That's where his extra brain power comes from.

This book is a great example of how Wodehouse mines rich veins of comedic gold from the same old formula in almost every book. Nobby Hopwood, Worplesdon's ward, is engaged to Bertie's friend Boko Fiddleworth. Stilton Cheesewright, the local constable and an old classmate of Bertie's, is betrothed to Bertie's former fiancee Florence Craye. Lord Worplesdon is in the process of a merger between his shipping company and that of J. Chichester Clam, an American shipping magnate. Throw in a boyscout named Edwin whose hash everyone is dying to see settled and there you are. All the pieces are in place and Bertie is tossed into the mix. You know everything will turn out okay but it's a lot of fun getting there.

As always, Wodehouse weaves a web of wit along the way to the happy resolution. I'm partial to “When a girl uses six derogatory adjectives in her attempt to paint the portrait of the loved one, it means something. One may indicate a merely temporary tiff. Six is big stuff.” and “It is true of course, that I have a will of iron, but it can be switched off if the circumstances seem to demand it.”

Any complaints? Only that this was a re-read and I wasn't experiencing this comedic gem for the first time. While I didn't remember every wrinkle of the story, I did remember most of the pivotal ones. Still, you can't go wrong with Jeeves when you want some dry wit.

expatally's review against another edition

4.0

Always love PG Wodehouse and this one doesn't disappoint. The only problem is that reading in public is slightly embarrassing since end up laughing out loud throughout. :)

rocketiza's review against another edition

3.0

Wodehouse's prose is just pure fun and joy to read.

waylander101's review against another edition

5.0

So here we are, volume eight of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories and the first one I've bothered to review.

Once again we see poor (not in the financial sense) Bertram "Bertie" Wooster manipulated into things by his far more intelligent Gentleman's Gentleman Jeeves. Apparently Jeeves wishes to spend the summer fishing and with that in mind "persuades" Bertie to travel to Steeple Bumpleigh to visit family. With a cast featuring but not limited to: old school chums, former fiancés, cousins, uncles, and the constabulary much misunderstanding and shenanigans ensue.

I, as many of my age and nationality, was introduced to the world of Jeeves and Wooster through the excellent Fry and Laurie adaptation from the early 90s. So here we are some thirty years later and I thought it would be fun to read the books. I say read where I really mean listen to the superb Audible audiobooks read by Jonathan Cecil. Have I mentioned I like these stories?

Wodehouse has ideas... the gentry tend to be rather dim and our man Jeeves is a positive genius... this isn't bad as a plot device and works very well in a "now what is the blighter's plan" way. I really do enjoy these stories though some care must betaken as they were written in a time where some ideas were still thought of as acceptable. That being said if you can accept that 1920s Britain was a very different place there's no reason not to like these tales.

Cecil's performance as narrator has been top notch through all eight of the books I've read(?) listened to(?) so far.

peelspls's review against another edition

3.0

While I am an avid fan of Bertie and Jeeves, I feel like this story relied too often on deus ex machinas rather than Jeeves' true strategic ability to get everyone out of scrapes. That said, I still enjoyed reading Wodehouse's writing, particularly in the rich descriptions and metaphors. This particular cast of supporting characters wasn't one of the best either - Boko caused a lot of problems for himself but very rarely faced the consequences if any, and it kind of baffles me why in the world would Nobby Hopwood settle for someone like him. Florence's influence was also underplayed in this story, when it was apparent she could have been a far more dangerous threat to Bertie's happiness if she wanted to.

almapietri's review against another edition

5.0

Someone said they thought I would love this book and lent it to me and I took one look at the cover and was like "lawl K..." but I actually LOVED it! It was funny and witty and I loved the author's style. It was also a great book to read on the T because the chapters were short and it wasn't anything dense. And in my most recent Gilmore Girls binge Rory gave PG Wodehouse a shout out so really thumbs up all around!

pinkrose42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

nomadicreader's review against another edition

4.0

Like a lovely frothy coffee, the wit and sharp writing are so enjoyable to curl up with.

johnnyforeign's review against another edition

5.0

Rannygazoo indeed! An utterly delightful farce!

books_and_cha's review against another edition

4.0

“I might, that is to say, be safe from the dragon, but what about the hippogriffs? That was the question I asked myself. What price the hippogriffs?”

Another one to add to my Jeeves and Wooster collection. Despite there being similarities between this installment and previous ones in the series, Joy in the Morning did not disappoint. While earlier stories in the series were funny because of varying turn of events - everything always tends to go wrong in the best ways - the humor in this book was mostly in the narration. The sequence of events, even when predictable, felt fresh and amusing because of Bertie's perspective. Jeeves, as always, saves the day with some quick thinking and shimmering in exactly when needed. Although some of the humor was old fashioned, I still found myself smiling throughout and laughing out loud. *sigh* Wodehouse is always such a good pick-me-up. On to the next!