Scan barcode
roblucasstevens's review against another edition
5.0
This was the Jeeves and Wooster I was most looking forward to returning to, the one that stuck in my mind the best, the cow creamer, the notebook and the policeman’s hat. With good reason it turns out, a superbly constructed comedy with Wodehouse truly at the top of his game, it’s hard to think that this isn’t his masterpiece.
Considering some of the unsettling racist stereotypes in some of the other books, and knowing how Wodehouse was about to spend a portion of WW2, the Spode character as an parody of Oswald Mosley, treated completely contemptuously through the book is very heartening. Less heartening is how well you could transpose Spode to your Farage’s and Johnson’s but that’s a whole other thing.
Considering some of the unsettling racist stereotypes in some of the other books, and knowing how Wodehouse was about to spend a portion of WW2, the Spode character as an parody of Oswald Mosley, treated completely contemptuously through the book is very heartening. Less heartening is how well you could transpose Spode to your Farage’s and Johnson’s but that’s a whole other thing.
xanadu_'s review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
twrafferty's review against another edition
5.0
one of the funniest books ever - the great man at the height of his powers, a ludicrously complicated plot and a great cast of characters. a joy from start to finish, and still as funny on the fifth read. the language is splendid
"The chap I know wears horn-rimmed spectacles and has a face
like a fish. How does that check up with your data?"
"The gentleman who came to the flat wore horn-rimmed spectacles, sir."
"And looked like something on a slab?"
"Possibly there was a certain suggestion of the piscine, sir."
"The chap I know wears horn-rimmed spectacles and has a face
like a fish. How does that check up with your data?"
"The gentleman who came to the flat wore horn-rimmed spectacles, sir."
"And looked like something on a slab?"
"Possibly there was a certain suggestion of the piscine, sir."
shekispeaks's review
3.0
Only Wodehouse has the ability to release readers from the mundane. Its a good one, sometimes Bertram Wooster though has one too many times.
luz_07's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
dagnyk's review against another edition
I am actually listening to an audio book read by Simon Callow. Something to listen to while I'm knitting.
chrisannee's review
5.0
Reading P.G. Wodehouse is like getting on a boat, pushing out into a lazy river oar-less, and letting the current carry you wherever it may... except that in that instance a bit of worry about your eventual well-being may linger in the back of your mind.
With Wodehouse, you don't have that worry. Trouble < Jeeves.
Bertie's Aunt is in trouble. In an impossible series of events that include a silver cow creamer, that may or may not be "Modern Dutch," various engagements, a Hitler-wannabe (written in '38 so, at that point, Hitler's deepest sins had not quite made it across the channel), newts, a policeman's helmet, a violent terrier, and, of course, the most perfect gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves, Bertie Wooster manages to avoid jail, indigestion, and an engagement, and stays his own upbeat, unbeatable self.
Touted as Wodehouse's best, I find it hard to argue. His portrayal of the mid-wars generation, product of the '20s but still thinking as if it was the 1800s, is hilarious. Inept though they may be, there is a hint of a spine about Wooster... suggesting, perhaps, that when 1939 came he probably joined up with the rest of his ilk, was shipped across the channel, and spent his time there as honorably as possible. Not quite sure what happened to Jeeves though.
Note: Though Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry deliver impeccable performances as their respective characters, this was not one of the BBC's best adaptations. Not quite sure why. Try their others instead.
With Wodehouse, you don't have that worry. Trouble < Jeeves.
Bertie's Aunt is in trouble. In an impossible series of events that include a silver cow creamer, that may or may not be "Modern Dutch," various engagements, a Hitler-wannabe (written in '38 so, at that point, Hitler's deepest sins had not quite made it across the channel), newts, a policeman's helmet, a violent terrier, and, of course, the most perfect gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves, Bertie Wooster manages to avoid jail, indigestion, and an engagement, and stays his own upbeat, unbeatable self.
Touted as Wodehouse's best, I find it hard to argue. His portrayal of the mid-wars generation, product of the '20s but still thinking as if it was the 1800s, is hilarious. Inept though they may be, there is a hint of a spine about Wooster... suggesting, perhaps, that when 1939 came he probably joined up with the rest of his ilk, was shipped across the channel, and spent his time there as honorably as possible. Not quite sure what happened to Jeeves though.
Note: Though Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry deliver impeccable performances as their respective characters, this was not one of the BBC's best adaptations. Not quite sure why. Try their others instead.
lifesarosch's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Frothy lighthearted romp which is what I need given the state that is the world. Spode as a concept is so interesting. Should read more Wooster tbh
zachlittrell's review against another edition
4.0
If "a tempest in a teapot" was transmuted into a humor novel, you'd get this. The comedy of errors is a well-orchestrated machine: lovably daft bachelor Bertie Wooster gets caught up on one enchanted evening with broken engagements, cow-creamers, a policeman's helmet, a dirty little notebook, and a party of wackily narrow-sighted aristocrats. Sure, it kinda meanders and overspends its nickels on getting Bertie in and out of jams, but Jeeves's displays of gratifyingly slicing gordian knots is entertaining every single darn time.