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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. I caught a nasty cold last week, and then I hurt my back, so I was feeling pretty down - low concentration and general misery. My brain wasn't up to the style of the book that I happened to be reading at the time, so I picked some random books off the shelf, including this one. They all happened to be older British works, so I guess that my brain felt that British literature is just the thing for comfort reading? Anyway, this book has been on my shelf for years, so I'm quite glad to get it off of there, no matter how it happened.
I will freely admit, this book probably deserves a higher rating. The hijinks that make up the entire plot of this book were very impressive. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong, and probably spectacularly. And yet, everything is so light and fluffy! Things go wrong, but the result is a quarrel, maybe the loss of a cook. It was a huge change from the dire consequences that I'm used to in my genre of choice, epic fantasy. It was kind of refreshing, and I certainly look back on the book with fondness.
And yet, I found that I also suffered from a problem that I often have with humorous novels. It was snicker-worthy, but it rarely elicited a laugh. (I do this same thing with Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.) Somehow, in writing, humor like this just isn't as funny as it should be for me. I will say, when I started the book while sick, it was getting the laughs a bit more, so I'm not sure if it became less laugh-worthy when I'm clear-headed, or if I'm just a sourpuss. Maybe both? But I felt like the humor got a little too overblown, and I just didn't enjoy it as much.
Reading this book did make me think that I really need to get my hands on the Jeeves and Wooster TV series. I really think that I would enjoy the humor more if it was spoken, rather than just read. And in the meantime, this was a fun little romp, and I now know exactly what I'm missing in my lack of a P.G. Wodehouse education.
I will freely admit, this book probably deserves a higher rating. The hijinks that make up the entire plot of this book were very impressive. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong, and probably spectacularly. And yet, everything is so light and fluffy! Things go wrong, but the result is a quarrel, maybe the loss of a cook. It was a huge change from the dire consequences that I'm used to in my genre of choice, epic fantasy. It was kind of refreshing, and I certainly look back on the book with fondness.
And yet, I found that I also suffered from a problem that I often have with humorous novels. It was snicker-worthy, but it rarely elicited a laugh. (I do this same thing with Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.) Somehow, in writing, humor like this just isn't as funny as it should be for me. I will say, when I started the book while sick, it was getting the laughs a bit more, so I'm not sure if it became less laugh-worthy when I'm clear-headed, or if I'm just a sourpuss. Maybe both? But I felt like the humor got a little too overblown, and I just didn't enjoy it as much.
Reading this book did make me think that I really need to get my hands on the Jeeves and Wooster TV series. I really think that I would enjoy the humor more if it was spoken, rather than just read. And in the meantime, this was a fun little romp, and I now know exactly what I'm missing in my lack of a P.G. Wodehouse education.
Hilarious! I have read the first one or two and they were fun, but this one is just superb. There were lines that had me spitting water because they were so well written and funny. Just a light read full of the best kinds of jabs at silly people.
As I've come from expect from P.G. Wodehouse, this was hilarious. Farcical, witty, written in a style uniquely his.
In this particular escapade, Bertie finds himself staying at Totleigh Towers, the country home of Sir Watkyn Bassett, an obsequious magistrate with a vicious vendetta against poor old Bertram. Along the way we encounter wronged policemen, a LOT of blackmail, cow-creamers, notebooks and, of course, an array of beloved characters like Gussie Fink-Nottle, Aunt Dahlia, Roderick Spode and Stiffy Byng.
Wodehouse keeps you hooked until the very end. I also loved the ending - it was really well resolved, with Bertie sleeping peacefully in his bed, believing everything is well with the world (that is, until the next time!)
I will never stop recommending this series, because when it comes to comedic literature, this is the best.
In this particular escapade, Bertie finds himself staying at Totleigh Towers, the country home of Sir Watkyn Bassett, an obsequious magistrate with a vicious vendetta against poor old Bertram. Along the way we encounter wronged policemen, a LOT of blackmail, cow-creamers, notebooks and, of course, an array of beloved characters like Gussie Fink-Nottle, Aunt Dahlia, Roderick Spode and Stiffy Byng.
Wodehouse keeps you hooked until the very end. I also loved the ending - it was really well resolved, with Bertie sleeping peacefully in his bed, believing everything is well with the world (that is, until the next time!)
I will never stop recommending this series, because when it comes to comedic literature, this is the best.
There’s something so satisfying about the irresistible pull of the plot in one of these. It begins with Jeeves wanting to go on an around the world cruise: very well, now and why will Bertie be persuaded to go? This one didn’t have quite the force of the majestically inevitable as I usually like in Wodehouse — three plots sort of resolved themselves in sequence, rather than one spectacular crescendo — but it had all the fun character bits and witty phrasing that make Wodehouse fun, and it was satisfying to get so much of The Good Aunt.
After living for years in a community where there are Wodehouse readers and lovers everywhere I finally read this, my very first Wodehouse. A 3 star probably reflects my ignorance of British humor and turn of phrase. I will pull a second Wodehouse book off my shelf soon, give it a read, and see if two’s a charm.
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
Just not my kind of humor. Maybe if I'd been introduced to it when I was young... really young.
Fantastic! Thrilling to the last moment, funny, and always another twist on the next page.
The Code of the Woosters is to never let a pal down. The Code of Wodehouse is to never let a reader down.