The P. G. Wodehouse thread

Alan Aspie said:
Vodehouse writes quite often "the same story only different". The magic is in characters & voice.
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Indeed! And hence his preface at the beginning of Summer Lightning:

A certain critic - for such men, I regret to say, do exist - made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained "all the old Wodehouse characters under different names". He has probably by now been eaten by bears, like children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled the man this time bu putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.
 
Just thought our Wodehouse fans would enjoy this funny video, it's made - from lyrics to singing to guitar playing all by my current favourite writer Stephen Clarke who wrote some very entertaining history books and hilarious novels the Merde series.

 
Some of P. G. Wodehouse is brilliant, yet some of his work is embarrassing to read. I must admit that I like quite a lot lot of his stories. And if you want a bit of a laugh they will certainly do that.
 
With the sheer volume of Wodehouse's work you can forgive the occasional misstep. And there's nought wrong with reading something for laughter. It's a very difficult thing to do to write with the intent of causing laughter.
 
Ian Fortytwo said:
Some of P. G. Wodehouse is brilliant, yet some of his work is embarrassing to read. I must admit that I like quite a lot lot of his stories. And if you want a bit of a laugh they will certainly do that.
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Well, horses for courses, but personally I've never found a single sentence of Wodehouse embarrassing to read - its all a delight for me.
 
I realise that since posting that I was reading Mulliner Nights, on the previous page of the thread, I've not mentioned here the Wodehouse's I have read since. Most remiss.

To set that straight, I've since read (and enjoyed them all): The Luck of the Bodkins, Jeeves in the Offing and Pigs Have Wings. Some time soon, perhaps after a couple more books, I shall draw up a personal ranking list of Wodehouse books.
 
I thought it might be of some interest to post this list of Plum's works. The following list is of all his books, from 1902 when he was only 21 years of age, through to his final books when he was in his nineties. The score after each book is the ranking each book had on Goodreads at the date I collated the data. It's interesting to see that his greatest works date from around 1925, and carry on through until about the mid-50's, when he started to be a little patchier again. I believe I've read only those in bold.

1902 The Pothunters 3.48
1903 A Prefect's Uncle 3.38
1903 Tales of St. Austin's 3.28
1904 The Gold Bat 3.50
1904 William Tell Told Again 3.42
1905 The Head of Kay's 3.50
1906 Love Among the Chickens 3.73
1907 The White Feather 3.69
1909 The Swoop! 3.32
1909 Mike 3.71
1910 A Gentleman of Leisure 3.96
1910 Psmith in the City 4.02
1912 The Prince and Betty 3.38
1913 The Little Nugget 3.70
1914 The Man Upstairs 3.81
1915 Psmith, Journalist 4.01
1915 Something Fresh 4.15
1917 Uneasy Money 3.99
1917 The Man with Two Left Feet 3.78
1918 Piccadilly Jim 3.98
1919 My Man Jeeves 4.14
1919 A Damsel in Distress 4.04
1920 The Coming of Bill 3.59
1921 Jill the Reckless 3.97
1921 Indiscretions of Archie 3.77
1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert 3.92
1922 The Girl on the Boat 3.75
1922 The Adventures of Sally 3.74
1923 The Inimitable Jeeves 4.26
1923 Leave It to Psmith 4.27
1924 Ukridge 3.92
1924 Bill the Conqueror 3.89
1925 Carry On, Jeeves 4.28
1925 Sam the Sudden 4.08
1926 The Heart of a Goof 3.90
1927 The Small Bachelor 4.05
1927 Meet Mr. Mulliner 4.07
1928 Money for Nothing 3.92
1929 Mr. Mulliner Speaking 3.99
1929 Summer Lightning 4.21
1930 Very Good, Jeeves 4.35
1931 Big Money 3.90
1931 If I Were You 3.94
1932 Louder and Funnier 3.96
1932 Doctor Sally 3.72
1932 Hot Water 4.13
1933 Mulliner Nights 4.08
1933 Heavy Weather 4.24
1934 Thank You, Jeeves 4.26
1934 Right Ho, Jeeves 4.30
1935 Blandings Castle and Elsewhere 4.20
1935 The Luck of the Bodkins 4.09
1936 Young Men in Spats 4.10
1936 Laughing Gas 3.88
1937 Lord Emsworth and Others 4.22
1938 Summer Moonshine 4.09
1938 The Code of the Woosters 4.36
1939 Uncle Fred in the Springtime 4.26
1940 Eggs, Beans and Crumpets 4.09
1940 Quick Service 4.16
1946 Money in the Bank 4.08
1947 Joy in the Morning 4.35
1947 Full Moon 4.15
1948 Spring Fever 4.09
1948 Uncle Dynamite 4.24
1949 The Mating Season 4.26
1950 Nothing Serious 4.17
1951 The Old Reliable 3.74
1952 Barmy in Wonderland 3.76
1952 Pigs Have Wings 4.23
1953 Ring for Jeeves 4.07
1954 Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 4.30
1956 French Leave 3.89
1957 Something Fishy 4.00
1958 Cocktail Time 4.12
1959 A Few Quick Ones 3.83
1960 Jeeves in the Offing 4.20
1961 Ice in the Bedroom 3.88
1962 Service With a Smile 4.13
1963 Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves 4.30
1964 Frozen Assets 4.06
1965 Galahad at Blandings 4.25
1966 Plum Pie 3.96
1967 Company for Henry 3.91
1968 Do Butlers Burgle Banks? 3.93
1969 A Pelican at Blandings 4.19
1970 The Girl in Blue 3.87
1971 Much Obliged, Jeeves 4.23
1972 Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin 3.96
1973 Bachelors Anonymous 3.94
1974 Aunts Aren't Gentlemen 4.19
1977 Sunset at Blandings 4.06 (posthumous)
 
galanx said:
In 1940 Wodehouse was captured by the Germans while he was staying at his villa in Belgium, apparently only vaguely aware he mght be in danger. He was held in an internment camp, treated fairly well, and released in a kind of house arrest and allowed to live in a posh hotel in Berlin, apparently in exchange for doing a few broadcasts abut his internment. This released a surge of anger in Britain, with some calling him a traitor, and others demanding his books be banned. George Orwell wrote a fairly level-headed reply, though his attitude might be easier to hold in 1945 when written than in 1941- as he himself acknoweldges:

"In Defence of P.G. Wodehouse"
George Orwell and Wodehouse
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He was a Nazi sympathiser?
 
This is tangential to the topic, but I've recently been binge-watching the first four seasons of the recent Poldark adaptation. Finding it just a little hard to take Jack Farthing entirely seriously as the antagonist George Warleggan, having only seen him before in the Blandings series, embodying that amiable nincompoop Freddie Threepwood with such consummate skill.
 
Bick said:
I thought it might be of some interest to post this list of Plum's works. The following list is of all his books, from 1902 when he was only 21 years of age, through to his final books when he was in his nineties. The score after each book is the ranking each book had on Goodreads at the date I collated the data. It's interesting to see that his greatest works date from around 1925, and carry on through until about the mid-50's, when he started to be a little patchier again. I believe I've read only those in bold.

1902 The Pothunters 3.48
1903 A Prefect's Uncle 3.38
1903 Tales of St. Austin's 3.28
1904 The Gold Bat 3.50
1904 William Tell Told Again 3.42
1905 The Head of Kay's 3.50
1906 Love Among the Chickens 3.73
1907 The White Feather 3.69
1909 The Swoop! 3.32
1909 Mike 3.71
1910 A Gentleman of Leisure 3.96
1910 Psmith in the City 4.02
1912 The Prince and Betty 3.38
1913 The Little Nugget 3.70
1914 The Man Upstairs 3.81
1915 Psmith, Journalist 4.01
1915 Something Fresh 4.15
1917 Uneasy Money 3.99
1917 The Man with Two Left Feet 3.78
1918 Piccadilly Jim 3.98
1919 My Man Jeeves 4.14
1919 A Damsel in Distress 4.04
1920 The Coming of Bill 3.59
1921 Jill the Reckless 3.97
1921 Indiscretions of Archie 3.77
1922 The Clicking of Cuthbert 3.92
1922 The Girl on the Boat 3.75
1922 The Adventures of Sally 3.74
1923 The Inimitable Jeeves 4.26
1923 Leave It to Psmith 4.27
1924 Ukridge 3.92
1924 Bill the Conqueror 3.89
1925 Carry On, Jeeves 4.28
1925 Sam the Sudden 4.08
1926 The Heart of a Goof 3.90
1927 The Small Bachelor 4.05
1927 Meet Mr. Mulliner 4.07
1928 Money for Nothing 3.92
1929 Mr. Mulliner Speaking 3.99
1929 Summer Lightning 4.21
1930 Very Good, Jeeves 4.35
1931 Big Money 3.90
1931 If I Were You 3.94
1932 Louder and Funnier 3.96
1932 Doctor Sally 3.72
1932 Hot Water 4.13
1933 Mulliner Nights 4.08
1933 Heavy Weather 4.24
1934 Thank You, Jeeves 4.26
1934 Right Ho, Jeeves 4.30
1935 Blandings Castle and Elsewhere 4.20
1935 The Luck of the Bodkins 4.09
1936 Young Men in Spats 4.10
1936 Laughing Gas 3.88
1937 Lord Emsworth and Others 4.22
1938 Summer Moonshine 4.09
1938 The Code of the Woosters 4.36
1939 Uncle Fred in the Springtime 4.26
1940 Eggs, Beans and Crumpets 4.09
1940 Quick Service 4.16
1946 Money in the Bank 4.08
1947 Joy in the Morning 4.35
1947 Full Moon 4.15
1948 Spring Fever 4.09
1948 Uncle Dynamite 4.24
1949 The Mating Season 4.26
1950 Nothing Serious 4.17
1951 The Old Reliable 3.74
1952 Barmy in Wonderland 3.76
1952 Pigs Have Wings 4.23
1953 Ring for Jeeves 4.07
1954 Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit 4.30
1956 French Leave 3.89
1957 Something Fishy 4.00
1958 Cocktail Time 4.12
1959 A Few Quick Ones 3.83
1960 Jeeves in the Offing 4.20
1961 Ice in the Bedroom 3.88
1962 Service With a Smile 4.13
1963 Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves 4.30
1964 Frozen Assets 4.06
1965 Galahad at Blandings 4.25
1966 Plum Pie 3.96
1967 Company for Henry 3.91
1968 Do Butlers Burgle Banks? 3.93
1969 A Pelican at Blandings 4.19
1970 The Girl in Blue 3.87
1971 Much Obliged, Jeeves 4.23
1972 Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin 3.96
1973 Bachelors Anonymous 3.94
1974 Aunts Aren't Gentlemen 4.19
1977 Sunset at Blandings 4.06 (posthumous)
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Once upon a time I planned to read all his works in one year, in the end read most of them except some stand alone novels. Re his early books I really enjoyed three Psmith books and wished he had written more.
 
Yes, Psmith was a great character, I’m not sure why he didn’t write more Psmith. He kept returning to Uncle Fred, in contrast. But then I loved the Ukbridge stories and there’s only the one volume of those.
 
So speaking of Wodehouse, as I just was in another thread, last night I watched "Wodehouse in Exile" on my Kindle (it's currently free if you get Amazon Prime). It's about his internment and what happened afterward. Quite funny but also quite sad. An excellent performance by Tim Piggot-Smith.
 
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