P.G.Wosehouse

[Vinda]

P.G.Wodehouse is my all time favourite author. He's the best comic genius the world has witnessed till date. But not many people read him since his humour is the subtle British variety and it requires an intelligent and a clean sense of humour to appreciate his oeuvre.

Anyone who loves humour, I request you to go and purchase a P.G.Wodehouse book immediately. He opens up a world where even the smallest act of an ant is view with a comic eye. You learn to look at all this in life with the same perspective.
Do try.

[The Apologist]

I entirely agree! I have always loved British humor, so Wodehouse is nothing new for me. But he does have a topping ability to create characters that you never want to abandon. Jeeves and Psmith are classics of his literature. I find that after a hard days work the scintillating humor of one of these characters is "just what the doctor ordered."

[DATo]

I happen to be reading some of H. H. Monroe's (AKA Saki) short stories right now between chapters of a novel which I am also reading and this thread has prompted me to consider the similarities between the two writers. Both were of course British authors, and both had a penchant for poking fun at the upper class of British society with wonderful comic effect. Saki was only 11 years older than Wodehouse and it is hard to believe that they did not at least in some way influence each other's writing. It would be interesting to know if they were friends or had any personal interactions because they were surely kindred spirits.

If you like Wodehose you MUST read Saki. Saki is known primarily for his numerous, comic short stories which are in the public domain and easy to find online. Here is a very short one which pretty much serves as an introduction to Saki if you have never read him before. I think you will like it. It is called, The Open Window and is probably one of Saki's most famous short stories ... served chilled, with a twist.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stori ... eWin.shtml

[The Apologist]

I did enjoy that story, although it is rather darker than any of Wodehouse's works which I have read and I will look up H. H. Monroe.

[asmaahsan]

I absolutely LOVE that author. I have read most of his works and he has me in stitches.

I have a British sense of humor too and that gets me in trouble as i usually have to explain myself after cracking a subtle joke. My blasted sense of humor gets me in trouble all the time as only one out of hundred get my jokes, the rest get offended.

But this author can do no wrong in my eyes.

Jeeves.....what memories with that character!

Have you seen Fawlty towers? That's a series with my kind of humor.

[Ant]

There is a new T.V series started this week over here....."Blandings" written by P.G Wodehouse starring Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders, different but very funny, you have to have a certain type of humour to appreciate it.

[asmaahsan]

Nice! I will see if I can catch the aired programs on the Internet. I watch a lot of British comedies on the Tv. I get their jokes.

[moonstruck]

I entirely agree! I have always loved British humor, so Wodehouse is nothing new for me. But he does have a topping ability to create characters that you never want to abandon. Jeeves and Psmith are classics of his literature. I find that after a hard days work the scintillating humor of one of these characters is "just what the doctor ordered."

True! As Rowling said, wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure. Wodehouse is one such gem!

[Maud Fitch]

Currently I have a P G Wodehouse audio on my iPad and the reader's voice is absolutely gloriously British upperclass.
I can't remember his name but his plummy tones deliver the Wodehouse dry wit perfectly. The book is "A Damsel In Distress" and ironically one of the main characters is named Maud, Lady Maud, no less .

Hard to believe this novel was written (and made into a B&W silent movie) in 1919 and I'm listening to it on an electronic device, almost one hundred years later, with just as much enjoyment.

[Elfqueen]

Wodehouse's characters were as complex as bacteria, as deep as a puddle, and he recycled the same plots over and over and over again.

That said, Wodehouse got away with it because his command of the English language was so extraordinary that, in best books, nearly every sentence was a perfectly constructed line that delivered its humor like Jeeves bringing a G&T on a silver plate. For sheer, unencumbered joy of reading, few authors come close to him.

[JosephPWinters]

I've always thought it was his sentences that were so pristine, and which ultimately mark him out as a great wordsmith. It sounds like a very obvious point to make about a writer, but it's remarkable how few can put one word after the next with such measured balance and rhythm as Wodehouse; and even fewer as consistently as he could.

[DATo]

Bertie meets Jeeves (first of five parts) ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvddpX1uYA

Watch all five segments. It's a hoot!

[Rory_Jim]

What would people recommend to read of his first?

I have just finished 'Lucky Jim' by Kingsley Amis, which is very funny (I highly recommend) - got me in the mood for some more humour!

[Mattsey]

I adore Wodehouse! He is like the fun grandpa or uncle or godfather you had growing up or always wanted. The kind who would always sneak you sweets and tell you the best stories.

I recently had a shocking experience in joining a book club where Wodehouse was universally disliked! Didn't know whether to faint or touch them like witches! They were an odd bunch I never met up with again. All they saw was the oppression of the working class and etc, not that I could see anything like that. I'm no scholar but nothing of his work seem to show anything of a political nature except the infamous black shorts and their root vegetable ideology.

They could not see how utterly wonderful he is. He is easily our greatest writer. He wrote a short story about accidentally burning a mans moustache! He's brilliant!

[LittleWilma]

Yesterday, I replied to a question about whether or not I have ever read a book with a character with the same name as mine. I had a complete memory lapse about it until I saw this thread. I read Jill the Reckless because of the name of the title character and I absolutely loved it. I have downloaded quite a few of Wodehouse's books and I am saving them for later.