wodehouse page

• On the greatest humourist
• Head straight for the pgw links
• Some other relevant links
• Extracts

On the greatest comic writer

This page is my tribute (I use this word after a lot of thought, at the risk of sounding like a pompous stuffed shirt) to Wodehouse. Not that the man is in need of one from me. But, well, he's made such an impression on my life that I feel that my webpage would be quite incomplete without one. Besides, for those who must have plodded through my website, and found the going pretty tough, this would come as manna in the wilderness. If you are a confirmed Plum fan, maybe you could go through some of the excerpts or links to PGW sites. If you have not read a single PGW before, well, I hope that by the time you've read this page, you'll be off like a bullet to the nearest book store with your £ 1.99 or Rs 130 as the case may be.

I don't remember the first one I read, except that the plots (of the short stories) were awfully thin and the tone of the novels struck me as a trifle mushy. It was a collection of short stories, I believe. I was twelve at that time and I suppose my brains weren't fully developed, or perhaps, that was the wrong book to start with. (Wodehouse is guilty of books like "The Coming of Bill" that ought to be studiously avoided by newcomers and others). Three years later, when my cousin re-introduced me to Plum (Laughing Gas), I didn't make the same mistake. I grabbed it with both hands and was engulfed in sidesplitting laughter at the 'molar wranglers and jerkers' and what not. The school library was well-stocked with Wodehouses, and they were not in much demand, and within a couple of months I had cleaned out the place. That was 10 years ago. I haven't looked back since.

One great thing about Wodehouse is that you can read the same book a hundred times over and you'd still be able to enjoy the humour the 101st time you read it. (Strictly speaking, I, having read "Right Ho Jeeves" only around 10 times, can't vouch for the  "hundred times", but I can personally attest to the number in a couple of years.) I haven't read too widely (i.e. literary books). Till recently, not unlike Wooster's, the sphere of my reading was restricted to whodunits, Wodehouses and bestselling fiction. I have studied a bit of Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw and Eliot at school and enjoyed it, but haven't really delved deeper into the world of literature. Nevertheless it is my opinion that, for sheer verbal dexterity and the amazing similes and analogies, which are both accurate and extremely funny, Wodehouse stands alone. Within the confines of clean, decent language, he has succeeded in extracting more humour than anybody else. There are quite a few websites which pop up random quotes from Wodehouse.

Till date I've introduced Wodehouse to quite a few of my friends and to my brother, and many are the hours we've spent discussing Gussie's Speech, Psmith to the rescue of Eve in distress, and many other passages. It feels great being able to spread sweetness and light all around you, even though you are only the go-between. I think that, many years hence when I'm at heaven's gate and have to list the good deeds I've done, these will tilt the scale in my favour. I was pleasantly surprised to come across a situation in "A Suitable Boy". Malati advises her friend Lata, who is a bit weighed down by Love, to read a couple of Wodehouses. Vikram Seth notes that "Malati had meant and prescribed well".

Some wodehouse links

Russian Wodehouse Society (Lots of resources)
The genius of Wodehouse by Roger Kimballs
P. G. Wodehouse Appreciation Page
The Drones Club Page on PG Wodehouse - Get a Random Quote
The Junior Ganymede Club Book
P. G. Wodehouse Resources- Links
Wodehouse and the War

Wodehouse, during 1941 as an internee, had made a series of talks on German Radio, which was claimed to be an act of treason and was widely denounced as a traitor. This links sheds some light on the issue. I myself, having read a few articles and the transcripts of the talks, don't think it as treachorous. But even if Wodehouse had given into pressure, I couldn't care less. Do also read the transcripts of the talks themselves- vintage Wodehouse.

The broadcasts

(pinched from http://www.drones.com/wodehouse/pgw-at-war.html)

"At this time, the US was not yet at war with Germany; so the German official suggested to PGW that he make a few broadcasts to his American fans on German radio. Wodehouse thought it would be a good way to let his fans know he was alright, and he made five broadcasts. These could in no way be construed as propaganda; they were merely a sort of memoir of his time in the internments camps and even poked some fun at the Germans."

• 28 June, 1941
• 9 July, 1941
• 23 July, 1941
• 30 July, 1941
• 6 August, 1941

Some other relevant links

If you liked Wodehouse (I shudder to think there may exist people who don't), you are likely to enjoy Jerome K Jerome. In fact, considering the style of language, I sometimes feel that Plum started where Klapka (the K in Jerome K. Jerome) left off. I have read "Three men in a boat" and have recently got hold of "Idle thoughts of an idle fellow", which has the virtue of possessing an extremely promising title.

Jerome K. Jerome
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow - the Book

Also check out Terry Pratchett who (in the couple of books that I've read) has shown glimpses of Wodehousian humour. I don't remember the exact quote, but, the jist of it was that, when writing about something, it is usually funnier or better when the author does not commit everything to paper but leaves the rest to the reader's imagination. It is most true. Of course, the corollary being, if you are brain dead, then you are not going to get it.

I should also mention the "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister" series edited by Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Jonathan Lynn also helmed the hilarious comedy "My Cousin Vinny".

Extracts

Ahem. Typing in extracts is a time-consuming and laborious process and one that I've been studiously avoiding since setting up this page. If you think that the fact that I've admitted to the above unmanly weakness is because I overcame the aforesaid weakness overnight and typed in the extract today morning, you are off the mark. However, some other large-hearted souls have done it. From cover to cover of some 35 (at last count) Wodehouse novels. Check out the available titles. Recommended titles are "Psmith in the City", "Psmith, Journalist" and "Right Ho, Jeeves."