Very Good, Jeeves
P.G. Wodehouse
Penguin: Random House
ISBN: 9780099513728
£8.99
Review
There has been a glut of non-fiction in my reading diet recently. Doctoral literature has been eating up a lot of my at-home reading time, whilst I am finding that the commute to work lends itself more to non-fiction (history mostly) – my tendency to let my thoughts wander whilst driving means that I’m better able to plug back into a narrative I’m already familiar with. In an attempt to remedy this imbalance, I read my first Wodehouse, an author regularly cited as a bona fide genius by the likes of Stephen Fry and Kate Mosse. Wodehouse was prolific in later life, writing more than ninety books, two-hundred short stories, and forty plays. He is perhaps best known for his Wooster and Jeeves series of novels and short stories chronicling the chaotic, bumbling socialite Wooster and his long-suffering, brilliant manservant. I chose to start with ‘Very Good, Jeeves’, a collection of stories about the duo.
The wit of Wodehouse is apparent from the first page; I’m struggling to think of another author with such an ear for dialogue. The conversations are clipped, wonderfully staged, and laugh-out-loud funny. Wodehouse is able to amuse, progress narrative, and illustrate character in so few words that I was genuinely amazed at his technique. The dialogue is also the primary vehicle for the lifeblood of the stories and, I am assuming, the series – the relationship between Bertie Wooster and Jeeves. There is so much humour in what is said, and so much joy in what is left for the reader to discover unsaid within the repartee.
I usually look for what I think could be improved within a book. In this case it is probably character development – Wooster and Jeeves retain the same characteristics, motivations, and flaws throughout the eleven short stories that make up ‘Very Good, Jeeves’. This criticism would however be missing the central attraction of Wodehouse’s writing. This is storytelling to amuse, to titillate. It is the man telling a tale at the bar, the primary school teacher with children clustered at her feet. Wooster and Jeeves is writing with reading in mind, and Wodehouse is an author confident that his brilliance is enough to entertain. It is.
*Thanks for reading, folks. Find my other reviews below*
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Hilary Mantel – The Mirror and the Light
Samantha Harvey – The Western Wind
Diarmaid MacCulloch – Thomas Cromwell: A Life
Peter Carey – A Long Way from Home
Val McDermid – A Place of Execution
Richard Cohen – How to Write Like Tolstoy
John Sampson – The Wind on the Heath
Jess Smith – Way of the Wanderers
Max Hastings – Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975
Bernard MacLaverty – Grace Notes
Ernest Hemingway – In Our Time
Andrew Roberts – Napoleon the Great
Emily Bronte – Wuthering Heights
Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
Annie Proulx – Brokeback Mountain
Anthony Doerr – All the Light We Cannot See
Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird
Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad
Amor Towles – A Gentleman in Moscow
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Close to the Bone, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, Cafelit, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father. He blogs at www.matthewjrichardson.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/mjrichardso0
Matthew Richardson 
you’ve whetted my appetite, Matthew: I’m going to get onto this soon as the library comes out of lockdown
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Definitely recommended, John. I’m going to go for one of the full novels next time.
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Spot on review, Matthew! I’ve read a few of the Jeeves and Wooster books over the years. They’re not great literature, but they’re not meant to be. They never fail to entertain me though, even better when picturing Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie from the wonderful TV series playing the characters. I’ve also read ‘Jeeves and the Wedding Bells’ by Sebastian Faulks which was a pretty good parody. Not a patch on the original though.
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I’ll have to check the Faulks out. ‘Birdsong’ is one of the dustiest titles on my tbr list. I must get round to it this year!
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I read Birdsong 10+ years ago. I don’t remember too much about it other than the horror of the trenches. I just found my yellowing copy along side the other two in the trilogy and Engleby. All well-thumbed.
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Thanks for the review. I must go back and revisit the joys of reading the Jeeves and Wooster series.
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Thanks Goff. Thinking of trying a novel-length one for my next W & J excursion!
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Cheers. Happy Reading.
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One can never have enough Wodehouse. Comic genius, as you say. Cheers matthew
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Absolutely! Thanks Peter.
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I enjoyed your concise, down to earth review of these stories, which are among my favourites. I’ve read a little of PG Wodehouse’s work, heard more very well dramatised on the BBC – radio 4 mostly, a little of the TV series with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who I think capture exactly the spirit and feel of that ephemeral world and the author’s writing.. For me Wodehouse’s writing is a refreshing and playful respite from the tangled issues of everyday reality, a pleasantly uncomplicated and stable world with an undercurrent of humour and compassion that often seems lacking in “the real world”. Thank you.
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Thanks so much. A ‘refreshing and playful respite’ is exactly it – never any real danger, but just wonderful writing and humour!
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