Carry on, PG Wodehouse!
I have relapsed back into the marvellous world in which Jeeves and Bertie rule. What, ho?
I really can’t remember when I started or when I stopped, I certainly know that my mother had a hand in it. At a certain point in my life – somewhere between twelve and twenty-four – I was exposed (by the afore-mentioned mother) to a handful of episodes of “Jeeves and Wooster“. A collection of stories with two main characters: Bertie (Bertram Wilberforce Wooster), a stinkingly rich gentleman bachelor in the early 1900s that finds himself unexpectedly one morning with a butler, Jeeves (Reginald Jeeves, to be precise). Bertie is irresponsible, easy-going, loose, haphazard (yes, I realise that those aren’t adjectives you usually use for a person, but that’s just what he is). Jeeves is upright (not uptight, upright is what I wanted to write), proper, well-mannered, British, calm. Together they’re on fire – complimentary and perfect.
It was wonderful. I laughed. Fell in love with Stephen Fry and forgot Dr.House, substituting Hugh Laurie‘s image in my head with Bertie. Did you know Hugh Laurie is also a (pretty accomplished) musician (of my favourite genre, Jazz)?! Then, unexpectedly, I promptly and completely forgot about the whole thing until quite recently, when in a bookshop in Edinburgh (or was it London? Or Oslo?) I saw it. A book. By PG Wodehouse. Called “Carry on, Jeeves“. I vaguely remembered some laughs, but the TV series is nothing compared to the entertainment and wit that seeps out of the book. Or, might I say, books. Because I’ve read another two in the meantime and, once I finish the Jeeves series, will definitely continue on the other, dozens and dozens, of books written by the genius PG Wodehouse.
The best thing about these books are the words. Books are always full of them, obviously, but up to now I had never experienced such pleasure in reading words. Put together in the most astonishing way. PG is A genius, I say. And thank goodness he wrote so much before passing away (at the grand age of 93).
One piece of advice: read the series in order.
Another piece of advice: don’t watch the series before the books, but do watch it after. There’s nothing missing and the actors are phenomenal.
This is one of my favourite scenes of one of the books and gives the gist of the relationship between the two.. let me know what you think and if you like them as much as I do 🙂 Enjoy!
PS did you know that the infamous website called “ask.com” was once called “askjeeves.com”? Read the book and you’ll see why!
Together with Nicole Duplaix, Chair of the IUCN-SSC Otter Specialist Group , I wrote a book all about otters and how wonderful they are. Check it out We Love Otters
fullofdaisies.com 