Comments on: P.G. Wodehouse: Leave It to Psmith

By: You would not enjoy Nietzche, sir. He is fundamentally unsound. « Pechorin’s Journal

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:57:32 +0000

[...] On another note, Trevor of The Mookse and the Gripes blog has written up one of the Psmith series here, which may also be of [...]

By: Eliza

Eliza — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:08:11 +0000

Lovely review!

I found Wodehouse’s Blandings Castle books highly amusing! There are 10 others in the series which are also well worth the read (Summer Lightning is my personal favorite).

By: Trevor

Trevor — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:52:20 +0000

Frances, I’m thrilled! I thought the books were beautiful and look forward to seeing them in hand. I hope to showcase the set here soon!

By: Frances

Frances — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:07:19 +0000

Mrs. KFC has a wonderful suggestion about John Mortimer. I love Wodehouse. My grandparents gave me a set as a teenager to keep me occupied one summer, and I have been hooked ever since.

And while I am here, you are a winner in my Faber & Faber poetry giveaway. Congratulations! Will you email me your shipping address?

By: Nadia

Nadia — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:12:37 +0000

I love Wodehouse!! I crack up every time I read one of his books. Simply the best!

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:06:22 +0000

I agree with Max. Wodehouse is an author whose work (especially Bertie and Jeeves) adapts well to television/film. Mortimer is a screenwriter (and playwright) who can turn that into enjoyable fiction, but it doesn’t have the literary quality of Wodehouse. Mortimer, on the other hand, does bring his legal career to his creative work — for me, that adds an interesting element.

By: Max Cairnduff

Max Cairnduff — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:37:31 +0000

Forgot to add, Rumpole is huge fun and well worth reading, but he’s no Wodehouse. Wodehouse is a deceptively able writer, a real talent in my view, Mortimer is very funny and his work’s very enjoyable but I wouldn’t personally put him in the same level in terms of literary ability.

By: Max Cairnduff

Max Cairnduff — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:35:54 +0000

I agree with John that the earlier Wodehouse’s are the better ones, the stuff from the ’20s and ’30s tends to be very strong. I don’t have a favourite, it’s too long since I read them all actually though I think I did read most of them, like many I have a preference for the Jeeves and Wooster stories though the Blandings stuff always had a certain appeal.

Regarding Mortimer, again the earlier works are the better, by the time he hits Rumpole and the Angel of Death we’re in definite diminishing returns territory, more political comment and less humour. The earlier stuff though is golden, and well worth a visit.

By: John Self

John Self — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:00:10 +0000

I’ll go along with Mr and Mrs KFC on John Mortimer: I read the first few Rumpole books when I was in school, probably 20 years ago, and enjoyed them, though I don’t think they have Wodehouse’s delicious control of words. The Rumpole books are curious in that they are Mortimer’s ‘novelisations’ (actually collections of short stories) of his own scripts for the TV series which was popular in the UK in the 1970s and 80s. At least that’s the case for the first half dozen books or so: he did also write a couple of novels about Rumpole after the TV series had ended.

By: KevinfromCanada

KevinfromCanada — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:15:05 +0000

I’ll let you know when I do get to Frankie — tentative plan is to explore it in conjunction with All Souls. Given my interest in various boys school books, this will be a case of dipping my toe into the water of upscale girl’s schools. Stay tuned.