By now, we were on our fourth Wodehouse book, and for most of us there was relief that we were moving onto another author. The phrase "one trick pony" was used to describe the impression that all the books were the same story told over and over with slight variation and several people said they had been unable to finish the book. We are uncomfortable with his class based settings and his casual racism and misogyny. Interestingly, for others Meeting Mr Mulliner had been a case of saving the best for last. At the risk of sounding heretical it was even said that this book could be enjoyed because there was no Jeeves!
Once we started to talk about the stories the Wodehouse weariness dissipated. While laughing at the vision of a bishop and a headmaster off their heads on a large dose of "Buck-U-Uppo", we reflected on the casual way drugs and alcohol are used by Wodehouse characters. No one gets into trouble for it, the behaviour is completely accepted. This is in stark contrast to present day media interest in the behaviours of our celebrities.
On the cover of the edition we read there is a quote by Christopher Hitchens: "P.G. Wodehouse is the gold standard of English wit.", and we were asked how we felt about that. First thoughts were that the statement was hyperbole, Wodehouse is enjoyable but hardly a genius. Yet as we thought about it we realised just how rich his language is and how wonderfully visual his writing is. Add to that how enduring his characters are; Jeeves has passed into the vernacular and everyone knows who he is even if they have never heard of P.G. Wodehouse. We began to understand why he is so revered and loved by many. We are however pleased to be moving on to another author!
No comments:
Post a Comment