Most of P.G.Wodehouse

The - P.G.Wodehouse

P.G. Wodehouse was a prolific writer, who wrote some of the best English comic novels during his lifetime. He wrote more than 90 books, so a collection of some of his writings in one book is a cherished possession. ’What Ho! The Best of P.G.Wodehouse’ is a great collection of short stories and excerpts of the funniest situations from his best novels. It is a compact collection, selected by the members of six different Wodehouse societies around the world and a delightful read for any Wodehouse aficionado. It includes some of his writings on the subject of theatre as well as some of his essays, plays and lighter verse. The content of the book are as follows:-

Uncle Fred Flits By (from young men in Spats)

Jeeves 1 The Great Sermon Handicap (from The Inimitable Jeeves)

2 Jeeves and the Impending Doom (from Very Good, Jeeves)

3 Jeeves and the song of songs (from Very Good, Jeeves)

4 Gussie Presents the prizes (from Right Ho, Jeeves)

5 Roderick Spode Gets His Comeuppance (from The Code of the Woosters)

This collection is about rich , chivalrous, kind and mentally negligible Bertie Wooster and his Butler Jeeves, who is intelligent and efficient and acts as Bertie’s friend, philosopher and guide. Jeeves is the one to depend on in any crisis.

The best story from this collection is Gussie Presents the prizes. Gussie, according to Wooster’s description was “one of those freaks you come across from time to time during life’s journey, who can’t stand London. He lived year in and year out, covered with moss, in a remote village down in Lincolnshire, completely surrounded by newts [a lizard like aquatic creature].” Gusssie Fink Nottle agrees to present the prizes at Market Snodsbury grammar school and also to give a speech. He gets drunk, to get over his nervousness of pubic speaking and arrives at the function completely sozzled. A dull afternoon function turns into a hilarious affair. An excerpt from the Prize Distribution ceremony as described by Bertie:-

G.G. Simmons was an unpleasant, perky looking stripling, mostly front teeth and spectacles. Gussie, I was sorry to see, didn’t like him. He was cold and distant.

Gussie : ‘Well, G.G. Simmons.

Simmons: ‘Sir, yes Sir.’

‘What do you mean – Sir, yes, Sir? Dashed silly thing to say. So you’ve won the scripture-knowledge prize, have you?’

‘Sir, yes Sir.’

‘Yes’, said Gussie, ‘you look just the sort of little tick who would. Let me test you, G.G. Simmons.

What was What’s- His –Name-the chap who begat Thingummy? Can you answer me that, Simmons?

‘Sir, no Sir.’

Gussie turned to the bearded bloke .(Head Master) ‘Fishy’, he said. ‘Very Fishy.’ This boy appears to be totally lacking in scripture knowledge.

The Jeeves collection is followed by Blandings. The Blandings castle, in an English countryside and its resident characters makes these novels special.

Characters: Lord Emsworth – Amiable and forgetful Clarence, is the ninth Earl of Emsworth.

Emsworth’s thoughts on Angus:

‘In the case of Angus Mc Allister, why providence made him a human being at all? All the ingredients of a first class mule simply thrown away.’ He[Emsworth] felt that he might have liked Angus Mc Allister better if Angus had been a mule.

The next collection is The Drones.

The Drones Club series has individual stories about members of the Drones Club, in Dover Street. It’s members are idle young men about town, who are mostly dependent on allowances from fat Uncles. They refer to each other as ‘old egg’, ‘old bean’, ‘my dear old crumpet’ and so on.

The next collection is Psmith.

Psmith    

Psmith (pronounced Smith) is a sophisticated person and has a delicately attuned nervous system, which can be shocked by loud colours and the mere mention of an inadequately pressed trouser crease.

Golf and Other Stories

The golfing stories are the funniest stories about the game ever written. You don’t have to understand the rules or appreciate the game to enjoy these stories. An example:

‘The least thing upsets him on the links. He misses short putts because of the uproar of the butterflies in the adjoining meadows.’

Ukridge

Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge (pronounced Fanshawe Ewkridge), keeps his pince-nez together by means of ginger-beer wire, wears pyjamas under a macintosh, calls his friends ‘old horse’ and uses exclamations like ‘Upon my Sam.’ He is always short of money and devises terrible money making scheme. His long suffering friend Corky describes Ukridge’s adventure in the series.

Mr. Mulliner

These stories relates the adventures of Mr. Mulliner’s young relatives and Mr. Mulinner’s Buck-U-Uppo is the best from the collection.

The collection of writings at the end of the book provides a glimpse of Wodehouse as a person and his career in Hollywood.

Theatre/Hollywood

Essays, Verse and Thoughts on Writers and Writing

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If you want to spread a little happiness and light, this book could be a great gift. You can keep it in your private collection and whenever life seems gloomy, lose yourself in the idyllic world of Wodehouse. Now, it’s time to visit your neighbourhood book-store, to search for this treasure trove.

BOOK TITLE: What Ho! The Best of P.G. Wodehouse