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Friday, August 19, 2011

Bertie and Jeeves: The Madcap Duo

I love P.G. Wodehouse and his madcap stories of Bertie Wooster and his "man" Jeeves! It amazes me when people tell me they just can't read his stuff. Well, I can't either -- in public that is -- because it is laugh-out-loud looney. Bertie is the three stooges rolled into one, only with class and style (Thanks to Jeeves!) and a sense of loyalty and friendship that lands him in the most ridiculous scrapes and adventures. Jeeves is the perfect foil, educated, brilliant, and always ready to get Bertie and his buddies out of the soup.

Fr. James Schall, S.J., who teaches at Georgetown, wrote a delightful article (See here.) about a 1951 Wodehouse collection called Weekend Wodehouse. It brought a smile to my face and an eagerness to pull a sample from my Wodehouse shelf and reread. Here's an excerpt from from Father's article, but really, you must read it in its entirety:
In my early years, after discovering him – a notable event in the life of any man – I used to say that Wodehouse is to be read with a dictionary. But on finishing Weekend Wodehouse, I think I was wrong. Wodehouse does stretch one’s vocabulary. But it is not the meaning of the words that is novel or unknown. It is their placement.



For instance, I did not count the number of times the word “looney” came up. It is a marvelous word. It appears in the first story – “even with an uncle within a short jump of the looney bin….” Looney uncles, looney friends populate Wodehouse. The word comes either from a wobbly bird or from the moon, a kind of pleasant madness. No one would want to live in a world in which no looney characters were encountered.
We live in times that are so serious and downright depressing that you need a good bellylaugh now and then to maintain your balance. And that's the gift of Wodehouse - pure unadulterated fun. Whether Bertie is trying to cop a constable's helmet, save a maiden in distress, lift a silver cow pitcher, get out of an unfortunate engagement, etc. his adventures tickle your funnybone. But Wodehouse isn't exclusively about Bertie and Jeeves. I recently read a collection of his golf stories that feature the "Oldest Member" of a country club telling hilarious golf stories. They are vintage Wodehouse. What a great gift for the golfer in your life, especially one who takes the game too seriously!

If you've never read Wodehouse, or if you've tried and don't like the stories, give the BBC TV series with Hugh Laurie as Bertie a try. I think the second season is the best. I laughed out loud watching it, especially when Bertie gets the "Alex look" which reminds me of one of my grandchildren. But do read the books. As Hillaire Belloc wrote in the introduction to Weekend Wodehouse:

“For the English people, more than any other, have created in their literature living men and women rather than types and Mr. Wodehouse has created Jeeves. He has created others, but in his creation of Jeeves he has done something which may respectfully be compared to the work of the Almighty in Michelangelo’s painting. He has formed a man filled with the breath of life.”
Wodehouse's characters inhabit a past that has disappeared from England, but it lives on in the imaginations of those who love and read Wodehouse. May they be many.

3 comments:

  1. I love Bertie and Jeeves! And I almost dropped my jaw when I first saw an episode of "House."

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  2. Another thing we have in common, Bob -- a fun thing at that. And if Hillaire Belloc liked Wodehouse...well, we are in good company!

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  3. Some time back, when I bought a used volume of Wodehouse, I would sit down in a favorite chair before breakfast and read these marvelous things. I have never laughed like I've laughed reading this. My wife used to look in on me from time to time, wondering if I had suddenly lost all my marbles, and finally asked the inevitable question, "What's so funny?"

    "This," I told her, holding up the book. I don't think she quite believed me that it was Wodehouse who was making me so merry; she probably wanted to think I had lost it.

    She's a convert now and laughs right along with me. I thank God, very literally, for giving us Wodehouse.

    Belloc called him "the head of our profession". Not far off, I would say.

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