Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith"

Wodehouse, P.G. "Leave it to Psmith" - 1923

We already know P.G. Wodehouse from the Jeeves & Wooster novels, all of which are simply delightful.

So I thought a book about his other protagonist would certainly be quite good. And it was. P.G. Wodehouse is more of a mix of Jeeves & Wooster, and I think that's excellent.

Rupert Psmith (Ronald in this book, though) is a jack of all trades, trying to make ends meet through all sorts of odd jobs after leaving his uncle's fish business. He doesn't shy away from the occasional petty crime. But he's also a true gentleman and is concerned about the welfare of his people.

This was the last book in the Psmith series, but that didn't bother me at all. I want to read the others as well.

This book is truly delightful, hilarious and gripping at the same time.

From the back cover:

"Ronald Psmith ('the 'p' is silent, as in pshrimp') is always willing to help a damsel in distress. So when he sees Eve Halliday without an umbrella during a downpour, he nobly offers her an umbrella, even though it’s one he picks out of the Drone Club’s umbrella rack. Psmith is so besotted with Eve that, when Lord Emsworth, her new boss, mistakes him for Ralston McTodd, a poet, Psmith pretends to be him so he can make his way to Blandings Castle and woo her. And so the farce begins: criminals disguised as poets with a plan to steal a priceless diamond necklace, a secretary who throws flower pots through windows, and a nighttime heist that ends in gunplay. How will everything be sorted out? Leave it to Psmith!"

Wodehouse, P.G. "The World of Jeeves"

Wodehouse, P.G. "The World of Jeeves" (Jeeves #2-4: The Inimitable Jeeves #2, Carry On, Jeeves #3, Very Good, Jeeves! #4) - 1923/1925/1930 

Wodehouse, P.G. "The Inimitable Jeeves" (Jeeves #2) - 1923
Wodehouse, P.G. "Carry On, Jeeves" (Jeeves #3) - 1925
Wodehouse, P.G. "Very Good, Jeeves!" (Jeeves #4) - 1930 

After reading "Right Ho, Jeeves", "Ring for Jeeves" and "The Code of the Woosters" last year, it was time for another book by P.G. Wodehouse about Bertram (Bertie) Wooster  and his trustful gentleman's gentleman Jeeves. I found an omnibus of three of the Jeeves books and I had a lot of fun reading it over several months, the two helped me through some awful Corona months.

There isn't much more to say about these books other than how wonderful they are. I mentioned before that they aren't just funny but that the language is superb. My final sentence to the first book I came across was:
"A truly delightful book. Whenever you feel gloomy, read a bit of Jeeves and Wooster!"
That's still true today.

I found it incredible, how much some of the covers have changed, so I made a little collage with the different books.

Here is a list of all the stories I found in this collection.

1.    Jeeves Takes Charge (COJ)
2.    Jeeves in the Springtime (VGJ)
3.    Scoring Off Jeeves (VGJ)
4.    Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch (VGJ)
5.    Aunt Agatha Takes the Count (VGJ)
6.    The Artistic Career of Corky (COJ)
7.    Jeeves and Chump Cyril (VGJ)
8.    Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest (COJ)
9.    Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg (COJ)
10.  The Aunt and the Sluggard (COJ)
11.  Comrade Bingo (VGJ)
12.  The Great Sermon Handicap (VGJ)
13.  The Purity of the Turf (VGJ)
14.  The Metropolitan Touch (VGJ)
15.  The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace (VGJ)
16.  Bingo and the Little Woman (VGJ)
17.  The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy (COJ)
18.  Without the Option (COJ)
19.  Fixing it for Freddie (COJ)
20.  Clustering Round Young Bingo (COJ)
21.  Jeeves and the Impending Doom (VGJ)
22.  The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy (VGJ)
23.  Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit (VGJ)
24.  Jeeves and the Song of Songs (VGJ)
25.  Episode of the Dog Mcintosh (VGJ)
26.  The Spot of Art (VGJ)
27.  Jeeves and the Kid Clementina (VGJ)
28.  The Love That Purifies (VGJ)
29.  Jeeves and the Old School Chum (VGJ)
30.  Indian Summer of an Uncle (VGJ)
31.  The Ordeal of Young Tuppy (VGJ)
32.  Bertie Changes His Mind (COJ)
33.  Jeeves Makes an Omelette
34.  Jeeves and the Greasy Bird

IJ = The Inimitable Jeeves
COJ = Carry On, Jeeves
VGJ = Very Good, Jeeves!

From the back cover:

"A Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus

'Jeeves knows his place, and it is between the covers of a book.'

This is an omnibus of wonderful Jeeves and Wooster stories, specially selected and introduced by Wodehouse himself, who was struck by the size of his selection and described it as almost the ideal paperweight. As he wrote:

'I find it curious, now that I have written so much about him, to recall how softly and undramatically Jeeves first entered my little world. Characteristically, he did not thrust himself forward. On that occasion, he spoke just two lines.
The first was:
"Mrs Gregson to see you, sir."
The second:
"Very good, sir, which suit will you wear?"
It was only some time later that the man's qualities dawned upon me. I still blush to think of the off-hand way I treated him at our first encounter...'.

This omnibus contains Carry On, Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves, Very Good, Jeeves and the short stories 'Jeeves Makes an Omelette' and 'Jeeves and the Greasy Bird'.

A glorious collection of all the short stories featuring Jeeves, the perfect manservant, and Bertie Wooster, a 1920s bachelor on the run."

I was told the "Psmith" books are even better. Will have to check that.

Wodehouse, P.G. "The Code of the Woosters"

Wodehouse, P.G. "The Code of the Woosters" (Jeeves #7) - 1938

After reading my very first book by this brilliant author ("Right Ho, Jeeves"), I watched all the Fry and Laurie episodes and enjoyed them tremendously. Now it was time for another one and I found "The Code of the Woosters" in a bookshop.

The book has most of the favourite characters in it, Jeeves and Wooster, of course, Aunt Dahlia, Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeline Bassett and her father, Roderick Spode and a few others. I only missed Bertie's dear friend Tuppy Glossop but I know he'll show up in one of the next books again.

As usual, Wooster jumps from one puddle into the other or finds himself in one pickle after the next and his "gentleman's gentleman" Jeeves has to pull him out again. Just hilarious.

P.G. Wodehouse at his best.

From the back cover:

"Aunt Dahlia has tasked Bertie with purloining an antique cow creamer from Totleigh Towers. In order to do so, Jeeves hatches a scheme whereby Bertie must charm the droopy and altogether unappealing Madeline and face the wrath of would-be dictator Roderick Spode. Though the prospect fills him with dread, when duty calls, Bertie will answer, for Aunt Dahlia will not be denied.

In a plot that swiftly becomes rife with mishaps, it is Jeeves who must extract his master from trouble."

Wodehouse, P.G. "Ring for Jeeves"

Wodehouse, P.G. "Ring for Jeeves" (US Title: The Return of Jeeves) - 1953

After reading "Right Ho, Jeeves", I was eager to read the next Jeeves and Wooster novel and when I came across this book, I had to get it right away. Little did I know that P.G. Wodehouse had also written books that are just about Jeeves. Jeeves without Wooster? That's almost a sacrilege! It's like Adam without Eve, Romeo without Juliet, Stan without Laurel etc. etc.

So, Jeeves has a different "gentleman" while Bertie Wooster is away teaching something, he has absolutely no idea about - how to fend for oneself. Bill Belfry, Ninth Earl of Rowcester, however, is in no way inferior to Bertie, he gets from one calamity into the next and there's only one person to save him: Jeeves.

If you have read anything about Jeeves, you can imagine that he does this with the utmost respect and lots of humour. Even though I missed Wooster, it was a good story.

From the back cover:

"Captain Biggar, big-game hunter and all round tough guy, should make short work of the two bookies who have absconded with his winnings after a freak double made him a fortune. But on this occasion Honest Patch Perkins and his clerk are not as they seem. In fact they're not bookies at all, but the impoverished Bill Belfry, Ninth Earl of Rowcester and his temporary butler, Jeeves.

Bertie Wooster has gone away to a special school teaching the aristocracy to fend for itself 'in case the social revolution sets in with even greater severity'. But Jeeves will prove just as resourceful without his young master, and brilliant brainwork may yet square the impossible circle for all concerned."

Wodehouse, P.G. "Right Ho, Jeeves"

Wodehouse, P. G. "Right Ho, Jeeves" - 1934

I'll be forever grateful to all those people who recommended Jeeves and Wooster to me, but I'm really indebted to the friend who recommended I should read this one first. So, I finally did. And it's a great book. The stories are quite funny but that's not it. The language is just wonderful, there's humour in every sentence, every expression. The wittiness of the author is being transferred into the character of Jeeves, the "gentleman's gentleman". I think that description says it all. He's the snobby butler of a young guy, Bertie Wooster, who doesn't care much about the world or what anybody thinks of him but who is convinced that he is the greatest guy on earth. So, it's good he has his trusted friend Jeeves who guides him from one problem into the next catastrophe.

A truly delightful book. Whenever you feel gloomy, read a bit of Jeeves and Wooster!

From the back cover:

"Follow the adventures of Bertie Wooster and his gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves, in this stunning new edition of one of the greatest comic novels in the English language. Bertie must deal with the Market Snodsbury Grammar School prize giving, the broken engagement of his cousin Angela, the wooing of Madeline Bassett by Gussie Fink-Nottle, and the resignation of Anatole, the genius chef. Will he prevail? Only with the aid of Jeeves!"