Ok, so. Psmith is a sort of English dandy who leaves the fish business and sets out to make his fortune. He turns into a good-hearted con man of sorts (at least in this book). There's a manor. Jewels. Several unrelated characters who all end up knowing each other in funny little ways. Psmith meets a nice, feisty lady who helps him pull his con because it's for a good cause. Obstacles appear and Psmith steps over them debonairely (not a word).
He marries the girl. Jewels stolen and good deed done. Everyone's happy. Psmith is funny-ish in that he always has a semi-sarcastic-but-totally-serious response to the most outlandish of events. It's like watching a stuffy sitcom complete with awful laugh track. SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY JAM but was decidedly more my BUTTERED TOAST, in that is was fine but not awesome, so.
Maybe I should try the Jeeves books? Tell me, people. I thought this was silly.
Two stars out of your mom.
I read my first Jeeves book about a month ago - thoroughly enjoyed it :)
ReplyDeleteI'm reading his "A Damsel in Distress" and I think it is funny. I couldn't get into the last Jeeves book I tried.
ReplyDeleteI think "A Damsel in Distress" has more approachable humor for me because I have any idea what he's talking about. It has shades of Austen's England (later, obviously) and I'm more familiar with that stuff (like why both the father is Lord Marshmoreton and the son is Lord Belpher) than I am with some of the things that lost me in Jeeves (which I can't remember because, as I said, I was lost).
I don't like his Jeeves books and his golf stories. Go for the unrelated and unsequeled book s of his. They are much better.
ReplyDeleteMy last post - Wodehouse Roadhouse http://sunny-horizon.blogspot.com/2011/12/wodehouse-roadhouse.html
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ReplyDeleteI was reading a Jeeves book a while back, I didn't finish it because it was one my nook, and I have a love/hate relationship with that thing. The little bit I did read of it though was very amusing.
ReplyDeleteI would go for a Jeeves book - maybe Aunts aren't Gentlemen or the Code of the Woosters. The short story collections are excellent to.
ReplyDeleteLeave it to Psmith isn't one of his best as it is transitioning from his very early stuff into "classic" Wodehouse. If you want to give
the Blandings books another go, try something like Summer Lightning. Blandings Castle and Elsewhere, a selection of short stories, is also good as you can dip in and out. I would avoid the early school stories, the Psmith books, Ukridge and some of the early standalone novels as it sounds like these wouldn't appeal to you so much.
I've never read this one, but I've read most of the Jeeves stories. Try one of those. If you don't like it then give up, because the Jeeves books are very similar. I love them though.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not quite getting you there, try Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in Boat. A short book, and very funny in the Wodehousian sense. Except without the flair of musical comedy.
ReplyDeleteIve only read one Wodehouse - a collection of short stories and although it was supposed to be funny I have to admit that I felt a bit.... blah about it. It was kind of funny I suppose, but only in a "gee, that's kind of funny" way, not a rolling around laughing kind of way
ReplyDeleteI've only read the Jeeves and Woosters but they're awesome! I use them like anti-depressants - instant cheer up magic.
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