Jeeves in the Offing (1960)

The best laid plans of mice and man gang aft agley. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/2011/11/23/how-right-you-are-jeeves/ ( )

Time stands still in world of Jeeves and Wooster, even while events take place in chronological order. This book gives no clues that it was written in 1960, more than 40 years after the first Jeeves and Wooster story. Although, perhaps, there is an attempt by the author to resolve some of the relationships surrounding Bertie. Bobbie Wickham becomes engaged to someone that Bertie feels is smart enough to be a helpmate to her. Sir Roderick Glossup and Bertie actually become friends. And ***SPOILER*** the cow creamer moves on.

Bertie already knows that, while he admires Bobbie Wickham and likes her as a friend, marrying her would be a terrible mistake. Hence his concern when, reading the newspaper, he discovers that he is engaged to her! It's really just a clever ploy by Bobbie to make her mother happier with her real choice, Kipper Herring, whom she has neglected to inform. Why Kipper still loves her is beyond me. Sir Roderick Glossup shows up as a butler, given the name Swordfish by Bobbie. The notorious cow creamer also appears and continues to be source of trouble. Bertie's brilliant idea of ensuring person A's admiration of and loyalty to person D by having person B push person A or C into a body of water and person D jump in to save person A or C is reprised with equally unplanned-for results: Person E rescues C and causes person F to fall in love with E, while A walks away dry and still angry, B is rescued by D, and it becomes apparent that Jeeves, who has been on vacation, is needed to put everything aright.

Wodehouse continues to quote from poetry and the Bard, although Bertie tends to assume that most pithy remarks made by Jeeves are original. Bertie continues to talk piffle.

My favorite this time around is on page 116:

"... I'm sore beset, Jeeves. Do you recall telling me once about someone who told somebody he could tell him something which would make him think a bit? Knitted socks and porcupines entered into it, I remember."
"I think you may be referring to the ghost of the father of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, sir. Addressing his son, he said, 'I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, thy knotted and combined locks to part and each particular hair to stand on end like quills upon the fretful porpentine.'"
"That's right. Locks, of course, not socks. Odd that he should have said porpentine when he meant porcupine. Slip of the tongue, no doubt, as so often happens with ghosts...."

OK, I looked up porpentine and it seems that Bertie is correct and it is an obsolete word for porcupine. Go know.

Wodehouse also spells out the reason that Bertie so involves himself in painful and embarrasssing situations:

... the code of the Woosters, which, as is generally known, renders it impossible for me to let a pal down. [p. 170] ( )

Classic Jeeves and Wooster all around. A quick but very amusing read.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

In this classic comedy novel, Bertie Wooster once again finds himself in the midst of some hijinx at his Aunt Dahlia's place involving some fringe relatives and friends. He bumbles through a weekend (mostly without Jeeves to save him) being accused of stealing a girl, spying, theft, drunkenness and overall lunacy. Of course, Jeeves eventually steps in and the relatives with their wits about them solve the problem and everything is fine. ( )

More of the same, but I love it. Poor Bertie just can't get it together. I find it interesting how timeless these stories are, even though these later novels were written in the 60s. The style remains very much earlier than that. ( )