Jeeves in the Offing

I haven't read all the Jeeves and Wooster books, but I have seen all the episodes of the Fry/Laurie tv adaptation, and I was thus a bit surprised to realize there were books that were never turned into episodes, and thus stories with which I was totally unfamiliar.

Well, as unfamiliar as one can ever be with a Jeeves and Wooster story, I suppose, as there are a number of familiar beats in all of them, and Wodehouse definitely follows those here: Wooster is accidentally engaged, someone has to give a speech for which they are ill-prepared, people have to pretend to be insane, Wooster's aunt is giving him marching orders that are impossible to execute, someone may have stolen a cow creamer, Wooster has a terrific plan that backfires and show more Jeeves must extricate him from his own mess—which of course engenders further humiliation.

But you know, it's familiar because it works. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh; I particularly loved all the ins and outs of how Wooster keeps ending up engaged when he doesn't want to. There are numerous laugh-out-loud moments, and the prose itself is the same breezy pleasure that Wodehouse excelled at. I will try to be better about reading more of these; I don't want to defer the pleasure of reading Wodehouse any further! show less

Jeeves in the Offing is an all time favorite read! So many outrageous characters, so many hilarious lines and situations. I’m blown away that Wodehouse published this at 79 years old. He’s so sharp! This book definitely builds on previous Jeeves and Wooster books, so it wouldn’t be one to start out with. Jeeves isn’t present for the majority of this book, and honestly I love the change of pace! It’s fun to watch Bertie figure everything out mostly on his own.

This was one of my favorite parts from the book, and it involves a back and forth convo between Bertie and Jeeves, discussing Poppet the dachshund:

“Talking of being eaten by dogs, there’s a dachshund at Brinkley who, when you first meet him, will give you the show more impression that he plans to convert you into a light snack between his regular meals. Pay no attention. It’s all eyewash. His belligerent attitude is simply – ”

“Sound and fury, signifying nothing, sir?”

“That’s it. Pure swank. A few civil words, and he will be grappling you…what’s that expression I’ve heard you use?”

“Grappling me to his soul with hoops of steel, sir?”

“In the first two minutes. He wouldn’t hurt a fly, but he has to put up a front because his name’s Poppet. One can readily appreciate that when a dog hears himself addressed day in and day out as Poppet, he feels he must throw his weight about. His self-respect demands it.”

“Precisely, sir.”

“You’ll like Poppet. Nice dog. Wears his ears inside out. Why do dachshunds wear their ears inside out?”

“I could not say, sir.”

“Nor me. I’ve often wondered.” show less

Whenever I open a Wodehouse book, I wonder why I have stayed away so long. The man is brilliant. It doesn't matter that most of Wodehouse's stories have the same plot, that Bertie becomes unwillingly engaged and unengaged to a most ridiculous number of females in his career, that the country-house setting rarely varies, or that he draws from a predictable stock of characters. None of that matters a smidgen when you open a Wodehouse book and fall into Bertie's hilarious narration. At that point your only goal is to get away somewhere private where you can guffaw heartily without provoking strange looks.

In this episode, Bertie is calmly eating his breakfast when his eyes light upon a most astonishing announcement in The Times. Apparently show more he is now engaged to his old flame Bobbie Wickham — and what a way for a fellow to find out, reading it in the paper! Jeeves is off on a vacation and so Bertie is left to deal with this most unwelcome news himself. He heads off to Brinkley Court to get to the bottom of it, and of course many complications ensue. Brain surgeons masquerading as butlers in order to discreetly spy upon Aunt Dahlia's guests, star-crossed lovers breaking off their engagements every couple of minutes, authors of scathing reviews suddenly meeting in person the writers they publicly derided — oh yes, all this and more. Even the eighteenth-century cow creamer has a cameo!

The only problem with Wodehouse is that he wrote so many books, and I read them so quickly that I have trouble remembering which bits belong to which titles. But if that means I must revisit them to get my titles straight, that's fine by me. This one wasn't the funniest of his that I've ever read, but it had me belly-laughing in a couple parts, and few books can do that. Good stuff. show less

It’s time for Jeeves’ annual vacation, and one would think that for a couple of weeks or so, Bertie could manage to stay out of trouble. Alas! That is not the case! But in Bertie’s defense, the problems are not really his doing. Imagine his surprise, in reading a newspaper, to find out that he is engaged to be married to a former girlfriend. And so the hilarity begins. Of course, Jeeves finally comes to Bertie’s rescue, but before that happens, Bertie finds himself in more and more trouble. Wodehouse’s dialogue is delightful and witty and the plot is a wonder of pure entertainment.

I like the fact that these books weren’t written so that you have to read them in a certain order to understand everything that is going on. I’m thoroughly enjoying bouncing all over the place in this series, being able to read whatever one I find in a used bookstore as soon as I get it, if I so desire. I hear that you get more out of it if they are read in order, but that certainly isn’t completely necessary to get what is going on and to thoroughly enjoy the books.

Once again we get Bertie getting into all sorts of messes – from having an ex-girlfriend putting an announcement of their engagement in the paper, to being found riffling through a fellow guest’s belongings, to being thrown into a pond by an adorable puppy. show more Needless to say, there is much of Bertie to laugh at in this book.

That said, however, with Jeeves being absent for a good portion of the book, it didn’t have nearly as much snark as I have come to associate with the Jeeves books – and that, I am sad to say, took away a bit of the enjoyment from this particular story. Alas!

One of the best things about the Jeeves books, in my opinion, is the names of these characters &ndash oh, their names suit the characters so perfectly. I mean, nobody could be a Gussie Fink-Nottle except for Gussie Fink-Nottle. Best names in this installment include a cousin named “Bonzo,” and a butler who has adopted the name “Swordfish.” But of course, this is no ordinary butler – no, it’s Sir Roderick Glossop, whom we’ve met on previous occassions. Oh, I DO love these names.

The Bottom Line
Yet another brilliantly amusing installation of the Jeeves books from P.G. Wodehouse. Can’t wait to read more. Highly recommended! show less

What superlative things can you say about P.G. Wodehouse that hasn't already been said.
A classic Bertie & Jeeves story that includes engagements (true and false), a doctor posing as a butler, the theft of a silver cow creamer, ill-conceived plans, and the fetching of Jeeves from his shrimping vacation at Herne Bay to straighten things out - all the uzh.
Among the best passages:
'Chuck the blighter out of the window, and we want to see him bounce.'

... said Kipper, moistening the lips with the tip of the tongue like a wolf that has just spotted its Russian peasant.

Good fun. Not my favourite Jeeves book; there's something about some of these later ones that makes the narrative feel a trifle watered-down. Truth be told, I find some of the characterisations in the books a bit vague, as if Wodehouse wanted to update the social mores to the time he was writing (indeed, there are a few sly anachronistic cultural references by the narration) but couldn't, whether because he was in thrall to the formula, or perhaps because he was already 80(!).

Still, very well put together. Probably reads better if you've read some earlier books, as a lot of the inter-relationships and references to other novels threaten to overwhelm the story and thus the humour.