Indiscretions of Archie

A light-hearted series of incidents in classic Wodehouse style. The hero is the somewhat naive and not-too-bright (but very kind-hearted) Archie. Landing in New York to try to find a job, he falls in love and marries a young woman called Lucille. Her father is a wealthy hotel owner who, unfortunately, takes a strong dislike to Archie.

As Archie attempts to make his father-in-law accept him, he falls into one scrape after another, some of them through no fault of his own. Sometimes I found myself cringing in sympathy, but others chapters were amusing and enjoyable, and the conclusion entirely satisfactory.

Not the best Wodehouse, and possibly not ideal as an introduction to the author, but a good read nonetheless. My version was a free show more download from Project Gutenburg, and I read it on my Kindle.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-indiscretions-of-archie-by-pg.h... show less

Archie isn't as fun as Bertie but in the same vein. Instead of Jeeves, Archie has his wife Lucille to look out for him. Fun fast read but if you haven't read any Wodehouse before, I'd suggest starting with either a Jeeves book (I particularly like "The Code of the Woosters") or a Blandings book ("Something Fresh" is v. good and is the first in the series).

Disclaimer: As a huge P.G. Wodehouse fan, my default rating for his books is four stars.

"The Indiscretions of Archie" is early Wodehouse at his best. Constructed of a series of short stories published in the Strand and Cosmopolitan magazine in 1920 and 1921. As such, it has much the same episodic feel of "The Inimitable Jeeves," although with an equally good job of smoothing the finished product into something approaching a normal novel.

There are a couple of unusual features for a Wodehouse book. For example, the titular character had fought in World War I, and although his participation is handled with the usual Wodehouse humor, it is rare to find such an inconvenience as war mentioned at all. Archie also gets married, and several of show more the stories have to do with getting along with his wife and in-laws. It is quite unusual for a Wodehouse hero to continue to get stories about him after marriage. Bingo Little is one of the few that made that transition; the rest merely sail into the sunset.

Recommendation: Equally good for Wodehouse fans or as a light introduction to his writing. show less

Indiscretions of Archie, another of P. G. Wodehouse's early titles, is actually a collection of short stories strung together to make a novel and published together in 1921. This accounts for the highly episodic feel of the narrative, which follows the efforts of one Archibald Moffam to make headway in the good graces of his new father-in-law, Daniel Brewster. Of course every good plan—or egg, as Archie would call it—is doomed to the most catastrophic and hilarious failure, as only Wodehouse can write it.

Whether it's Archie being locked out of the house wearing only a lemon-colored bathing suit, or finding himself in the wrong hotel room, or trying to extricate his brother-in-law from various romantic entanglements, his antics are show more sure to please fans who are more familiar with Wodehouse's later work. There weren't any laugh-out-loud moments in this book, but a great many grinning ones. Wodehouse is perfecting the comedic descriptive style that he would later employ so devastatingly in the Wooster books, but it's pretty killing here already.

What else can I really say? It's Wodehouse. Read it. show less

Hilarious, as always! This one reads like a series of short stories, though they do all tie together. This is the first that I remember where Wodehouse has a married protagonist. My husband and I find it is a joy to listen to these together. Terrific narrator!

Daniel Brewster is unimpressed with the Englishman who insults his New York hotel, even less impressed when said Englishman returns a couple of chapters later under the appellation Archie Moffam and married to the former Miss Brewster - and downright outraged when Archie causes chaos in his hotel with well-meaning schemes involving snakes, waiters, singers and painters. Is there anything young Archie can do that will please his irascible father-in-law?

Not one of Wodehouse's greatest, and it sometimes reads a little like a succession of short stories rather than a single narrative, but it's a nice story with some appealing characters and chuckle-inducing moments.

Fun, early-ish Wodehouse (1921). Each chapter is very much a separate episode (presumably originally published on a weekly basis in some review/paper or other) and as such the story lacks the intricate arch of increasingly complex machinations that bless the most perfect of P.G.'s output. Still, pleasantly diverting, with some delightful set pieces.