tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post111298863364022040..comments2024-03-14T00:16:32.077-07:00Comments on 50 Books: BOOKS: Curse That Blasted Spink-Bottle!Tammyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1113298190251379442005-04-12T02:29:00.000-07:002005-04-12T02:29:00.000-07:00I don't care if Wodehouse plots are formulaic, you...<I> I don't care if Wodehouse plots are formulaic, you can't beat himfor pure mastery of the language and of English comic timing.</I><BR/><BR/>Exactly. I don't read Wodehouse for the plots, I read them for the deliriously funny writing. Bizarrely enough, despite being a big Wodehouse fan since I was ten, I only read the Blandings novels for the first time last year (I think I'd tried them as a Bertie-obsessed child and not really liked them purely because Bertie and Jeeves weren't in them). It was like a present - lots of unread vintage Wodehouse! And they were all just incredibly funny. I particularly liked the Uncle Fred stories - and of course, Empress of Blandings herself.<BR/><BR/>And as I am a huge pedant, I feel the horrible urge to point out that the Fry and Laurie series wasn't actually made by the BBC - it was made by their rivals, ITV. <BR/><BR/>-AnnaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1113021799004305692005-04-08T21:43:00.000-07:002005-04-08T21:43:00.000-07:00I don't know anything about the radio adaptations,...I don't know anything about the radio adaptations, but I've seen a few of the BBC television episodes, and I was pleasantly surprised. (Are my low expectations of most TV networks showing?)<BR/><BR/>Heheh, <B>Becky</B>. What, you can't recall the classic Wodehouse plot? Bertie is summoned to do some kind of job for either Aunt Agatha or Aunt Dahlia. At the same time, he's approached by Gussie Fink-Nottle, who's worried about some incipient relationship problem with Madeline Bassett, which provokes Bertie's anxiety because, through a previous set of complicated misunderstandings, he's obligated to marry the Bassett if she's ever back on the market. He attempts to help his aunt whilst also helping Gussie and Madeline. A <I>Three's Company</I>-esque series of misunderstandings occur. Hilarious hijinx ensue. For a moment, all seems lost. Jeeves saves the day.<BR/><BR/>For any other Bertie and Jeeves novel, lather, rinse, repeat.<BR/><BR/>Heh. I hope I didn't ruin the books for anyone.Tammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16613804843380827691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1112991092312904402005-04-08T13:11:00.000-07:002005-04-08T13:11:00.000-07:00I stopped adding new books to my collection (I hav...<I>I stopped adding new books to my collection (I have 20 or so of them, but Wodehouse wrote more than 90) when I was standing in a used book store leafing through one and realized that I couldn't even tell if I'd read it already. </I><BR/><BR/>Hee, I hit that point after reading about four Wooster & Jeeves books. They're tons of fun, but I'll be damned if I can recall the plot a month later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9931308.post-1112990746966098282005-04-08T13:05:00.000-07:002005-04-08T13:05:00.000-07:00When I think of Wodehouse, I don't really think of...When I think of Wodehouse, I don't really think of reading; I think of Fry and Laurie, and the marvelous radio adaptations of the mid-80s (?).<BR/><BR/>I will see your P.G. Wodehouse and raise you an E.F. Benson!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com