I laugh out loud at the way one, in polite society, would tell one's nephew to go jump in the lake. This passage from Right Ho, Jeeves had me chuckling through a math and science lesson:"Then I wonder if you would mind doing something for me."
"Give it a name."
"It won't take you long. You know that path that runs past the greenhouses into the kitchen garden. If you go along it, you come to a pond."
"That's right."
"Well, will you get a good, stout piece of rope or cord and go down that path till you come to the pond----"
"To the pond. Right."
"--and look about you till you find a nice, heavy stone. Or a fairly large brick would do."
"I see," I said, though I didn't, being still fogged. "Stone or brick. Yes. And then?"
"Then," said the relative, "I want you, like a good boy, to fasten the rope to the brick and tie it around your damned neck and jump into the pond and drown yourself.
So far, I've had rip-roaring reads through My Man Jeeves, A Damsel in Distress, and Right Ho, Jeeves. I'm laughing at the dialogue, the scenes, the inspired characters, the way I would enjoy a Carol Burnett skit or an Erma Bombeck book.
I'm looking forward to enjoying more. I believe some of these Wodehouse works have been adapted to the stage. That would be something to see.


4 comments:
Wodehouse is a riot! Between good ole PG and Evelyn Waugh, I crack up every time.
I've never read Wodehouse. Sounds like I need to check it out! (In all my spare time . . . )
PBS did a series of Wodehouse stories some years ago, starring the same guy who now stars in House (can't think of his name right now) as Bertie. Hilarious!
I have several of these books on my "to be read" pile. Hope to get into them one of these days.
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