wodehouse virgin seeks defloration

Okay, I am embarrassed to say that I have reached the age of 40 without reading P.G. Wodehouse. Please help.

Assuming limited time due to infant, what Wodehouse must be read to have a proper appreciation?

-- lquilter

ANY and ALL Jeeves!

Can hardly disagree but the Blandings books are every bit as good, in my opinion. I don't think Ukridge wold put you off but I would avoid the Oldest Member golfing stories until you are firmly addicted.

There was a similar thread in Book Talk a little while ago - see http://www.librarything.com/topic/59660

To get a feeling for whether you will like Wodehouse, I usually recommend to try one Jeeves novel, one Blandings novel, and a non-series book from the "golden period" of the 1930s. As Young Thos. says, the golf stories may be an acquired taste, as may the very early (pre-1914) books, which are mostly school stories; some of the books from mid-1960s onwards are not up to his usual high standard.

Particular titles? Surely folks have a favorite Jeeves title, a favorite Blandings title, and a favorite other title?

ETA: .... and thanks for the link to the other post; I'm mining it right now.

-- lquilter

I found Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves in the "Young Adult" section of the public library when I was fourteen. For the first few pages, I was a bit bewildered--it wasn't like any other novels I'd ever read. By the end of the first chapter, I was laughing out loud. And I've been a Wodehouse fan ever since. I think one of the middle period Jeeves stories is a better place to start than one of the very early ones.

For a quick taste try one of his short stories. My favorite is Uncle Fred Flits By. ROFLMAO it's that kind of funny.

Summer Lightning is a good entry point.

If you don't find this story - and the Empress herself - truly affecting, then the whole oeuvre will not be for you.

Wodehouse (pronounced "Woodhouse") is one the tiny handful of sidesplittingly funny writers who get their effects not so much from the pickles they put their characters into (though those are risible indeed) but from the splendid mastery of style and tone in use of language in which they narrate. His peak (from which he never declined far, we're happy to say) is displayed in a collection of Bertie & Jeeves stories called Carry on, Jeeves!. If they don't make you laugh so hard you lose it, then you're immune to Wodehouse.

>6 orsolina:-9

I'd second all of that. "Uncle Fred flits by" is in both the US and UK versions of the collection Young men in spats (1936), which would also be a good entry point.

(Edited because I inadvertently missed out orsolina's post first time)

These are the suggestions I'd make to anyone wanting to sample Wodehouse.

Jeeves: The Code of the Woosters

Blandings: Leave it to Psmith (a fun intro to the Psmith series as well)

Short stories: Young Men in Spats

Someone told me that somewhere around here there is a virgin seeking deflowerment. Am I on the right thread?

This is news to me. I have a hard time believing that P.G. would have this theme although I am sure he would have done a great job of it. I am more in tune with "Crime Wave at Blandings Castle", where the villain gets shot in the butte in the process of getting rid of him. I have been a Wodehouse fan since 1974, when I acquired the original PBS series of Wodehouse theatre. He was still alive and introduced each short story. I am glad he was knight by the SOB British. He got a raw deal but he was always a true gentleman. Phillip Lund