Sunday, June 24, 2012

Rashmi bookmarks “Thank You, Jeeves”


Growing up, after the Enid Blyton phase, which lasted more than a decade, the two major stages I underwent were Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse, and till date, Wodehouse remains one of my top four favourite writers of all time.

P. G. (Sir Pelham Grenville a.k.a. Plum) Wodehouse has written many series, and many, many books in each series (I won’t get into the statistics, I’m sure you can get that from Wikipedia). My favourite has always been the Jeeves and Wooster sequence.

I recently re-read, “Thank You, Jeeves”. Not counting short stories, this is the first appearance of Reginald Jeeves and Bertie (Bertram Wilberforce) Wooster.

Like all his stories - whether set in a grand old school or a picturesque castle or a swanky apartment in the heart of London - the main characters are more or less the same: the simple master who knows nothing, and the intelligent gentleman’s gentleman, who knows it all and can fix it all. The story is also always a straightforward one - usually involving at least one love angle and at least one inheritance angle - but how complex it is to the characters involved, how it gets worse before it gets better, and how in the end, everyone lives happily ever after… or for a while anyway!!

Oh, it is Funny!!! Not mindless slapstick or sexual drivel but sparkling witty humour!! The humour comes from eccentric characters (Lord Marmaduke “Chuffy” Chuffnell, J. Washburn Stoker, Sir Roderick Glossop!) and their outlandish circumstances (chiefly involving Wooster’s new found love - and Jeeves’ distaste - for the banjolele, and Chuffy’s love for Pauline, blocked only by a possible comparison to Lord Wotwotleigh).

I am very much in awe of Wodehouse’s excellent command of the English language. For, although mainly about the comedy, it is very much about excellent literature as well.

I also love how past events are referred to every now and then. Actually they are quoted throughout the books, not just in one book or even one series, but in the entire world of P. G. Wodehouse. So if you read of a time when Wooster, on a dare, pinched a policeman’s helmet, little knowing that the policeman was inside it, you don’t just laugh, you also say, “Yes! I remember when that happened”!

And of course I love the generous spread of typical “PG’isms” all across the story… his “wot? wot wot?”, his “stiff w and s”… etc! He won’t just say, I entered the room and found Pauline Stoker on my bed wearing my purple pyjamas. Oh no! He’ll say, “Reading from left to right, the contents of the bed consisted of Pauline Stoker in my heliotrope pyjamas with the old gold stripe”!

As I read over this blog, I realize I could be talking of any Wodehouse book… and that’s why he has stood the test of time as the undisputed pioneer of comedy. As long as there’s a Wodehouse book in my purse, I know I can face just about anything the day can care to throw at me… “Thank you, P. G. Wodehouse”.

No comments:

Post a Comment