Jeeves and the Old School Chum Collected Stories

Rating:
Summary: Unending Complications!
Review: If you do not know the Jeeves stories, you are in for a wonderful treat. If you do, your appreciation will grow with this witty reading by the marvelous Alexander Spencer of the unabridged audio cassette version of five superb short stories. P.G. Wodehouse conceived of these stories as being in the musical comedy style, and as such they work better when read aloud. Alexander Spencer is the best reader that I have heard of the Jeeves stories.

These stories always make for lots of laughter, and are just the right length for short car trips. Take them along to cut the tedium of traffic during your next day of driving chores.

Bertram (Bertie) Wooster is the narrator in all five stories. Bertie is longer on connections and money than brains. Seldom out of bed before late morning, his idea of a busy day is planning where to take his next vacation. He is an English gentleman, and strives to play the part with the least effort on his part.

But the thinker in every story is Jeeves, his gentleman's gentleman (a combination of valet and butler). Jeeves is one of those brainy chaps who can always find a way. He tries to save Bertie from himself (especially when it comes to unsuitable fiancees and clothes), and always succeeds. In these stories, Jeeves has to extend his reach to bail out Bertie's friends and relatives. And he earns some extra green in the process. Sometimes Bertie wants to make a statement, and indulges himself anyway by creating his own "solutions" and by wearing "far out" clothes. That can put a dent in their relationship, but Bertie always repents and does it Jeeves' way in the end.

Bertie has two redeeming qualities. He loves to help his cronies and family, who are a disaster at romance and handling family stress. How will the species ever be propagated? In a funk, they come to Bertie for help. He usually summons Jeeves.

The resulting schemes are always full of hilarious plot complications. In this case, the complications exceed the normal level in a Jeeves story. Bertie may be trying to convince a friend's wife to get rid of an unsuitable friend. He may be breaking into hotel rooms to rescue his Aunt Agatha's dog. Or he may be pretending to be the cause of an automobile accident caused by his fiancee. In another case, he's trying to bring out the worst in young men. In every other moment, he does his best to entertain a lot of very conservative relatives and other people, whom he mostly alienates. Even his favorite aunt calls him insulting names. What's worse, when he comes up with an idea that may work, everyone assumes that it comes from Jeeves. Bertie just doesn't get any respect except from Jeeves. In these stories, Jeeves' reserve seems to slip more often than usual, so Bertie really feels down.

In each of these stories, Bertie is called upon to execute some very difficult maneuvers without having Jeeves there to buck him up. Now, that's really humbling! The stories have more complications than a Shakespearean romance, as a result.

Bertie's other redeeming quality is that he sincerely appreciates Jeeves in the end. To which Jeeves always replies, "Thank you, Sir." Jeeves has to put up with a lot in these stories before he gets to say his closing line, and you'll appreciate his stiff upper lip. No one else could cosset Bertie and like it the way Jeeves does.

This reading beautifully captures the flightiness of Bertie and the subtle maneuvering and nuances in Jeeves. You'll feel like you are in the room as unexpected events intervene, and you can't think of what to do any more than Bertie can. Thank God for Jeeves! The reading also makes wonderful use of the dated language and customs to give the listener a sense of a distant time. These quaint anachronisms become quite charming in this context.

After you finish enjoying these droll tales of human fallibility, I suggest you think about all of the ways that trying to help others can land you in the soup. Learn from this to look for potential problems before you launch into action. You'll come up with better plans than Bertie does if you do.

Avoid all those rummy spots!