Jeeves and the Song of Songs

Rating:
Summary: Good story, badly read
Review: The narrator's style and characterization are misplaced. It's as if an affable uncle is reading a story badly. Wrong choice, especially when there are such good Wodehouse interpreters out there (e.g., Jarvis, Mordern, Carmichael, etc). Wodehouse is, of course, wonderful, but choose another edition.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, badly read
Review: This unabridged set of audio cassettes is narrated by Alexander Spencer and provides a particularly enjoyable way to experience these marvelous P.G. Wodehouse stories. The Jeeves stories were intended to be read as written-down musical comedy or farces, and a dramatization helps accentuate that delightful aspect of their development.

Wodehouse thought that you could either start by writing from life or start from humor. He chose the later, and you'll be glad he did.

This set of cassettes features the stories: Jeeves and The Song of Songs; The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy; The Kid Clementina; Indian Summer of An Uncle, The Yuletide Spirit; and The Impending Doom. Each story involves Bertram (Bertie) Wooster and Jeeves as they assist in bring couples together (or keeping them together). In most cases, Bertie gets involved out of family obligations, but friendships also draw him in. He is a very loyal person, and quickly rushes to the rescue (usually by asking Jeeves what to do). I recommend that you listen to the set of audio cassettes called Jeeves Takes Charge prior to listening to these, for those stories precede these in chronological order and include the story of when Bertie and Jeeves first met.

If you don't know Bertie and Jeeves, let me fill you in a bit. Bertie is a gentleman who lives off the family money, and enjoys a bit of a carouse. What? He's the most vapid of a particularly vapid group of aristocrats, and this provides room for lots of upper class humor. Bertie is our narrator, and we become part of the early 20th century life in titled Britain through entering his social circle. Most of what happens to him is unexpected to him and to us, and is hilariously funny.

Jeeves is the brainest of the brainy, a sort of Sherlock Holmes in livery (he's Bertie's Gentleman's Gentleman), who is constantly finding solutions to the silly countratemps the effete gentry land themselves into. He's not above accepting a gift of a few pounds for his trouble, and is used to getting his way.

Here are some of the scrapes that friends and relatives have gotten themselves into: a chum falls for a woman he has just met, tossing Bertie's cousin in the process; another pal has fallen for a wonderful woman, but hasn't got the nerve to tell her so; a casual female acquaintance Bertie has been smitten with in the past persuades Bertie to take her and her cousin out to dinnerand then take the cousin back to school after curfew; an ancient uncle falls for a young waitress at his club; Bertie decides to take revenge on his chum for an old slight with hilarious complications; and another of Bertie's old friends loses his household money for the next six weeks at the races and needs a temporary tutoring job in order to keep out of trouble with his wife.

In some of these stories, Bertie bridles at following Jeeves' lead. As a result, Bertie develops his own harebrained schemes that leave him up in the air several times unexpectedly. The complications are unusually humorous and add many pleasures to your reading or hearing of the stories.

After you having finished laughing along with and at Bertie, think about where your own ego may cause you to try to prove yourself able . . . where other are more able. Most people feel uncomfortable around those who are more intelligent than they. If you hire or work with such people, doesn't that really show good intelligence on your part, of the most practical sort? Don't spoil it by insisting on your own way, when you are up the creek without a paddle. Yell for help instead!

Right ho!

Rating:
Summary: Affairs of the Heart
Review: This unabridged set of audio cassettes is narrated by Alexander Spencer and provides a particularly enjoyable way to experience these marvelous P.G. Wodehouse stories. The Jeeves stories were intended to be read as written-down musical comedy or farces, and a dramatization helps accentuate that delightful aspect of their development.

Wodehouse thought that you could either start by writing from life or start from humor. He chose the later, and you'll be glad he did.

This set of cassettes features the stories: Jeeves and The Song of Songs; The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy; The Kid Clementina; Indian Summer of An Uncle, The Yuletide Spirit; and The Impending Doom. Each story involves Bertram (Bertie) Wooster and Jeeves as they assist in bring couples together (or keeping them together). In most cases, Bertie gets involved out of family obligations, but friendships also draw him in. He is a very loyal person, and quickly rushes to the rescue (usually by asking Jeeves what to do). I recommend that you listen to the set of audio cassettes called Jeeves Takes Charge prior to listening to these, for those stories precede these in chronological order and include the story of when Bertie and Jeeves first met.

If you don't know Bertie and Jeeves, let me fill you in a bit. Bertie is a gentleman who lives off the family money, and enjoys a bit of a carouse. What? He's the most vapid of a particularly vapid group of aristocrats, and this provides room for lots of upper class humor. Bertie is our narrator, and we become part of the early 20th century life in titled Britain through entering his social circle. Most of what happens to him is unexpected to him and to us, and is hilariously funny.

Jeeves is the brainest of the brainy, a sort of Sherlock Holmes in livery (he's Bertie's Gentleman's Gentleman), who is constantly finding solutions to the silly countratemps the effete gentry land themselves into. He's not above accepting a gift of a few pounds for his trouble, and is used to getting his way.

Here are some of the scrapes that friends and relatives have gotten themselves into: a chum falls for a woman he has just met, tossing Bertie's cousin in the process; another pal has fallen for a wonderful woman, but hasn't got the nerve to tell her so; a casual female acquaintance Bertie has been smitten with in the past persuades Bertie to take her and her cousin out to dinnerand then take the cousin back to school after curfew; an ancient uncle falls for a young waitress at his club; Bertie decides to take revenge on his chum for an old slight with hilarious complications; and another of Bertie's old friends loses his household money for the next six weeks at the races and needs a temporary tutoring job in order to keep out of trouble with his wife.

In some of these stories, Bertie bridles at following Jeeves' lead. As a result, Bertie develops his own harebrained schemes that leave him up in the air several times unexpectedly. The complications are unusually humorous and add many pleasures to your reading or hearing of the stories.

After you having finished laughing along with and at Bertie, think about where your own ego may cause you to try to prove yourself able . . . where other are more able. Most people feel uncomfortable around those who are more intelligent than they. If you hire or work with such people, doesn't that really show good intelligence on your part, of the most practical sort? Don't spoil it by insisting on your own way, when you are up the creek without a paddle. Yell for help instead!

Right ho!