How many times have I read The Inimitable Jeeves? A conservative estimate would be around thirty or forty times. That's the great thing about P.G. Wodehouse: you can read the entire book from page one to the end, then immediately re-open the book and begin from page one and read the whole thing again with every bit as much enjoyment. They're great books to have on tour for that reason, though not only for that particular reason, of course.
Anyway, there's this passage that I've read and noted and smiled at many times before, but it wasn't till just now that it hit me quite how hilarious it is.
Bingo Little's uncle, lunching with Bertie and under the impression that he is the pseudonymous author of the Rosie M. Banks novels about class barrier-breaking romances, has been talking about his excellent, irreplaceable cook.
"For seven years I have lived in constant apprehension lest some evilly-disposed person might lure her from my employment. To my certain knowledge she has received offers, lucrative offers, to accept service elsewhere. You may judge of my dismay, Mr Wooster, when only this morning the bolt fell. She gave notice!""Good Lord!"
"Your consternation does credit, if I may say so, to the heart of the author of A Red, Red, Summer Rose. But I am thankful to say the worst has not happened. The matter has been adjusted. Jane is not leaving me."
"Good egg!"
"Good egg, indeed-- though the expression is not familiar to me."
I couldn't help it. I started giggling, then chuckling, then trembling so violently that I shook the van. My band already thinks I'm a little weird, and this did nothing to help matters. It's not easy to explain. You just have to read it. It's a great, great, egg.
Posted by Dr. Frank at February 10, 2004 06:04 PM | TrackBackFrank, I am with you 100% re: Wodehouse books -- you can read them over and over, and they just get funnier. "Confederacy of Dunces" is like that for me, also.
Have you read Wodehouse's Psmith books? Maybe not quite up to the exceedingly high standards set by the Jeeves and Wooster books, but still pretty funny.
Posted by: Aaron at February 10, 2004 07:02 PMIf you haven't read any Peter DeVries, you should check him out. You could say that he does a kind of Yngwie Malmsteen number on the Wodehouse silly situation stuff, and the word and reference play can get even more out of control...but he's really really funny when he's on. "Slouching Toward Kalamazoo" is his best imo...precocious 15-year-old sleeps with 8th grade teacher Maggie Doubloon, tracks her and illegitimate son Ahab to Kalamazoo, falls in love with Ahab's buxom nursemaid Bubbles Breedlove, etc. and there's an old guy who always answers the question "how are you doing?" with "extant." There's another one called "Peckham's Marbles" about a novelist who is frustrated because his stuff is so smart and literary that he can't find an audience, so, when his latest opus, "The Sorry Scheme of Things Entire," only sells three copies, he sets off on a treck across the country to find his three readers and autograph their copies of the book so that they can't be returned to the store. It's more smirky funny, whereas Kalamazoo is more rolling on the floor funny, but you'd get a kick out of the underappreciated artist stuff.
Posted by: spacetoast at February 10, 2004 08:48 PMHey, i really like those "Clifford the Big Red Dog" books..
Posted by: Anonymous at February 10, 2004 09:13 PMThere's never been anyone like Wodehouse. I've got an entire shelf full of his books and I'm constantly working my way through them, getting to the end of the row, and starting over again.
Posted by: Anne at February 10, 2004 10:45 PMHey man... Just wanted to say thanks for the great show last night. Sorry more of my city-mates didn't turn out. I don't think there was a lot of promotion done....
Anyway, I was the dude in glasses standing directly in front of you, yelling for "Now That You Are Gone".
Posted by: DamnDirtySteve at February 10, 2004 11:03 PMAnother great and funny traveling book that I'm sure you've read before is "the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". It's been a long time since I read that, time to visit Amazon or the library.
Posted by: Channon at February 10, 2004 11:51 PM
Good Egg! That is a fabulous set of books.
Most fortunate I am to have mum and dad send me
the collection for a birthday,I'm personally rather fond of the robot. Though this book
the intrepid doctor mentions sounds intensley
amusing. I'm always on the lookout for a good set of books to read while I'm done with that rascally
wizard Harry Potter. Yes,I must admit I'm entertained by his childlike ventures.
beth
Posted by: just me at February 11, 2004 12:52 AMConfederacy of Dunces is probably one of my favorite books ever written. As far as the Hitchhikers, I've read it before and liked it very much. But, it's all been ruined since my brother gave his copy of the movie to my boyfriend. I can't believe the number of hours I've spent sleeping through it. However, since I've always had a problem with insomnia, it's come in very handy at times.
Posted by: Amy 80 at February 11, 2004 06:55 AMYeah, my theory is that THGTTG (the BBC film) had to suck so bad to restore the karmic inbalance created by the presence of the books in our world. Cuz boy oh boy, is that a stinker.
I'll check out the Wodehouse. In fact, now that I think about it, I'm not sure why it's never entered into my canon. Lord knows there's enough Agatha Christie there on the shelf already...
Posted by: Wes at February 11, 2004 08:11 AMIt's funny that Hitchhiker's is being mentioned in the P.G. Wodehouse post- Douglas Adams was a huge admirer of Wodehouse.
Posted by: Duncan at February 11, 2004 06:53 PMDuncan, is that surprising? Wodehouse permeates every page of HHG, and maybe the Dirk Gentlys even more so. Plus, I just don't think it's possible to be a humorist in the post-Algonquin Round Table era without doing some sitting at the knee of PG Wodehouse.
Posted by: spacetoast at February 11, 2004 11:33 PMNo, I didn't think it was surprising that Adams was a Wodehouse fan; I thought it was surprising that the two came up separately and apparently unrelatedly in this thread. :)
Posted by: Duncan at February 12, 2004 07:54 PMi do love Plum so...
Posted by: anne at February 12, 2004 10:50 PMThat "good egg" business really is awfully funny.
I am devotee of Waugh. I have been repeatedly and reliably told I must read Wodehouse. It must be true.
On a related point, my wife becomse nauseous and CANNOT READ IN A MOVING CAR. Can you imagine? Life would scarcely be bearable.
Posted by: Lexington Green at February 14, 2004 04:08 PM