In an otherwise unrelated article by Christopher Hitchens, the erstwhile brave contrarian and now a pathetic neocon prevaricator, I came across this statement:
George Galloway Is Gruesome, Not Gorgeous
By Christopher Hitchens
My old friend and frequent critic Geoffrey Wheatcroft once tried to define a moment of perfect contentment and came up with the idea of opening a vintage wine while settling down to read an undiscovered work by P.G. Wodehouse. ...........
This brought back memories of an interesting, chance encounter aboard a London to Houston flight in the autumn of 1999 and the uncommon pleasure of reading P.G. Wodehouse. The gentleman sitting next to me on the plane was an older English man of great wit and charm. Very early in our conversation I found out that he was a member of the P.G. Wodehouse Society and was traveling to a Wodehouse conference in Houston. Wodehouse in Houston! I am a huge Wodehouse fan, as are many among my friends and family. But I had not until then met a single Houstonian, including my book club friends, who had read him. My co-passenger, J.F, then revealed that apart from being a die-hard fan, he was also a researcher and publisher of rare and undiscovered writings of Wodehouse. Upon learning of my own devotion to the author, he presented me with a book by P.G. Wodehouse, "A Man of Means", published in 1991, of which I knew nothing. He had discovered this little known work (first published in the Strand magazine in 1914) among Wodehouse's early manuscripts and obscure magazine publications. J.F. and his friends published the stories (with the original accompanying illustrations) in the form of a brand new book through his own publishing company, Porpoise Books in Maidenhead, England. I was suddenly the proud owner of an "undiscovered" work of Wodehouse! Upon reaching home, I proceeded to enjoy it with relish (without the accompanying vintage wine, recommended by Hitchens' friend). I own several books by Wodehouse published by larger, better known publishers like Penguin Books but this little book, (not Wodehouse's best), is a treasure among them because of the totally unexpected way in which I came to own it.
Reading Wodehouse is a bit like eating potato chips - you can't stop after just a few, highly addictive when you begin to enjoy the process and once you are finished, there is nothing substantive you can say about the experience except a sense of pure, silly satisfaction. Wodehouse was the unOrwell - able to transform the bleak and the solemn to jolly and cheerfully banal. Fans of Wodehouse will understand what I am talking about and those who haven't tried him, should find out. Although Jeeves and Bertie Wooster are the better known Wodehouse characters, to the uninitiated I recommend starting with the capers of Psmith ("The p is silent, as in phthisis, psychic and ptarmigan"), a lively and enterprising young man who always has a scheme (mostly for making money) and invariably fails, with hilariously disastrous results.
The main character Roland Bleke in A Man of Means, the "rare" Wodehouse I mention above, has the opposite fate - he does not want money but wealth pursues him relentlessly. I think the author tried Bleke as a model for a long running theme, found him unsatisfactory, reversed the circumstances and struck gold with the perennially penniless Psmith.
I love your charming description of your love of Wodehouse. I must confess I have not had the privilege of reading him, but I am about to order a copy "Leave it to Psmith" because of your review. It's nice to read a literate blog.
Posted by: rcabbott | October 28, 2005 at 10:26 PM
Thank you for the kind words. And welcome to the world of Wodehouse. You have made a very good choice by selecting "Leave it to Psmith" as your first Wodehouse pick.
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | October 28, 2005 at 11:32 PM
i am in Houston too, and love Wodehouse as well! There is a group that gets together here every month (called the Drone Rangers), but i haven't been able to make it to a meeting yet. if you don't know of them already, try looking them up, and hope to see you there one of these days!
Posted by: Shimi | April 08, 2006 at 05:17 AM
Shimi:
John Fletcher, my co-passenger who gifted me "A Man of Means", invited me to the Wodehouse meeting in Houston. I went for one session and indeed there were members of the Drone Ranger present there (they were the hosts). For a while I toyed with the idea of joining. But I belong to one book club already and going to another meeting every month was a bit daunting. Moreover, I decided that I enjoy my Wodehouse sufficiently by my lonesome self. Thanks for visiting. Nice encountering a fellow Houstonian and Wodehousian.
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | April 08, 2006 at 10:50 AM
Nice post...but id have to say...starting with lord E would be the way to go.....
Posted by: Vishal Salian | July 26, 2007 at 06:15 PM
Ah, I grew up reading Wodehouse during high school and college. *dreamy smile*
I haven't read any of his books in a while, though devoured all the available books in the school library and elsewhere. I'll check the library for the new book you mention. Thanks for the trip down the memory lane Ruchira.
-Amit
Posted by: Amit | July 27, 2007 at 11:54 AM
Amit:
"A Man of Means" may be hard to find in a local library. It is one of P.G.W.'s more obscure books. I just checked on Amazon. It is available there but not the Porpoise publication that I was given by John. F. May be you shouldn't bother - it is not one of his best. Better to re-read something you liked before during high school and college. You will laugh (or not laugh) again but with a new perspective. I do that all the time.
Vishal:
Some others too have suggested that Lord Emsworth is the best intro to P.G.W. Actually, any number of characters would do. Some like Jeeves. In this case when I was writing the post, Psmith just sprang into mind because of the contrast with Ronald Bleke and also because I happen to like Psmith a lot. Recently though, I presented a good friend of mine, who has never read Wodehouse with "Life at Blandings." So in her case, I chose Lord E. and his entourage to ease her through the Wodehousian world.
Posted by: Ruchira Paul | July 27, 2007 at 01:34 PM
These days, I have been reading 'Jeeves and the tie that binds' during my 35 min commute in the subway train. Probably, or should I say definitely, my fellow-passengers may well be wondering that I am gone nuts! Just can't stop smiling, giggling. Surprisingly, for a change, I have been more productive at work...
Posted by: shlok | July 31, 2007 at 02:31 PM
Hi, Ruchira
Distance doesn't matter these days. I have just launched a network on Ning called " Celebrating P G Wodehouse".
http://atoasttoplum.ning.com/
It would be great if you could join us.
Cheers!
Prem
Posted by: Prem Rao | February 20, 2009 at 09:40 PM
Read some where about Jeeves' similarity with Humphrey of 'Yes Minister' fame. A huge fan of both, I felt the same, though in patches. Can hardly visualise Humphrey, with all his material retirement benefit plans taking off on fishing trips, or Bertie getting any wiser with time unlike Jim, not to mention of the sublimely pure kind of happiness you are filled with while on any Jeeves anecdote.
One thing is common though, you hardly want the episodes to finish, as the endings, however clever and unexpected they get, can hardly match the journeys.
Would love to join in as i have been out of a Wodehouse fan club since college!
Posted by: Devraj Basu | December 16, 2011 at 05:22 AM