Review #18: I wish people still talked like this...
Again, this isn't the cover of the edition I read but in the context of the book... this cover cracks me up!
Title: Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Number of Pages: 221
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Where I Got It: Book Loft
Cost: $14.00 but I got it for about $4 because of a sale.
Rating: 7- Glad I Bought It
Back of Book:
A Bertie and Jeeves classic, featuring an alpine hat, a black amber statuette, and the dreaded Totleigh Towers.
In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, Bertie's newt-breeding friend Gussie Fink-Nottle must marry Madeline Bassett or Bertie will be obliged to take his place. Understandably, Bertie is aghast. It seems like certain suicide, but Jeeves must find a way to save his employer from the clutches of the drippy Madeline. If he fails, Bertie's bachelor days--not to mention Jeeves's leisure time--will be at an end.
I'd like to state, in beginning, that P. G. Wodehouse will always be one of my favorite light reads when I want everything light and fun and no sign on angst, horror or drama. The Jeeves books excel at making me happy in an on-the-spot-right-now kind of way.
This particular book takes place at Totleigh Towers where madness and mayhem always ensue and Bertie Wooster is never welcome. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves includes one of my favorite side character in the Jeeves and Wooster-verse: Gussie Fink-Nottle. I went to a Halloween party as him this year. Fake newts, though. Gussie is always fun for a laugh and thrown in with all the others (Madeline Bassett, "Pop" Bassett, Roderick Spode, etc) only fun comes of it. Especially since all of the "adult" characters believe Bertie Wooster to be deeply disturbed and a hooligan. Stolen cow-creamers and police helmets will do that.
Jeeves is just as awesome as any butler you can bring up but he's not actually a butler. He's actually what they call a Gentleman's Gentleman. Butler-ing is one of the things he does but he's more of a sidekick and confidant for Wooster. He's a deep well of knowledge and seems to have an eidetic memory for all the things he's able to bring up at the drop of a hat.
While Jeeves seems to be the leading favorite in the "I love this character" category, Bertie Wooster is what makes the entire series for me. He's got some of the best worst ideas and he's not afraid to put them into play. He's such a kind-hearted fellow but still, obviously, a 'guy'. I also love following his train of thought. I would think sitting down to breakfast in his mind would be a lot like supposing that someone had dropped acid into your morning coffee only to realize that everything is completely normal and, yes, his thought process really is that buggy.
The Mindless Rabble of Others?
If you're not familiar with the series, the amount of characters can smack you in the face and make you pray for daylight. Keep at it though, they recur regularly.
No, I love YOU!!! *kissykissy*
Pfft. Nah. Well, I mean, if you count the bromances...
Exactly Where Are You From?
Berties townhouse is in London. Totleigh Towers is out in Totleigh-in-the-Wold, though. Countryside.
Leave me alone, I’m Plotting…
Loosy goosey and full of fun! Not hard to follow and I like to think of it as a romp-a-long. Seriously, Wodehouse was one of the most hilarious writers on the planet. I'm so glad he became Sir Wodehouse before he died. Totally deserved it for the amount of awesome he contributed to the world.
”Hey, what does this do?” “NO! DON’T TOUCH THAT!!”
Anything that Bertie is getting talked into stealing... just saying.
Why? WHY? Oh, the AGONY!!!!!
Pfft.
Awesome excerpt:
There are few things more awesome than the opening lines of a Jeeves book...
I marmaladed a slice of toast with something of a flourish, and I don't suppose I have ever come much closer to saying "Tra-la-la" as I did the lathering, for I was feeling in mid-season form this morning. God, as I once heard Jeeves put it, was in His heaven and all right with the world. (He added, I remember, some guff about larks and snails, but that is a side issue and need not detain us.)
Next Up:
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman
Blood Trail- Tanya Huff
City of Bones- Cassandra Clare
*For once, I'm completely ahead of myself so these next four should appear rather quickly.
Title: Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
Author: P. G. Wodehouse
Number of Pages: 221
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Where I Got It: Book Loft
Cost: $14.00 but I got it for about $4 because of a sale.
Rating: 7- Glad I Bought It
Back of Book:
A Bertie and Jeeves classic, featuring an alpine hat, a black amber statuette, and the dreaded Totleigh Towers.
In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, Bertie's newt-breeding friend Gussie Fink-Nottle must marry Madeline Bassett or Bertie will be obliged to take his place. Understandably, Bertie is aghast. It seems like certain suicide, but Jeeves must find a way to save his employer from the clutches of the drippy Madeline. If he fails, Bertie's bachelor days--not to mention Jeeves's leisure time--will be at an end.
I'd like to state, in beginning, that P. G. Wodehouse will always be one of my favorite light reads when I want everything light and fun and no sign on angst, horror or drama. The Jeeves books excel at making me happy in an on-the-spot-right-now kind of way.
This particular book takes place at Totleigh Towers where madness and mayhem always ensue and Bertie Wooster is never welcome. Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves includes one of my favorite side character in the Jeeves and Wooster-verse: Gussie Fink-Nottle. I went to a Halloween party as him this year. Fake newts, though. Gussie is always fun for a laugh and thrown in with all the others (Madeline Bassett, "Pop" Bassett, Roderick Spode, etc) only fun comes of it. Especially since all of the "adult" characters believe Bertie Wooster to be deeply disturbed and a hooligan. Stolen cow-creamers and police helmets will do that.
Jeeves is just as awesome as any butler you can bring up but he's not actually a butler. He's actually what they call a Gentleman's Gentleman. Butler-ing is one of the things he does but he's more of a sidekick and confidant for Wooster. He's a deep well of knowledge and seems to have an eidetic memory for all the things he's able to bring up at the drop of a hat.
While Jeeves seems to be the leading favorite in the "I love this character" category, Bertie Wooster is what makes the entire series for me. He's got some of the best worst ideas and he's not afraid to put them into play. He's such a kind-hearted fellow but still, obviously, a 'guy'. I also love following his train of thought. I would think sitting down to breakfast in his mind would be a lot like supposing that someone had dropped acid into your morning coffee only to realize that everything is completely normal and, yes, his thought process really is that buggy.
The Mindless Rabble of Others?
If you're not familiar with the series, the amount of characters can smack you in the face and make you pray for daylight. Keep at it though, they recur regularly.
No, I love YOU!!! *kissykissy*
Pfft. Nah. Well, I mean, if you count the bromances...
Exactly Where Are You From?
Berties townhouse is in London. Totleigh Towers is out in Totleigh-in-the-Wold, though. Countryside.
Leave me alone, I’m Plotting…
Loosy goosey and full of fun! Not hard to follow and I like to think of it as a romp-a-long. Seriously, Wodehouse was one of the most hilarious writers on the planet. I'm so glad he became Sir Wodehouse before he died. Totally deserved it for the amount of awesome he contributed to the world.
”Hey, what does this do?” “NO! DON’T TOUCH THAT!!”
Anything that Bertie is getting talked into stealing... just saying.
Why? WHY? Oh, the AGONY!!!!!
Pfft.
Awesome excerpt:
There are few things more awesome than the opening lines of a Jeeves book...
I marmaladed a slice of toast with something of a flourish, and I don't suppose I have ever come much closer to saying "Tra-la-la" as I did the lathering, for I was feeling in mid-season form this morning. God, as I once heard Jeeves put it, was in His heaven and all right with the world. (He added, I remember, some guff about larks and snails, but that is a side issue and need not detain us.)
Next Up:
The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere- Neil Gaiman
Blood Trail- Tanya Huff
City of Bones- Cassandra Clare
*For once, I'm completely ahead of myself so these next four should appear rather quickly.