P.G. Wodehouse
Aug 14
2004
American readers may be surprised to learn that P.G. Wodehouse (creator of the British icon Jeeves, the penultimate "gentleman's gentleman") is actually quite the figure of controversy in Great Britain.
While I am not a Wodehouse scholar, the basic facts are these: Wodehouse was living in France at the beginning of WWII. When the Germans took over, he was arrested and sent to an internment camp. In accordance with Nazi policy, he was released on his 60th birthday, and, in an effort to cover his living expenses, he did a series of cheery, non-political radio broadcasts for the German government, which they used in an attempt to reassure American fans that he hadn't suffered at the hands of his captors. Although Wodehouse scholars have offered up some very reasonable explanations for the author's behavior, every few years the British press digs up this old scandal and kicks up one hell of a shine.
Happily, none of this detracts from the sheer delight of the Jeeves stories. The adventures of the resourceful Jeeves and his employer, amiable halfwit Bertie Wooster, are the essence of a certain type of upstairs/downstairs British humor, and any Anglophile worth their salt will enjoy them.
Aftertaste:
None.
Availability:
Everywhere.
Other Recommendations:
My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl
The Hillary Tamar mysteries, by Sarah Caudwell
Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons
Website:
http://www.wodehouse.org/ -
While I am not a Wodehouse scholar, the basic facts are these: Wodehouse was living in France at the beginning of WWII. When the Germans took over, he was arrested and sent to an internment camp. In accordance with Nazi policy, he was released on his 60th birthday, and, in an effort to cover his living expenses, he did a series of cheery, non-political radio broadcasts for the German government, which they used in an attempt to reassure American fans that he hadn't suffered at the hands of his captors. Although Wodehouse scholars have offered up some very reasonable explanations for the author's behavior, every few years the British press digs up this old scandal and kicks up one hell of a shine.
Happily, none of this detracts from the sheer delight of the Jeeves stories. The adventures of the resourceful Jeeves and his employer, amiable halfwit Bertie Wooster, are the essence of a certain type of upstairs/downstairs British humor, and any Anglophile worth their salt will enjoy them.
Aftertaste:
None.
Availability:
Everywhere.
Other Recommendations:
My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl
The Hillary Tamar mysteries, by Sarah Caudwell
Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons
Website:
http://www.wodehouse.org/ -
Posted by: Julia
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Comments
Statler
You guys don't mention the TV versions, but Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry OWN those characters. Rent the DVDs though, rather than the VHS, because the VHS are edited weirdly.