Friday 2 November 2007

P.G. Wodehouse

Unseen, in the background, Fate was quietly slipping the lead into the boxing gloves.

-P.G. Wodehouse, Very Good, Jeeves,1930.

This is an average quote used to introduce a boring article in today's SMH.

But Wodehouse! Read him while you yet can!

In an adolescence spent reading Billy Bunter, Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein, he shone like a literary star in a dark generation. And he was funny! The one that sticks in my memory was the book where they were running a sweepstakes on how many minutes the sermon would run for in the local village churches on a particular Sunday. They had a dead cert for under 10 minutes, but at the last minute an over-enthusiastic curate had to step into the breach...

Thank you, Epping Public Library.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you read this as a child?

Every author really wants to have letters printed in the papers. Unable to make the grade, he drops down a rung of the ladder and writes novels.
PG Wodehouse

Gordon Cheng said...

Love it!

Anonymous said...

such a funny man with such a twist on cliches, has anyone ever tortured syntax to such effect?

Georg said...

Bonjour Gordon,

Yes, Wodehouse is top in many ways. He even improves my English.

And whenever the dark side of life shines, a book from old PG set matters straight.

Tinkety-tonk and toodle-oo
Georg

Florence Craye said...

Wodehouse fans are welcome to join our group on YahooGroups called Blandings. We discuss one PGW book every month and generally have a lot of fun. Cheers.