Ben Schott

After hearing the names of Wodehouse and Wodehouse's famous valet character Jeeves in the wind for decades, this homage to Wodehouse came to my attention (while I was searching for "PG-rated" reads for adults). But I decided to start by reading some of the classic Jeeves and Wooster stories before trying this novel. I also watched the first two seasons of the British television comedy series from the '90s. (All except one episode I purposely didn't finish, but that's another matter.)

Now, I think, because I've only read three of Wodehouse's books so far, I'm comfortably but not expertly familiar with the original Jeeves and Wooster characters. Not expert enough to be too critical in comparing the originals to those written in this homage.

I will say I wasn't completely sure about some of the word choices in this book. Like, I dunno, but would Bertie have really used the word "pregnancy" in his narration instead of one of the more, um, delicate, old-fashioned euphemisms they used back then for an expectant mother's "condition"? Also, I admittedly doubt how drawn in I would've been by this novel if I hadn't come in with my level of previous familiarity. It's possible I would have lost interest while not feeling a strong sense of direction or a central plot in my first hour or so of reading.

But the mash-up of little doings and amusing nothings I was reading here wasn't exactly out of keeping with what I'd read from Wodehouse so far. So I remained interested in seeing what these doings and nothings would lead to.

I liked the generally jocular bounce to this, the quirky expressions and imagery, and I was pleased to have some laugh-out-loud moments. One particular scene even had me cracking up—hard enough to have to stop reading for a minute or two. Granted, the different editions of the book covers had me expecting the mystery thread would be more dominant than it turned out to be, but I wasn't disappointed in finding all the comedy here.

In all, an entertaining jaunt for me. In the near future, I plan on reading the sequel, then a different author's homage novel to Wodehouse, and of course, more of the original Jeeves and Wooster stories. I'll watch more of the television series too, while I'm at it.… (more)

The second in Ben Schott's pair of Jeeves and Wooster novels, which directly follows on the plot of the first one (Jeeves and the King of Clubs). More skullduggery involving Spode (and the Black Shorts), this time at Cambridge University (largely), though there's a substantial sub-plot involving the Drones Club needing to raise money. Also more of Iona, the demi-heroine of the first novel. I don't think this one was quite up to the standard of the first one (let alone the original novels by Wodehouse). The ending in particular struck a somewhat jarring and out-of-character note, and I frankly can't see Bertie Wooster involved in the kind of espionage hijinks he gets up to. As with the first novel, there's a lot of references that are explained in the back (a Schott trademark carried over from his Almanacs and Miscellany), but there are times were it does seem like showing off. There are some good set-pieces, but a key one involving Aunt Agatha comes across as a bit forced. Schott narrowly loses this one, and I'm not sure die-hard followers of "Plum" are going to like it.… (more)

I found this something of a mixed bag. I do like Schott's other work, where he delves into a lot of unusual and interesting facts. That sort of thing leaks a fair bit into this book, which can add colour, but also can come off as a bit of showing off at times (he has a glossary, of all things, at the back, which can be helpful, but does reinforce the idea he's showing off). The first part of the book has very typical Bertie-gets-roped-into-things, but I do think Schott over-eggs the pudding, and not all of the plots come off well. There's also the somewhat incongruous introduction of a spy element in the story, and Bertie's involvement in a spy operation strains the credibility of the character. On the other hand, we do see a genuinely interesting, intelligent and sympathetic character in Iona, the niece of the spymaster character. One weakness in Wodehouse's oeuvre is that you didn't see all that many sympathetic women, and the bluestocking types tended to come off poorly. There are a few good set-pieces in the book that are very much in the spirit of the original. I'm not a huge fan of this book, but there are enough positives in the book that Schott comes out ahead. Wodehouse fans may well differ on this point.… (more)