Introduction to Wodehouse?

[Stieg]

I was at the bookstore today and examining volumes of P.G. Wodehouse. There were standalones, Jeeves books, and Blandings books.

I was quite lost despite looking at the listing of titles inside each books. Where does one recommend I start?

[kathycf]

Well, Jeeves is my personal favorite so I would be biased in saying read the Jeeves and Wooster books first. :p The Psmith ones are also good. Here is a bibliography in chronological order: Wodehouse checklist (http://www.pgwodehousebooks.com/simplebiblio.htm).

While the books don't have to be read chronologically, it might give you an idea of where to start, based on the earliest book you can find.

[Stieg]

Awesome, and thanks for the link!

A trove of assistance. :D

[kathycf]

Oh, good, glad it helps.

If you like after reading, post back and let me know what you think. :)

[Mary Sue]

I can understand your confusion. Wodehouse wrote so much--- about 92 books, plus all his short stories and even plays! So where to begin?

I would recommend the Jeeves series. Try any of the early novels: Thank You, Jeeves for instance, or Right ho, Jeeves, or The Code of the Woosters. In my opinion, Wodehouse's greatest achievement was the master-servant team of Jeeves and Wooster....absolutely unsurpassed. Thank You, Jeeves is the first Wodehouse title that I ever read, and it's laugh-out-loud funny. But then, ALL of the Jeeves books tend to be that. They have madcap, fast-moving plotlines, along with witty dialogue that even Noel Coward would have been proud to sponsor. Plus a near-omniscient domestic, Jeeves, who manipulates his young employer by using "the psychology of the individual." And let's not overlook the employer--- Bertie Wooster--- surely one of the most endearing asses in modern fiction. All in all, a BRILLIANT formula.

After Jeeves, you might move on to the Master's other great offering--- the Blandings Castle saga---which is about Lord Emsworth, his prize pig, and his wildly dysfunctional family. Try Summer Lightning and Leave It to Psmith, both good examples of Blandings at its best. And if you prefer short stories, take a whack at one of the Wodehouse anthologies. The World of Mr. Mulliner is especially good. So is Very Good, Jeeves.

My own personal favorite, aside from the Jeeves series, has to be Laughing Gas (1936). It's a sort of "Freaky Friday" tale AND the only fantasy novel that Wodehouse ever wrote. Jill the Reckless (1921) is interesting, too: all about Broadway musicals of the period, as seen through the eyes of a newly recruited chorus girl. And then there's The Luck of the Bodkins, which features a Hollywood starlet, red-haired Lottie Blossom, who carries about her pet alligator in a wickerwork basket. All vintage Wodehouse.

Wodehouse really hit his stride in the period between the two world wars, so always check the publishing date. If the book came out in the 20's or 30's, you're pretty much guaranteed of a good time. Not that his later stuff isn't funny too. Much of it is. Some literary nibs even consider Joy in the Morning (1947) to be his very best novel.