Book Review : The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

              

I belong to a couple of interesting Book Clubs. They give me access to other passionate readers, writers and editors. They also share their eclectic taste in books, and insightful takes on the same.

At the the "NovelTea Prose and Cons" book club, we are a bunch of book enthusiasts from various cities within India. We have weekly online book review meetings which tend to get quite interactive. Since it also has some editors, its great to know their perspectives on why certain books did well when they should NOT have :)

This week we chose to read a P.G. Wodehouse classic - The Code of the Woosters. Despite being an avid reader, and a HUGE admirer of British literature, P.G. Wodehouse is one author I have never been a fan of. Thus, this was his first book that I read through!

Most Indian schools are heavily influenced by the British literature. I have grown up reading Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, the Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie series of books. Of late, I am a big fan of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. After reading this book, I understood why the Wodehouse humor had failed to work its charm on me. His books represent the idle and privileged class of British society of the 1930s, and pack the rich vocabulary of old-school English. Its references to that period of Britain's elite is not accessible to common folks and hence not appreciated by them. It lacks the blood, sweat and toil faced by the middle class. The escapades of its wastrel main character - Bertie Wooster, seem too bland and the characters have a shaky moral ethic. What stands out though are -

1. The character of Jeeves -  his keen knowledge of psychology, and his demure manner in indirectly manipulating events and people, is an inspiration even today.
2. Wodehouse definitely has a gift of the gab! The way his characters respond to farcical situations, and to each other, bring about much comic relief. Their observations and turn of phrase provide brilliant humour, and the writing is truly worth savouring.

In this particular book, what starts off as Bertie's fear of losing his favourite aunt's gifted chef, turns into a comedy of errors at an alarming pace. I learned about the Cow Creamer for the first time. How the various characters intertwine with each other, and the events conspire such that Bertie is coerced to steal this object d'art much against his principles, the blatant about face by the female characters, is an example of excellent plot weaving! There is an interesting mix of animals like the dog and newts thrown in too. It is a testament to Bertie's love of good food and family solidarity.

Jeeves is at his best!! From masterfully manipulating all the main characters in the book, rescuing his master from disaster multiple times, ensuring a happy and just ending for all concerned, to fulfilling his own dream of world travel, he is mind blowing!

The battle of wits, and will, between master and butler is also extremely interesting to witness:)

I was also introduced to the Jeeves and Wooster series starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who have immortalised these characters with admirable elan!

*****

The Bookaholics Pune Club meets monthly, at cafes across Pune. In August, I attended my first meetup. This one did not discuss any particular book - instead we had introduction of new members, ice-breaker games (around books), presentations by a child prodigy author and his parents' Publication House, as well as entrepreneur who has started her own platform for authors to be able to promote their self-published books! We also met a very interesting celebrity author - Manjiri Prabhu. Her experiences about her journey were an eye-opener and super inspirational !!