We’ve asked eight groups to read a selection of P. G. Wodehouse this autumn to celebrate the publication of Jeeves and the Wedding Bells. Here, Clapton library reading group tell us their thoughts.
For our third Wodehouse book, Clapton library’s reading group read Uncle Fred in the Springtime. By now, blasphemous as it may sound, we were in danger of suffering a touch of Wodehouse fatigue! Most members made some comment to the effect of: “Seems like we’ve been here before…” when we started reading the book. Here’s another set of love-tussles and other aristocratic “problems” to be sorted out with a clever/idiotic scheme by the hapless hero. Only this time, the main character, Pongo Twistleton, hasn’t got the Bertie Wooster charm, or his optimistic wit, nor does he deliver the same sardonic exchanges with his counterpart Uncle Fred, as Bertie does with Jeeves.
Nobody liked Pongo, we thought he was just a pessimistic bore. However, luckily there was Uncle Fred, the real character of the story, he delivered where Pongo flopped! Some of us even admitted to falling a little bit in love with him. He sparkles, throwing himself with gusto into each chaotic scenario he encounters, or rather: helps create. And with his help, by the middle of the book the usual wit and the twists and turns of the brilliantly structured plot won us back round to admiring Wodehouse’s craft.
Apart from Uncle Fred, we felt that a couple of the characters could have been expanded upon a bit more; all of us admitted to getting confused with the cast of the book, and were then relieved that we weren’t the only ones thrown by all the eccentric uncles and clueless nephews. Which of the uncles threw the eggs? Which one’s got the pig? And while we’re mentioning the pig – why couldn’t the pig owner just say to his friend, “Excuse me, but I’d really like to keep my pig”? What unwritten rules of politeness prohibit him from standing his ground over his own property? Also, why are there never any mothers or fathers in Wodehouse’s books? It teems with aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, but parents are mostly absent. We agreed that there’s something intrinsically funny about aunts and uncles, but why?
We were also interested in how Wodehouse introduces the first “common”, non-aristocratic character in Mustard Pott. We all enjoyed the impromptu betting shop he creates during a pub breakfast. All in all, a very enjoyable read, guaranteed to lift you up.
We had one issue regarding these newly published editions that our entire group agreed on: It would be helpful to have a blurb on the back of the book that actually tells you which series (i.e. Jeeves and Wooster, or Blandings Castle) and which particular book you’re holding in your hands. Even at the back of the books, where Wodehouse’s publications are listed, they aren’t listed in chronological order. It would be helpful to have a newly published book and a bit of a Wodehouse guide all in one!
