Review: The Inimitable Jeeves - by P.G. Wodehouse

The Inimitable Jeeves - by P.G. Wodehouse

This book was a delight to read from a linguistic standpoint. Hailing from 1923, it contained a bevvy of fascinating turns of phrase and expressions that one likes to imagine were popular among the idle classes in London around that time. The relationship between Jeeves and Bertie is just as good as I had hoped it would be, with nearly every reserved, measured phrase out of Jeeves being an unmitigated delight.

I felt that the Bertie percentage got a little heavy, when Jeeves is clearly the one to watch, but he retains the greatest amount of punch by virtue of his rare appearances and ability to swoop in and solve the vexing issues of the chapter with but a few well placed words or deeds. Bertie, I will concede, was plenty entertaining as we get his perspective on various events unfolding around him, the greatest and most side-splitting perhaps being the village play, and the 'tough eggs' sitting with him in the back row.

The title reads like a collection of well linked short tales, which do end up feeling a tad repetitive by the end, though I suspect that may have been an intentional effort to show the constant repetitive travails of Bertie's friend Bingo Little, so I'm prepared to forgive that oversight. Future reading of Wodehouse may show similar predilections which will be reviewed more harshly, but I hardly doubt that he will care! A fun book, and worth a read for a number of reasons.