5.30.2014

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells, Faulks - B

                                               I'm not sure if it's a subtitle or a characterization, but this fun, well-done novel  is called 'An Homage To P.G. Wodehouse'.   Wodehouse died forty years ago and the series he wrote about Jeeves and Wooster was set in the '20's.  I suspect they are one of the finest examples of English wit and parody ever and they provide frequent laugh-out-loud moments as Bertie Wooster, along with his buddies Tuffy, Chuffy, Stiffy, Oofy, Barmy and my favorite, Gussie Fink-Nottle, stumbles through endless escapades as a 'gentleman' so reliant on his 'man' that you wonder how he survived to adulthood on his own.  As delightful as the novels are, I believe the BBC Masterpiece Theatre shows with Stephen Fry as Jeeves and Hugh Laurie as Bertie are remarkable television comedy and even better.  In this story, the pair concoct a scheme to advance the romances of two couples in their circle. They decide their best chance of effecting their objectives involves them switching places. As an erudite, brilliant man, Jeeves has no difficulty pulling off his role as a member of the gentry.  Bertie, on the other hand, is not ready for the challenges of life downstairs.   All's well that ends well, as Jeeves arranges matters in such a way that both he and Bertie are betrothed in the last chapter. What-ho!

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