[teewHettive]

I LOVE PGW's Novels!!!

his style, humour and english are without par!!!

The best character I like is PSMITH! I am surprised that no one has said anything about my favourite character so far!!!!!

[VonErmad4]

Two lovable characters at Blandings:
1.Pig-headed Lord Emsworth,who has nothing but the
prize pig that he rears on his mind all the time.
2.Uncle Galahad,the trouble-shooter at
Blandings,who pulls out all his young nephews/nieces out of the tight holes in
which they're fixed,sometimes with the able
counsel provided by his all-efficient
(inimitable,in .G.W's words)valet,Jeeves.. (Incidentally one of his policies in life is never
to turn in b'fore 4.00 in the night(morning!)every day)

Also,P.G.W's predeliction for aunts is quite overwhelming:aunt Connie,aunt Agatha,aunt
Hermione,aunt Diana...the list goes on..Every
youngster introduced is done so with a long line
of aunts trailing him/her!!

Another of P.G.W's interesting characters is
Comrade Psmith,the communist,possessor of a
profound vocabulory,who has the uncanny ability of
framing huge complex sentences out of the most
simple of statements!
(eg:Chided by a bank manager,about his intriguing
stare,he replies politely,saying:"I'm sorry if my
stare falls short in any view of ur ideals of what
a stare should be!")

P.G.W's musical comedies really do lit up a smile on even the most impassive sect of his readers..!

(Interestingly,Crazy Mohan himself once admitted
in a Vikatan interview,that his writings were inspired by P.G.W's lighter vein of writing,&
humorous color.)

[bppstorr]

Glad to have spotted this thread. Am a hopeless Wodehouse fan. Like Connie, my heart too is split between Blandings Castle with its Emsworths and the Jeeves series. However, I very often lean towards Blandings.

Only a genius of his kind who so exuberantly mocks at the English aristocracy could come up with names like Gussy Finknottle, Stiffy Bing, Stinker Pinker etc.

To the issue of the no.of books he has written, I think the entire collection numbers between 90 and 100. This may or may not include the screenplays I beleive he has written for some Hollywood productions.

[Idorsearogele]

I have been a huge fan of PG Wodehouse since the seventies! My all time favorite author. I agree that he is not nearly as big in America as you would expect...I usually get a blank stare when I speak of him which is incomprehensible to me....
I am divided between Blandings Castle and Bertie and Jeeves...my heart is torn.
Oh, he is at Barnes and Nobel, and also ebay....

[education]

ravi:

The majorminor piece used to be one of my fves but I dont have the book now. Thanks for the nostalgic trip.

Uncle Dynamite? hmmmm.... Lord Ickenham?

[q9h9pPne]

Aarti

and this may probably apply to others too. Barnes and Noble is a good place, but the places that really work for me are used book shops. In the south bay (CA) there are such haunts in Palo Alto (University ave)and Mountain View (Castro Street). On good days Ive bought a couple of PGW's for as little as five quid.

I believe one can enjoy his works better with some background in English litt (not that I have any), what with there being multiple references to the old poet and other greek persona's.

[juspimoubbodo]

I agree with u guys...PGW is the best ever!Why is it so hard to find him in a library anywhere in the US????I guess we understand his humour the best, what with having been ruled by the British for soooo long.
Can u imagine my surprise when I find a brand new hard bound copy of PGW`s 5 short works in the 50% off sale shelf of my school book store.I grabbed it immediately.It was the best $12 I ever spent.The lady at the check out counter says"P.G.Wodehouse....never heard of him".You don`t know what you are missing lady,is all I could think!

[neotheMit]

I have been a huge fan of PG Wodehouse since the seventies! My all time favorite author. I agree that he is not nearly as big in America as you would expect...I usually get a blank stare when I speak of him which is incomprehensible to me....
I am divided between Blandings Castle and Bertie and Jeeves...my heart is torn.
Oh, he is at Barnes and Nobel, and also ebay....

[Hpdovoxm]

Thanks Ramji..nice to discover some (hard to find)P.G.W's admirers out here...

[Ztcgtqvb]

P. G. WODEHOUSE! The very name is synonymous with Beauty of Language and Purity of Laughter! The amazing thing about P. G. Wodehouse is that although his language is at first difficult for non-English speaking people to comprehend fully, he is most enjoyed precisely in the non-English speaking world (outside Britain) and only rarely in the English-speaking Americas! The fact is that Indians have always enjoyed the beauty of language, whatever it may be - and PGW is a master-juggler of the English language, juggling it to the rarefied heights of comedy. Unlike so-called comedians of modern times, he does not resort to vulgarity to make people laugh. His comedy is the purest bliss! Besides, he has created a whole pantheon of characters, who, for variety and individuality, rank just below the pantheon created by Shakespeare. And that is some achievement!

[posimoka]

Just finished reading my first PGW book. Goes by the name of 'Picadilly Jim'. It's very humourous but not in the sense that one can laugh out loud. Everything is taken lightly. I found that it reminded me of 'Crazy Mohan's' screenplays. A lot of 'aal maraadam' going on. Of course, this is the first book so let's see how it goes.

[overavantstandard]

Topic started by Saketh on Mon Aug 30 17:11:04 .


What do you think of British Humour?
Partiularly the funny world of Wodehouse and his characters?

[DumbNelmcrece]

Hi,
Yes I like Wodehouse a lot. I think Jeeves is the greatest. Aunt Agatha is sweet too, for all her terrorising tactics.
Jyothi

[thierabess]

aruvi: PGW is most famous for aaL maaraattam. In "Aunt's aren't gentleman" Bertram Wooster and his friend (monty bodkin?) get arrested for trying to steal a policeman's helmet during Oxford Boat Race Night. Bertie gets fined 5# and is let off. Next when his friend's turn came the judge decides to take notice of the increasing number of attempts to steal policemen's helmtets and delivers a lecture and sentences him to 1 month in jail. But the friend is engaged to the Vicar's daughter and has to be present in the village. So Bertie goes there taking his name, the girl knows him and cooperates. She has eight aunts. The friend gets clemency on the queen's birthday so decides to go to the village, but since bertie has already gone there in his name, he goes as bertram wooster. Oh my god you got to read the book. Does it remind you of the plot of a recent tamil movie?

The number of aaL maaraattams in Uncle Dynamite is just too much! Is that where a character will be living with three different false identities at the same time in the same house?

[KukkoDrukko]

Aarthi :

I think the libraries in the US stock books written by Americans or there is a mention of the US somewhere in the work .

I feel that is the reason that all of PGW's works are not available freely. Moreover PGW's books were also published in the US albeit with different titles.

[Vagtlaldo]

meera:

That was a good write up on PGW, one of my all time fves.

[Gaxiciverfere]

sun: True, but Baxter got dismissed. Who was the Lord's secretary after that? I guess it was one of Bertie's friends.

Sir Roderick Glossop was exactly the guy I was referring to. The scene when he comes to visit Bertie, rather to spy on his prospective son-in-law, is one of the most hilarious ones in "Code of the Woosters".

[masterso]

Makes good light reading. I am a big fan. Read a lot of his books. I dont see many PGW fans in US.
Heard that he had emigrated to US and wrote most of the books while living in US. Dont know if that is true.
Trivia: Only two characters appear both in Blandings Castle stories and Bertram Wooster stories. Who are they?

[Effofqueeno]

Some of PGW quotes...
1. They crached into each other proving that two people cannot be at the same time at the same place
2. He went in and came back so quickly that he saw himself going in.
more later

[olivelappers]

I belong to that school of thought that believes that good old plum was one of the greatest exponents of the english language. If there was a person who could breathe life into the language it was Wodehouse. His language has character and that too a distinct one. Whenever I read a Wodehouse I get the feeling that those are not merely simple words put in there. Every phrase, every word seems to leap out of the pages like impish schoolboys and make fantastic faces at you, so much so that you cannot but break out into uncontrollable laughter.
Wodehouse stories ( if one can call them that that is) for me have another very important facet. They seem to be, to me a shameless celebration of life. I at times also sit down and wonder at the genius of the human being, as to how being a part of the times that we live in could have had the strength to view and the capacity to share so much beauty and goodness.
Wodehouses world was as has been already said _idyllic_ but let us not forget that it does take a lot of beauty of spirit and strength of mind to even envisage an idyllic world.