What Ho! : The Best of P. G. Wodehouse

by P. G. Wodehouse

Other authorsStephen Fry (Introduction)

Paper Book, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

823.912

Genres

All Topics

Fiction

Collections

pd, change cover

Publication

London : Penguin Books, 2001.

Description

We all know Jeeves and Wooster, but what is the best Jeeves story? What is your favourite story to feature Lord Emsworth and his unique pig, the Empress Blandings? And how many readers of Wodehouse know the best of Ukridge, the Oldest Member, the Hollwood stories? This bumper anthology of stories, novel-extracts, working drafts, articles, letters and poems gives a fresh angle on the twentieth century's greatest humorist.There are favourites aplenty, but this selection provides the best overall celebration of side-splitting humour and sheer good nature available in the pages of any book. The anthology has been compiled with enthusiastic support from the various P.G. Wodehouse societies around the world.

User reviews

LibraryThing member dcsax96

A great, funny read - it's supposed to contain the "best" of Wodehouse, but I wish they added a few stories from Carry On, Jeeves, as I feel they were some of the best Nevertheless, a great read.

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LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe

In a career that spanned some 73 years, a “best of” selection might understandably be somewhat hefty. In this collection, despite its heft, the lightness of the comic prose rings through. You might easily treat this as a collection to dip into now and then. Or you might read it straight

through. In either case you will find yourself refreshed and always eager for more. More silliness, more scrapes and capers, more misunderstandings, more tomfoolery, and more twists in the tale and righting of the ship than you could hope for. None of it means a great deal. Unless good fun and laughter mean something beyond themselves.

What is remarkable here is the incredible consistency of the writing. In virtually every selection, the writing is unmistakably Wodehouse. Characters vary (it’s not all Jeeves and Wooster!), locales migrate (with a steady diet of city apartments, the club, and country homes), but the touch is ever light and the humour effervesces. Gently recommended for silly good fun.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

I read a review of one of Wodehouse's Jeeves stories on Guys Lit Wire several years ago and the review stuck with me, so when I saw this at the local indie bookstore I decided to pick it up. It took me way too long to get to as usual but I did really enjoy it. The stories are over the top funny and

I loved them. I doubt I will read it straight through again but I definitely see this as a book I will periodically take off the shelf and read several stories from.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

I loved them. I doubt I will read it straight through again but I definitely see this as a book I will periodically take off the shelf and read several stories from.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

I loved them. I doubt I will read it straight through again but I definitely see this as a book I will periodically take off the shelf and read several stories from.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

I loved them. I doubt I will read it straight through again but I definitely see this as a book I will periodically take off the shelf and read several stories from.

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LibraryThing member Fips

Despite the advancing years I had up until receiving this book for Christmas never read any Wodehouse, though I had been read excerpts in my younger years. Of course, the problem with Wodehouse is that being such a prolific author, it's difficult to know where to start. And since most Wodehouse

readers have their favourites, asking for advice on what to read is a bit like asking which football team you should support.

All of which is precisely why this compendium fits the bill nicely. There's a little bit of everything here to give the newcomer a real taste of Wodehouse's world, with stories from Jeeves, Blandings, Ukridge, Mr Mulliner, The Drones, Psmith and Uncle Fred. There's also a section of golfing stories, and at the back, as a sort of appendix, a collection of letters and sundry other writings. As for the prose itself, well if you really need more convincing, you could always start by perusing the introduction by Stephen Fry.

The only other review of this book to date criticised the quality of the book, and to some extent I must agree. Whilst I found nothing lacking in the book's manufacture, there were a surprising number of typographical errors to be seen, albeit only small niggly things. Nevertheless, for the price this volume is an absolute steal, a definite must for anyone looking for a glimpse into Wodehouse.

(And having read the lot, I can now say that my jersey is emblazoned with the Blandings crest.)

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LibraryThing member RajivC

I love PG Wodehouse, and this book does sum up everything about Wodehouse.

The introduction by Stephen Fry is superb, and really does a very good job of summing up not only what is the best of Wodehouse, but what Wodehouse means to all of us.

The only gripe that I have, if you can call it that, is

that there are times when I miss the context of the passages that I read. This is one of the problems of reading an excerpt.

However, the wide range of selections also does give us an extremely good idea of the range of PG Wodehouse's writing styles.

A really good book, all in all.

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LibraryThing member tgraettinger

Great collection of Wodehouse. Includes Jeeves and Wooster, Blandings, Mulliner, and other favorites.

LibraryThing member therebelprince

A lovely edition and a great help for people like myself who've come to elements of Wodehouse (in my case Jeeves and Bertie) but need to gradually get into the vast bulk of his work.

Still, many of these stories are probably better told in the context of their original novels and collections.

Blissful but only a small slice of the bliss that awaits.

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