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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Overlook Hardcover (2004), Hardcover, 240 pages
Description
Bill (Lord) Rowcester was well and truly in the gumbo. With the benefit of hindsight he could see that setting himself up as a Silver Ring bookie might not have been his smartest move ever. Particularly when being down on his dibbs threatens his oncoming nuptials with the sterling Jill Wyvern. Lucky for Bill he had the land-lease of Jeeves. Lucky indeed that the fish-fed mastermind's formidable genius was at liberty to take a header into such teasers as borrowing the stellar Mrs. Spottsworth's pendent for an hour or three or overseeing the added ingredients of Abbey's Derby Dinner, to say nothing of his lordship's mauve pajamas.
User reviews
LibraryThing member billiecat
This book, unfortunately, fails for many reasons - it is not strictly a "Jeeves and Wooster" novel as Bertie is only referred to off-stage (and it therefore does not have the authorial "voice" that the other books benefit from), even Jeeves acts out of character, and the whole thing has a post-WWII
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air of shabbyness that detracts, being as it is about the tribulations of a man trying to unload his ancestral home because he is strapped for cash (an upper class twit without money is not entertaining - he's just a twit). If you are a die-hard Wodehouse fan, by all means go at it. Otherwise, skip it. Show Less
LibraryThing member shabacus
Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of P.G. Wodehouse, and four stars is the default rating.
The fact that this one is 3.5 stars tells you it's not among my favorites. For a Jeeves novel especially you'd think it would be higher, but in this case, the matter is susceptible of a ready explanation--no
The source material was a stage play which ended with a wedding for the hero. Since Wodehouse did not want Bertie to get married, he could not be the hero himself. But he wanted it to include Jeeves. And so the duo was separated, and the results were less than impressive. This book, essentially a novelization of the play, should be appreciated for what it is--a view into the world of Wodehouse the playwright, not Wodehouse the author.
Recommendation: For Wodehouse fans who are willing to forgive an aside in the history of Jeeves and Wooster.
The fact that this one is 3.5 stars tells you it's not among my favorites. For a Jeeves novel especially you'd think it would be higher, but in this case, the matter is susceptible of a ready explanation--no
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Bertie. This is Sherlock without Watson, eggs without bacon, Hobbes without Calvin. It's also explicitly set in post WWII England, which strips away the Edwardian elegance of most of the series. Lastly, it seems to be out of continuity with the rest of the series.The source material was a stage play which ended with a wedding for the hero. Since Wodehouse did not want Bertie to get married, he could not be the hero himself. But he wanted it to include Jeeves. And so the duo was separated, and the results were less than impressive. This book, essentially a novelization of the play, should be appreciated for what it is--a view into the world of Wodehouse the playwright, not Wodehouse the author.
Recommendation: For Wodehouse fans who are willing to forgive an aside in the history of Jeeves and Wooster.
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LibraryThing member raizel
Jeeves helps the Earl of Towcester (pronounced Toaster) become financially solvent by disguising themselves as bookies (the only ones who consistently make money from betting on horses). The Earl has a sister whose husband now works at Harrod's because they need the money and a spunky fiancee who
Since Jeeves is working for someone who is not Bertie Wooster, marriage is a possible solution. This book takes place in the real present (after World War II and with a government that has reduced the upper class to wage earners), as opposed to most P.G. Wodehouse stories, which take place in some magical time. The name not pronounced as it is spelled, all the quotes from Jeeves and the clever phrases from the third-person narrator are there.
SPOILER: At the end, Jeeves will return to Bertie, who has behaved entirely out of character by winning an award by cheating---the only misstep in an otherwise very well put together book.
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is a veterinarian. There are a rich American widow who likes English country houses, especially if they're haunted, and a hunter who loves her but knows that the code does not allow impoverished men to marry rich women even if they love each other. The Earl owes the hunter money and the usual misunderstandings and too-clever-by-half schemes are eventually overcome and everyone lives happily ever after.Since Jeeves is working for someone who is not Bertie Wooster, marriage is a possible solution. This book takes place in the real present (after World War II and with a government that has reduced the upper class to wage earners), as opposed to most P.G. Wodehouse stories, which take place in some magical time. The name not pronounced as it is spelled, all the quotes from Jeeves and the clever phrases from the third-person narrator are there.
SPOILER: At the end, Jeeves will return to Bertie, who has behaved entirely out of character by winning an award by cheating---the only misstep in an otherwise very well put together book.
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LibraryThing member bragan
The dust jacket informs me that this is "the only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance." Which immediately had me wondering whether such a thing could ever possibly work. But, no, it's still as wonderfully witty and as full of delightful silliness as ever. I might have missed
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Bertie a little, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it thoroughly. Show Less
LibraryThing member losloper
The only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance, involves Jeeves on secondment as butler and general factotum to William Belfry, ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster). Despite his impressive title, Bill Belfry is broke, which may explain why he and Jeeves have been working
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as Silver Ring bookies, disguised in false moustaches and loud check suits. All goes well until the terrifying Captain Brabazon-Biggar, big-game hunter, two-fisted he-man and saloon-bar bore, lays successful bets on two outsiders, leaving the would-be bookies three thousand pounds down and on the run from their creditor. But now the incandescent Captain just happens to be the former flame of Rosalinda Spottsworth, a rich American widow to whom Bill is attempting to sell his crumbling stately home... Show Less
LibraryThing member Pferdina
Apparently this is the only Wodehouse novel featuring Jeeves that does not also have Bertie Wooster. Bertie is mentioned a few times, but Jeeves is off playing butler for a penniless English Lord in this one. As usual, there are (2) couples in love but separated by lack of funds. This one has most
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of the elements of a classic Wodehouse tale, but it felt a bit flat to me. Not enough humor, maybe. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Picked this up for a road trip with grand-girl number 1 to look at colleges. We thought she should be introduced to Wodehouse. No Bertie in this book, but plenty of shenanigans and Jeeves.
LibraryThing member gibbon
In what must have been one of the last Wodehouse novels, Jeeves appears without his brainless but appealing foil Bertie Wooster. Set in a poverty-stricken England after WW II, the familiar mannerisms are there but these survivors from the light-hearted milieu in which Jeeves and Wooster flourished
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between the wars seem unable to regain their self-confidence. Show Less
LibraryThing member atimco
Amusing of course, but not one of Wodehouse's shinier moments. Jeeves didn't seem himself for whatever reason. The funniest part of the book is when Bertie Wooster (not present in the plot proper) is mentioned as going to a school for aristocrats to learn to fend for themselves, and gets kicked out
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for cheating (he brought in an old woman to darn his socks and passed the darning off as his own... LOL!). Show Less
LibraryThing member lamour
Bertie Wooster is off to housekeeping school so he can learn to look after himself. Jeeves cannot go with him so Wooster lends Jeeves to the impoverished ninth earl of Towcester. Jeeves does his usual magic to help Towcester out of the scraps he gets himself into such as promising his fiance that
Loaded with satire about the English upper classes.
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he will no longer play the horses but he does and loses big. He is trying to unload his crumbling estate but the woman who wants to buy it is a former lover and this also makes his fiance jealous. He welshed on a bet with a big game hunter and that man is after him for compensation.Loaded with satire about the English upper classes.
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LibraryThing member Sandydog1
This is an ultramodern (1950s) episode with Bertie not in the picture. But an old Jeeves still has it in this rollicking post-War story of the usual recipe ingredients: betting, financial issues, marriage, and dolts. Lots and lots of lovable pesky, irritating dolts This one is actually one of my
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favorites. The script just never gets old. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
An interesting entry in the Jeeves series in that Bertie Wooster is absent - he has lent Jeeves to Bill, the ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster).
LibraryThing member fionaanne
I hadn't realized how much of the humor in these books relies on Bertie Wooster's first person (and fat-headed) narration until it was removed from the equation. Definitely my least favorite Jeeves tale and I suspect it should have been left as a play rather than adapted into novel form.
LibraryThing member leslie.98
An interesting entry in the Jeeves series in that Bertie Wooster is absent - he has lent Jeeves to Bill, the ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster).
LibraryThing member themulhern
Nice departure for Wodehouse. In this book he portrays the penury of the post-war British landed aristocracy and contrasts it with the affluence of the American widow for humourous effect. The book is in the third person, as Bertie is temporarily absent from the tale. This frees the author to go
The reading by Nigel Lambert was outstanding. The accent he put on for the American widow was remarkable but pleasing; he manages to work an "r" into "applesauce" where I did not expect it.
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into his subject a little more deeply without jarring the reader too much, as a Bertie fallen from affluence would be a very helpless Bertie. Also, Jeeves gets to unleash his quotations and general encyclopedic knowledge yet more freely than in Bertie's company, to a subtly different, but still very humourous effect.The reading by Nigel Lambert was outstanding. The accent he put on for the American widow was remarkable but pleasing; he manages to work an "r" into "applesauce" where I did not expect it.
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LibraryThing member PhilSyphe
This instalment in the Jeeves series pales compared to all its predecessors.
Without Bertie Wooster’s appearance and narration, we’re immediately thrust into a different world. Sometimes this sort of move is positive, but only if the new characters and settings match those of the previous
The plot isn’t gripping, and the comedy isn’t as consistent as in previous works, but flashes of brilliance do pop up here and there.
Without Bertie Wooster’s appearance and narration, we’re immediately thrust into a different world. Sometimes this sort of move is positive, but only if the new characters and settings match those of the previous
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novels. Overall, they don’t. Apart from Jeeves, Monica is the only character that I like a lot.The plot isn’t gripping, and the comedy isn’t as consistent as in previous works, but flashes of brilliance do pop up here and there.
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LibraryThing member therebelprince
The only Jeeves novel not to feature Bertie, and it's a bit odd. Granted, the Jeeves books only take up about 15% of Wodehouse's literary oeuvre, so there's no reason why I should expect them all to be consistent, yet it's intriguing how much the loss of Bertie's narrative voice really does affect
Instead, Jeeves is temporarily servant to another man, and this is one of Wodehouse's typical country house comedies of errors. His trademark turns of phrase are as funny as ever, and he shows perhaps a greater analysis of character motivations than we usually see in the Jeeves or Blandings canons, where most of the characters are deliberately farcical.
Still, I must admit it's slightly unusual to read, since this just isn't the funniest of Wodehouse's works. It's more a breezy little character piece, but I ultimately don't think that was Wodehouse's greatest strength. It's a confection, and really you shouldn't read too much at once without feeling light-headed. Without Bertie Wooster's narrative voice to distress and bamboozle us, our knowledge that Jeeves will save the day somewhat ruins the low dramatic stakes. (Indeed, some of the business in the book's second act - where Jeeves becomes almost exclusively a classical literature quotation machine - borders on self-parody.)
Not a bad book at all, and indeed things liven up in the third act when Wodehouse really goes out guns a-blazing. Still, a trifle odd!
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the novel.Instead, Jeeves is temporarily servant to another man, and this is one of Wodehouse's typical country house comedies of errors. His trademark turns of phrase are as funny as ever, and he shows perhaps a greater analysis of character motivations than we usually see in the Jeeves or Blandings canons, where most of the characters are deliberately farcical.
Still, I must admit it's slightly unusual to read, since this just isn't the funniest of Wodehouse's works. It's more a breezy little character piece, but I ultimately don't think that was Wodehouse's greatest strength. It's a confection, and really you shouldn't read too much at once without feeling light-headed. Without Bertie Wooster's narrative voice to distress and bamboozle us, our knowledge that Jeeves will save the day somewhat ruins the low dramatic stakes. (Indeed, some of the business in the book's second act - where Jeeves becomes almost exclusively a classical literature quotation machine - borders on self-parody.)
Not a bad book at all, and indeed things liven up in the third act when Wodehouse really goes out guns a-blazing. Still, a trifle odd!
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1953
Physical description
208 p.; 7.34 inches
ISBN
1585675245 / 9781585675241
Local notes
series: #09 jeeves