Jeeves in the Offing

I picked this at the library quite offhand, and it’s a total deviation from the books I usually scout for at the library but this has completely changed my view of the Wooster & Jeeves series. I’m sure to be adding more books from this series to my reading list.

In this title ‘Jeeves in the Offing’, Bertram Wooster is visiting his aunt Dahlia at her house Brinkley Court is Snodsbury while Jeeves is vacationing at Herne Bay. To his absolute dismay, the other inmates at his aunt’s country house are Roberta aka Bobbie Wickham – a vivacious and overtly imaginative girl who Bertie refers to as ‘carrot-topped Jezebel’, Sir Roderick Glossop – a brain specialist who is residing at the house under the guise of a butler called Swordfish, Mrs. Cream and her son Wilbert Cream, Phyllis Mills and her step father Aubrey Upjohn who are there for a prize distribution at the local Snodsbury school.

Bertie warily reaches his aunt’s place only to be informed that his aunt has left on a personal emergency and that Bobbie Wickham would be playing the hostess. As he is working off shocking news that Bobbie springs on him, he is goaded to spy on Wilbert Cream to stop him from pursuing Phyllis Mills (his aunt’s god daughter) along with Roderick Glossop with whom he has strained relations all thanks to Bobbie’s hare-brained schemes. Its quite difficult to really sketch out the plot’s gist but suffice to say, the plot thickens when Bertie’s friend Reginald Herring is being sued by Upjohn for writing a caustic review on Upjohn’s book on Prep schools.

While my sympathies were all for Bertie Wooster, the book was a laugh riot. One gets to appreciate Wodehouse’s impeccable sense of humor that dots almost every line of dialogue. Bertie’s narratives are very funny especially concerning the cat Augustus who seems to prefer a 24 hour nap while other cats were content with 8 hours of rest. All I can say is that this book is highly recommended for reading and I’m sure that the other books in the Jeeves and Wooster series are equally hilarious.