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13 July 2011

Review: STIFF UPPER LIP, JEEVES, P.G. Wodehouse - audio

  • UNABRIDGED
  • Narrated by Jonathan Cecil
  • Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
  • originally published 1963
Publisher's summary

When the news breaks that Madeline Bassett is engaged to Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bertie's relief is intense. But when Madeline attempts to turn Gussie vegetarian, Bertie's instinct for self-preservation sends him with the steadfast Jeeves on another uproariously funny mission to Sir Watkyn Bassett's residence, Totleigh Towers.

My take

Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series was published from 1919 to 1974 and I suspect that by the time STIFF UPPER LIP was published the timeless Bertie Wooster may have lost most of his followers. Certainly by 1963 the style and content of this novel would have felt very dated. Part of me recognises that it is meant to be hilariously funny, and another part recognises that it is a spoof, but most of my brain didn't like it.

So why did I listen to it? Well, I was trying to add to the novels that I am reading and listening to for Cruisin' thru Cozies Reading Challenge reading challenge. I kept listening because I thought I might come across a redeeming feature but sadly it got no better. A niggling voice at the back of my mind kept asking me why I was persisting.

But then if you, unlike me, enjoy the comic mixed in with your crime fiction, and are looking for a light read/audio then you might enjoy a dabble in the Jeeves/Wooster novels. Predictably, you won't find me there. My tastes are definitely darker.

Check a comprehensive listing at Fantastic Fiction.

My rating: 3.5

STIFF UPPER LIP, JEEVES is this week's Friday's Forgotten book for the meme hosted by Patti Abbott on Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books as well as a book I am listing on my efforts for the Cruisin' thru Cozies Reading Challenge (which I have now completed) and the British Books Challenge where I am trying for a Crown.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous13 July 2011 at 08:37

    Kerrie - Thanks for your honest appraisal; sorry to hear this one wasn't so much to your liking. You make such a good point about the way people's tastes in crime fiction change over time. I think it's interesting that what's perceived one way in one generation is seen quite differently in another.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CHE13 July 2011 at 19:34

    My favorite works of Wodehouse are actually the Blandings castle series.

    ReplyDelete

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