Mike at Wrykyn

Mike #1

by P.G. Wodehouse

This charming story of the Jackson cricketing dynasty describes the adventures of Mike Jackson at boarding school as he makes his way up the sporting ladder to the first eleven. The young P. G. Wodehouse evokes the peaceful, prosperous world of middle-class England before the Great War, a place where rich men hire private cricket professionals to coach their sons at home, and little seems to matter at school except the publishing of team lists and the taking of tea. But such is the novelist's skill that he can make excitement from the small-scale dramas of teenage life, and interest even the most unsporting reader in the cricket matches he describes so lovingly. A curiosity for those who know only the Wodehouse of Blandings and Piccadilly, but a delightful one.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, School Stories, Classics, Comedy, Sports, British Literature

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE, was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read over 40 years after his death. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of prewar English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.

An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by more recent writers such as Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie and Terry Pratchett. Sean O'Casey famously called him "English literature's performing flea", a description that Wodehouse used as the title of a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934) and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song Bill in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote the lyrics for the Gershwin/Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).

Reviews

[Brian E Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was originally the 1st part of a 1909 book which centered on young mediocre student/cricket star Mike Jackson’s adventures at two different boarding schools, Wryken and Sedleigh. The 1909 book was titled “Mike,” with two parts titled ‘Mike at Wrykyn’ and ‘Mike at Sedleigh" the latter one introducing Mike’s friend Psmith. When Wodehouse switched his focus from Mike to Psmith as the lead character, they released “Mike” as two separate books, with the first half titled as “Mike at Wrykyn” and the second half retitled as “Enter Psmith” and then as “Mike and Psmith.”(“M&P”) This book, ”Mike at Wryken” can be read in editions of the separate first book of the Mike series or the first half of editions of the book called “Mike.”

“Mike at Wryken” starts off with Mike going to spend his first semester at Wrykyn public boarding school where he becomes the last in a line of Jackson family Wrykyn cricket players. Mike is predicted to become the best of the line. The story events details Mike’s emerging cricket prowess while adapting to the school culture along with Mike and friends’ experiences in both boarding school hijinks and cricket. Academic challenges are relegated to the way back seat.

In my review of M&P I stated that “It felt more like a school boy tale written to be enjoyed mainly by boarding school and former boarding school boys.” Mike at Wryken evoked that feeling even more. Wodehouse created Mike as more of a traditional “schoolboy tale” hero. I enjoyed his character and was able to identify with him. Psmith is much more of an early edition of a typical Wodehouse protagonist; like Bertie Wooster a bit more hyper-real than real.

This one had even more of an emphasis on cricket than M&P did. Yet my lack of knowledge of cricket did little to lessen my enjoyment of the matches. As I said in M&P review, “As a general sports fan, I was even able to appreciate the tension and excitement of the cricket matches even without understanding each action or the lingo.”

While this one also had less humor than most Wodehouse novels, the Wodehouse wit is still ever present, making for many smiles. I appreciated this Wodehouse schoolboy story as a nice change of pace from the usual Wodehouse social satire. A change of pace that was a very pleasant reading experience. I rate it as 4 stars.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike a young teenager is sent to Wrykyn a public school in 1909 or thereabouts. Where the sport of cricket rules. Mike is a gifted cricket player and the story follows his adventures with his colorful friend Wyatt. His main goal is to get into the First Eleven cricket team.

It is cleat that Wodehouse was a keen cricket fan.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike at Wrykyn (1909) begins with such promise. Little sister Marjory calls Mike, who has overslept himself, to the breakfast table: "I squeezed a sponge over him. He swallowed an awful lot, and then he woke up, and tried to catch me, so he's certain to be down soon." "You might have choked him!" mother interjected. "I did," said Marjory with satisfaction. "Jam, please, Phyllis, you pig." Ah yes, love at home ...

But Mike's not long for these cheerful domestic precincts. At the age of 14 he's bound for a great public school, Wrykyn, ostensibly to further his education, but in reality to prove himself worthy of a first eleven cap. Cricket is a tradition in the Jackson family, which has already produced three worthies of the wicket. Mike's dream is to play for the school by the end of his first year ... a long shot for a young man his age, but possible considering his talents.

Mike at Wrykyn is one of Wodehouse's earliest books, a school novel written for young men whose hearts had yet to discover the joys of love, learning, or Latin. What's left? Sport and more sport. The book can be read as a chrestomathy of cricketese: "As the ball left Burgess's hand he began instinctively to shape for a forward stroke. Then suddenly he realized that the thing was going to be a yorker, and banged his bat down in the block just as the ball arrived. An unpleasant sensation as of having been struck by a thunderbolt was succeeded by a feeling of relief that he had kept the ball out of his wicket. There are easier things in the world than stopping a fast yorker." Or, "... in the middle of the other bowler's over Bob hit a single; the batsmen crossed; and Burgess had his leg stump uprooted while trying a gigantic pullstroke." Ah, the memories ...

But the rest of the book is a gentle and sometimes humorous exploration of the themes of friendship, loyalty, and fitting in. There are a few eccentric characters, but they're given the sack or discredited, leaving us focused on mostly upright young paragons of British virtue, hard playing and obedient to the team captain. Wodehouse's subversive, farcical humor will have to wait for the following book, Enter Psmith .

Read Mike at Wrykyn if you adore Wodehouse, Psmith, or cricket. This isn't one of his zany, comic masterpieces; but it has its charms, especially dialogues that are harbingers of good things to come, and it's curious to watch Wodehouse's dexterous use the word "rot" or count how many times he slips in the phrase "silly ass."

[Nikki Keating · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1909, this book was wholesome and sweet. There was a lot about cricket, which I don't understand, but it is basically a boarding school story. It describes the antics of the boys, but also the kindness among friends. I wish more young adult novels today were like this.

[Doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Partway through reading this delightful romp of a boarding school tale, I realized that my entire consumption of the genre to date has been nearly exclusively female-centric, starring Enid Blyton's St Clare's and Mallory Towers series (of course,) with a side of Elinor Brent-Dyer's Chalet School and a soupcon of American tales, including the delightful It Girl spinoff of the Gossip Girl series in addition to a 90s series I can't for the life of me remember the name of or track down on the Internet (if anyone can help, it featured 4 roommates who became penpals with 4 boys from a nearby academy, but then people fell in love with each other's penpals and jealousy ensued. And someone played tennis, but I suppose that's a fairly boarding school thing to do.) So it was nice to see the experience from a boy's (idealized) perspective, and to feel that certain nostalgia at the public school values that shaped my own upbringing, ironically before my own miserable boarding school experience.

Of course, the entire thing is infused with P. G. Wodehouse's trademark wit. The only reservation I have against recommending this book whole-heartedly is that there is a lot of cricket discussed, and people with little patience for it will find the many pages devoted to the sport rather tough going. I'm personally rather ignorant of the rules of cricket, but I did enjoy the mood evoked, and I think I learned quite a bit. That aside, it was a nice evocation of a less complicated time, written with perhaps a younger target in mind than Sir Wodehouse's usual audience.

[Harrison Wein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is about Mike's years as a cricket player at school. It's early Wodehouse, and pleasant enough, but this series really takes off with the introduction of Psmith in the following book of this series, Mike and Psmith. If this is the first Wodehouse book you try, don't let it turn you off. You don't need to read this to enjoy Mike and Psmith, so I'd recommend that all but the biggest Wodehouse (and cricket) fans skip this one and start with the next.

Note: I read an edition of Mike, which includes Mike at Wrykyn and Mike and Psmith. If you have this combined edition, the latter book starts at chapter 30 and has an extra introductory sentence to bridge the two. I'd recommend just starting there.

[Illiterate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Howzat? Not really.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mike at Wrykyn is the first part (Mike and Psmith being the second) of Wodehouse's 1909 book, "Mike". In '53 these two parts were re-published separately; I'm not sure why, but there were three other novels featuring both Mike and Psmith, so maybe the thought was to pull out the one with just Mike. Anyways, we are introduced to Mike Jackson, from a large family of cricket players, as he heads off to Wrykyn (an English "public" school). His successes and failures are all part of the amusing events, and eventually lead into "part II", where he meets up with his future pal Psmith. (See "Mike and Psmith".)

[Mike Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a joyful tale of life at public school for a young cricketer. The inner wyrkings of the young minds read like a young coming of age tale while the emphasis on cricket reminds me of an English Matt Christopher. The British wit and wisdom makes it a fun little world to retire to.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Wodehouse! He's a good writer, evidenced by the fact that I enjoyed this book even though I know nothing about Cricket. Intended to meet Jeeves and ended up with a copy of this series instead. Still, jolly good!

[Keerthana · Rating 2 out of 5]

cricket is even more boring in print

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this man, but this is too much cricket. Too much.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the blurb this novel was written in three parts, in 1909, 1935 and 1953, however in style and content this is entirely reflective of P.G. Wodehouse's early works and fits in with his first novels. This means this is more of a day in the life type of book rather than the humor laden, devilishly tricky plots that emerged in his later years.

The story itself is pretty basic featuring our main character, Mike Jackson, who attends the boy's school, Wrykyn, along with his older brother Bob and focuses on both of their Cricketing aspirations. There are of course other goings on, notably with Mike's roommate Wyatt who enjoys pushing the boundaries of the school's rules, but the focus is on the brother's attempts to carry on the family tradition of being great practitioners of the cricket game and their efforts to be on the schools premiere team. So you are not surprised, if you do not understand the rules and language of cricket (And who does?) there are going to be great swaths of this novel where you have no idea of what is going on. I have made this comment before in other of Wodehouse's books which appear to be clearly of their time and written for an audience that reveled in the game.

The other activities are light hearted, and some of the dialogue is written in a style that will perhaps bring a smile to your lips, but there are no laugh out loud moments to be found here. Perhaps if you understand Cricket there would be more enjoyment to be found in this read, but as it is this is a fairly mundane effort that is not particularly memorable. If I ever find myself willing to spend the time to understand the game that is the focus of the book I will take another perusal, but otherwise, there is not much to single out this effort.

[Eyejaybee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book may have flagged up the risk of re-reading favourite books from our childhood. It must me not much short of fifty years ago that I first read this book, and I remember think that it was marvellous.

I have always looked books set in schools or universities, and have had a lifelong passion for cricket. Originally set in the Edwardian period, this books lands in both parts of the Venn diagram, telling the story of Mike Jackson, latest of his family to attend Wrykyn Public School. (As an interesting note, the version I read was a slightly updated version of the original which was published in the 1950s. The original, published in about 1907 as Mike, included this book and Mike and Psmith, which introduced Rupert Psmith, one of Wodehouse’s most popular characters. This 1950s separated the two stories out, and also featured updated references to leading cricketers, with occasional mention of the likes of Denis Compton and Fred Truman.)

Both of Mike’s elder brothers had shown great prowess at cricket: Joe has already left school, and is playing for one of the counties, while Bob is still at Wrykyn in the Sixth Form, and on the fringes of the First Eleven.

There are some entertaining descriptions of school cricket matches, in which mike has fluctuating fortunes, but the background plot is very laboured, and not a patch on some of the better known school sagas, such as the Greyfriars cycle featuring Billy Bunter, or Anthony Buckeridge’s later canon of Jennings stories.

If this had been my first encounter with P G Wodehouse, I might never have tried his later novels, which would have been a tragic loss.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

For those considering this (the first half of the 1909 novel Mike; unabridged version bizarrely out of print since... 1935?), I should like to clear some things up.

There's not *that* much cricket. I mean to say, yes, it's a public school story about a cricket genius prodigy boy, and there is indeed cricket, but as far as I can recollect, only two chapters focusing almost solely on the cricket play-by-play, those chapters indeed being unintelligible.
But the chapters here are short, and many.

Besides that, a pleasant read. 'Pleasant' isn't exactly the highest praise I can give a book, but with Wodehouse that doesn't matter, as a lot of things don't.
Despite being his first 'adult' book, it reads rather like what we would now call YA.

Fast paced (it's Wodehouse) and inclusive of far more humour (often of the quiet sort) than I had been led to believe.
I'd gotten the impression from certain reviews that this was a dull, unfunny tale of altogether too much cricket.
And it is dull, in its way, but its way has a certain charm about it.
And in certain passages, you can see the Real Wodehouse poking in his nose.

Certainly, though, believe neither the writer nor the likes of Orwell when they say this is Plum's best work.
I think that you'd have to be an obscenely old Englishman with fond reminisces of Eton or something to believe that.
The rose-tint is powerful in those chaps.

Still: fun, funny, with a couple memorable characters and some impractical life advice: Wodehouse, then.

[Shannon Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there is an end to early Wodehouse, or a gateway into his later brilliance, then Mike is both of them. Originally written as two separate serials, combined into a single volume, split, renamed, and generally reworked as late as the 1950s, this two-part story first introduces Mike Jackson and then, in a fit of brilliance that would be equaled again and again by the master, introduces Psmith.

This first part, Mike at Wrykyn, is the Wodehouse school story at its zenith. Set (naturally) at Wrykyn, which had featured before and will feature again in a handful of stories, we see Mike engaged in the usual pursuits of this sort of story — striving for glory in sports, breaking rules or helping others to do so, and generally enjoying school life in every way except the scholastic.

What sets this one apart from the rest is simply how well-developed it all is. The characters are living and distinct, even when they fit into the molds of the school-story genre. Mike’s family, appearing only as bookends to the story (except for brother Bob), stand out as well. There are no wasted scenes — even those that exist in order to make something “happen” in the plot are spun so that they become comedic exercises in their own right.

I eagerly await the coming of Psmith in the next volume, and an entry into the later world of Wodehouse that so justly made him famous.

[Andrew Fish · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a couple of early departures, Wodehouse returned to school stories with Mike at Wrykyn. Mike follows its titular character as he attends the boarding school of his older brothers with a reputation for cricket already formed.

Like most of Wodehouse’s school stories, sporting achievement takes centre stage, but a little of the absurdity of his non-school novels creeps in with the mass absenteeism of The Great Picnic and with the payoff to the story of Wyatt (last seen in a gunfight on a ranch in Argentina). This blend works well for the book, and whilst it still isn’t classic Wodehouse you can feel the confidence of the young master rising, so much so that the character of Mike would continue and be joined by Wodehouse’s second great comic creation – Psmith (Ukridge being the first) – in future novels.
This one is perhaps not just for Wodehouse completists, but for those who wish to read more widely in his world.

[Shrewbie Spitzmaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this wasn't one of Wodehouse's funniest novels (not by a long shot), I found myself really, really enjoying it, much more than I expected. Part of my enjoyment was that it dealt a lot with cricket, a sport that over the past couple of years I've become quite a fan of (thanks, in fact, to Wodehouse); being now more familiar with the game, I really liked being able to follow the events of the games that were played in the story and understanding what an "LBW" or a "Yorker" are... That being said, I also enjoyed the overall story that was told as there were many interesting characters (particularly Wyatt who is a bit of a troublemaker but also Mike's good friend) and situations (the "picnic" revolt was particularly fun). I loved the book so much that I've decided to continue on with the story and re-read its sequel, "Mike and Psmith," which was the book that originally got me into cricket.

[Emmy]

I love Wodehouse. He's one of my all-time favorite authors. But, I just couldn't get into this one. It wasn't particularly funny (not that it was trying to be), and I just don't understand the rules of cricket (which might have made this reading minimally better). I've been putting this off and putting this off, and finally, I realized that I wasn't really reading it, just sort of skimming a few pages before bed every night (and ignoring the book for the rest of the time). If this was anyone but Wodehouse, I would have put the book down and forgotten about it. So, favorite author or not, I decided it was time to move on to something different.

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads like a YA novel for public school boys circa 1910 where the sport de jour is cricket. Being an entry level cricket fan, courtesy of the T20 Blast and latterly The Hundred, I was able to better appreciate Mike’s sole non-academic interest and his quest to get selected for the first eleven. This book predates his partnership with Psmith who in later (better) books undoubtedly acts as a foil bringing out PGW’s more humorous writing, so in cricketing parlance this hits more of a single than a boundary.

[Chet Makoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mike at Wrykyn" (1953) This book is the first half of the 1909 book "Mike" before Psmith enters the stories. "Mike" (1909) was reissued in 1953 in two parts as "Mike at Wrykyn" and also "Mike and Psmith." The second part was also published in 1935 under the title of "Enter Psmith." Malcolm Muggeridge, in the foreword to "The Uncollected Wodehouse," by David A. Jasen, said “I did ask him [P.G. Wodehouse] which of his books he liked best, and after some rumination he said that ‘Mike’ had a special place in his esteem because it conveyed so well the scene and atmosphere of a cricket match.”

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant story that I should have read when I was a boy. However, loving cricket and the frame of mind it engenders or rather engendered 50 years ago seemed rather necessary to appreciate and enjoy. If you did not understand cricket then the book would be hard to understand, and some of the ideas espousing rebellious teenage behaviour are undoubtedly dated (at best, illegal would be a better description). Overall, I did enjoy the escape to warm sunny days with nothing to do other than lie back and watch the sport.

[Harshoman Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming novel. Lots of nostalgia.
Not for everyone though- it isn’t really ‘funny’, and it doesn’t try to be.
Probably not the right book for you if you:
1. Don’t enjoy cricket
2. Don’t miss high school pranks/adventures
3. Love Jeeves and Blandings way too much, and expect more of the same from Wodehouse’s school stories

Cheers!

[Megan Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite quote from the book is:
“Man’s inability to get out of bed in the morning is a curious thing. One may reason with oneself clearly and forcibly without the slightest effect. One knows that delay means inconvenience. Perhaps it may spoil one’s whole day. And one also knows that a single resolute heave will do the trick. But logic is of no use. One simply lies there.”
One can relate!

[Larry Shackley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm re-reading the entire Wodehouse canon again, and have spent a few weeks in my least favorite zone: the school novels. I thought I had escaped after the six "main" school books, but I forgot about "Mike," which was originally one long book but later split in two. Unfortunately, the first half (this book) got the boring bits, and the second half ("Mike and Psmith") isn't half-bad. It seems that British public schools were basically havens for sport, since that's all the boys care about. A teacher is only "jolly good" if he is a cricketer or footballer. This book contains several interminable, detailed descriptions of cricket matches guaranteed to make American readers run for the exits. Don't read this book unless you have exhausted all of PGW's later books - and never recommend it to a friend, except perhaps a cricket fanatic.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpses of the glories to come. It probably wouldn’t stand on its own if it wasn’t Wodehouse.
Interesting distinctions drawn between breaking rules (acceptable) and disobedience of authority (not).

[Chris Amies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading this as a lad but forgot it was by PG Wodehouse. Boarding schools are great if you're a keen sportsman as Mike here is. I wasn't and so boarding school was an unmitigated hell. Be warned.

[JR McCravy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a whole lot goes on, but for some reason these Mike and Psmith books are just darn pleasant to read.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Wodehouse.

[Francis Pellow · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable schoolboy adventure. i feel a weakness might be that the characters aren't particularly distinct.