Uncle Fred in the Springtime

Uncle Fred #1

by P.G. Wodehouse

Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known as Uncle Fred, is back “to spread sweetness and light” wherever he goes. At the request of Lord Emsworth, Uncle Fred journeys to Blandings Castle to steal the Empress of Blandings before the ill-tempered, egg-throwing Duke of Dunstable can lay claim to her. Disguised as the eminent nerve specialist Sir Roderick Glossop, and with his distressed nephew Pongo in tow, Uncle Fred must not only steal a pig but also reunite a young couple and diagnose various members of the upper class with imaginary mental illnesses, all before his domineering wife realizes he’s escaped their country estate.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Comedy, Audiobook, British Literature, 20th Century

242 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

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

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no way to walk away from this book without leaving a bit of your heart with the charming Uncle Fred, Earl of Ickenham.
I know I did.



The gist is that good-hearted but somewhat stupid, Pongo Twistleton finds himself along for a fairly insane ride after he asks his favorite uncle to help him scrape enough money together to pay off his gambling debts.



Lord Emsworth & his beloved pig, Empress, are hiding out from the egg-throwing Duke of Dunstable who wants to take her from Emsworth for his own good. All while Uncle Fred cheerfully impersonates Sir Roderick Glossop at Blandings castle.
As with all things Wodehouse, there are all kinds of mix-ups that lead to romance helped by a bit of identity theft.
Shenanigans. Lots and lots of shenanigans.



If you're a Wodehouse fan I don't have to sell you on this one.
If you haven't given his books a go yet, then this is an excellent place to start.
Recommended.

[Jason Koivu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, what in the dickens is going on now? Impostors, you say? At Blandings Castle, you say? Well, you don't say!

Lord Ickenham, aka Uncle Fred is at it again. The OCC (original cool cucumber) has cooked up another improbable scheme to make all well again in a world in which he loves her, she loves him, Father A doesn't approve, Father B doesn't approve, Young Gadabout A needs a bit of the ready cash, and so does Young Gadabout B. Who better to tie these things all together than Uncle Fred?

Wodehouse juggles plots with dizzying skill. I did a rough count and Uncle Fred in the Springtime contains approximately a bucketload of characters. Every character's got an agenda and they all compete with and against one another simultaneously. Sometimes the plot lines are silly, sometimes skillful, and sometimes they leave you wondering, "What? Who? Where?" in the most delightful way. It's like a murder mystery in which no one gets murdered...not too seriously at any rate.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! The best power couple - Uncle Fred and Empress of Blandings 😄

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time was I read a lot of PG Wodehouse, in the pre-web days where series that were oversupplied in used bookstore had a special place in my heart. I eventually had to stop because while I loved them I couldn't remember if I'd read Carry On, Jeeves but not Right Ho, Jeeves. And since all the plots involved Bertie starting himself accidentally engaged while trying to help out a friend and ended with him giving up on his desire to wear a green tie or white pants over the objections of Jeeves, I simply ran out of options. (A friend implied you could remember which book it was based on which piece of clothing Bertie sacrificed at the end. If there's not already an app for that, there should be.)

After twenty-five years later it seemed OK to start reading again, since the plots are interchangeable anyway and I certainly don't remember the jokes anymore. This book is from the Blandings series so a different cast of characters. Uncle Fred is an interesting sort--he's a sixty year old Earl with the recklessness, overconfidence and generosity of Wooster with something approaching the intelligence and savoir-faire of Jeeves. The rest are 20-somethings who got a little confusing, since it's too easy to think of Fred as everyone's uncle the romantic triangles get a little weird.

I'll make one slightly serious point: In my twenties the 'old ball and chain' stereotype of all women over 50 must have passed by unnoticed, but it got old this time around. One of those annoying period jokes that just didn't age well, especially when the nominally good-hearted hero indulges in quips that come off a bit mean-spirited today. The book could have used an Aunt Dahlia.

Stats for the PG Wodehouse app I mentioned:

Plot Keyword: Pignapping,
Number of brain specialists: 2
Number of non-impostor brain specialists: 1
Primary card game: Persian monarchs
Best phobia: Fear of lambs
Lost clothing: None. This is a Blanding book, not a Jeeves book. Do pay attention.
Worth Reading: Yes

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is always my aim to try and spread sweetness and light."

This is Wodehouse at his absolute best! My favorite book of his to date!

Lord "Call me Uncle Fred" Ickenham, a loveable gentleman in his sixties who feels like he is still in his twenties, comes to life the second his wife leaves for France, giving him strict orders to stay at home and out of trouble. (She may haven threatened to skin him with a blunt knife...) But what's a meddling uncle to do when his favorite nephew manages to cause his fiancé to break off the engagement, said nephew's best friend manages to anger his fiancé (who so happens to be Uncle Fred's favorite niece), and people left and right are begging him to set various things to rights? What follows is a hilarious romp which includes a pig-napping, Uncle Fred impersonating the respectable looney doctor, ehm, nerve specialist, Roderick Glossop, mix-ups galore, and, of course, happy endings for everyone.

To use the blurb Stephen Fry wrote for the Wodehouse novels:

"You don't analyze such sunlit perfection, you just bask in its warmth and splendor."

I need to get my hands on more Uncle Fred stories!!!

[Melindam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uncle Fred is a worthy pal of Galahad Threepwood's. Similis simili gaudet.

And I can never never listen to Loch Lomond with the same ears again.

This has been a delightful Wodehouse adventure, very well narrated by Jonathan Cecil..

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no way to walk away from this book without leaving a bit of your heart with the charming Uncle Fred, Earl of Ickenham.
I know I did.



The gist is that good-hearted but somewhat stupid, Pongo Twistleton finds himself along for a fairly insane ride after he asks his favorite uncle to help him scrape enough money together to pay off his gambling debts.



Lord Emsworth & his beloved pig, Empress, are hiding out from the egg-throwing Duke of Dunstable who wants to take her from Emsworth for his own good. All while Uncle Fred cheerfully impersonates Sir Roderick Glossop at Blandings castle.
As with all things Wodehouse, there are all kinds of mix-ups that lead to romance helped by a bit of identity theft.
Shenanigans. Lots and lots of shenanigans.



If you're a Wodehouse fan I don't have to sell you on this one.
If you haven't given his books a go yet, then this is an excellent place to start.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this one; it has some of my favourite characters, particularly Lord Ickenham (potty), who is a hoot. Also on hand we have lord Emsworth; (completely potty,) Connie; (absolutely potty), The Duke of Dunstable; (potty, of course), and Baxter; (a blister).

Lord Ickenham drags a gaggle of imposters down to Blandings Castle where they are all imposting away like the dickens, and creating havoc.

Such fun!

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uncle Fred in the springtime gets itchy for adventure, especially in the name of bringing two loving hearts together. He is not above impersonation, conning, burglary, and lying through his teeth, all in the name of a good cause, of course, and in the stead of the rather clueless youngsters. All of these shenanigans take place at Blandings Castle, where Lord Elmsworth is still madly fond of his prize winning pig, the Empress, who in the good old traditions of Pigs Have Wings, gets stolen again. A notable sum must be obtained to open a soup stall, there are gambling debts, night time egg throwing, a morose uncle, and the usual madcap Wodehouse situational comedy.

I felt that this one lacked the laugh out loud moments and was a bit overcomplicated, but uncle Fred was a thoroughly enjoyable character. He is smart and can fix situations in the vein of Jeeves, but he has a charm and easy social grace that a butler is not allowed to have. Fun venture into non-Jeeves Wodehouse.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

But there were some things which could break down his poise, and one of these was the discovery that he was closeted in a small bathroom with the largest pig he had ever encountered.

It's always a delight to visit Blandings but this book isn't quite as polished or hilarious as its predecessors. For one thing the usual characters are either missing (Gally, Freddie Threepwood) or little more than names on pages (Beach). The Efficient Baxter feels particularly under-used given his earnest potential for comedy and even Lord Em feels marginal. There's a welcome showing from Sir Roderick Glossop, a crossover from the Jeeves and Wooster books, and various new characters are introduced, including Lord Bosham, Freddie's elder brother and just as gloriously light-headed.

This is my first encounter with Lord Ickenham, otherwise known as Uncle Fred: suave, quick-witted, confident, he feels like a kind of meta avatar for the author as he pulls all the strings to get the various plots rolling. I think I prefer the potty PGW characters who are slow on the uptake and cause utter chaos or the ones with tempestuous tempers like the Duke of Dunstable throwing eggs at anyone whistling or singing a certain Scottish tune.

PGW is so good at ticking off the Blandings tropes without them feeling tired: there are always imposters, someone - or two - is planning a pignapping, and pairs of lovers need to be reconciled. Here, though, Polly is a bit of a blank though Ricky Gilpin has character in spades, and the split between Valerie and Horace is left dangling.

So not my favourite Blandings despite a masterful farce towards the end involving two characters getting doped and the Empress frothing at the mouth after eating a bar of soap in a puzzling food-free guest bedroom. But maybe that's because PGW has raised the bar so high with the previous books.

[Bokeshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again Wodehouse brings roses back to the cheeks. And once again I am amazed by his ability with words, aided by his astounding vocabulary and apparent erudition. From beautifully worded original descriptions in polysyllables, to both popular and obscure Latinisms, to numerous vernaculars and slang, he seems perfectly at home with them all and can fashion them into something light, bright and sparkling. His command of the English language is gorgeously beautiful, and as Keats puts it, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

In short, this one is a standard wodehousean fare, which is to say it's funny, sunny, clever, gentle, and optimistic. Like his eponymous hero Uncle Fred, PGW always spreads sweetness and light. Pure win.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1939 and maybe because of the encroaching war,this story lacked the sparkle and joie-de-vivre of other Wodehouse books. I found it hard to get into and it failed to hold my attention for long. Having said that, any Wodehouse book is always a good and enjoyable read but this is not one of the better ones.

[Hirondelle (not getting all notifications) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2026 reread:

Reread, some 16 years later, and while some Blandings Castle stories survived the reread admirably and even got upped (Summer Lighting and Heavy Weather are kind of perfect), this just didn't and its rating is coming down sharply.

It just felt a lot more tired, forced than the earlier stories. A lot less of Beach (the butler) and Angus McAllister (the head hardener) and even of the Empress (the pig) which are definite favorites of mine, but we got introduced a bunch of other characters from the Wodehouse Universe dropping by and I just do not like the characters, and end up judgmentally (yes, still me!) disliking the upper class glib cad, and all the gambling and actually sympathizing with Bosham, Lady Constance and particularly Valerie. The plot is over the top and that is a given for Wodehouse, but it's over the top in a way that depends too much on the Duke being way way too autocratic and capricious and somehow it failed when other pig kidnapping schemes had me laughing. In a way, the whole book seemed somewhat recycled, not as felt as earlier books.

I am going to do a pause on the Wodehouse right now - and I think my favorite Wodehouse books at the 1920s-early 1930s, so when I next explore or reread I will focus on those! (Or more probably will tackle the stockpile of old second hand paperbacks I buy rescue when I find one , if I can locate any more...)

2010 notes, when I rated it 5 stars (What was I thinking?)

A plot like this should not be used the first time, nevermind at its nth recycling. The plot, it´s a blandings book, the plot is almost always the same, and it gives me vertigo to even look at it, much less closely.But still more than just working, the product is sort of perfect.

Though maybe not my utter favorite of the Blandings books.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

'How dotty is your uncle?'
'Quite fairly dotty.'
'I see. Had your father any such structural weakness?'
'No. No, he was all right. He collected Japanese prints,' said Horace, with an afterthought.
'He didn't think he *was* a Japanese print.'
'Oh, no. Rather not.'
'Then that is all right.'

My 41st Wodehouse novel. ~ and the old fellow is just as sprightly as ever, here leading with one of the most entertaining of his many entertaining creations, Frederick Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham (aka Uncle Fred). 

Fred is a delight but not above chicanery, esp. if it's for the benefit of those he loves, those he just wants to see being happy. Fortunately Fred is nothing if not quick-witted - and he often needs to think on his feet, sometimes on his toes, and often in a split-second. 

But that's because this is farce - one of Wodehouse's more blatant examples of full-fledged farce. In fact, this novel is rather too farce-heavy, in danger of overload. You might be forgiven if, along the way, you find yourself having difficulty recalling from time to time who exactly is trying to pull one over on who... and why. 

Things get... involved... and convoluted. 

You may be wondering about the plot. Don't. In part, it involves stealing a beloved pig. But, along with everything else, that's just an excuse for silliness. Sublime silliness - sandwiched inside exquisite wit. (And, actually, the pig directly enters only slightly. And that's when he's trying to run away.)  

As so often happens with Wodehouse, there's a love angle (or three), money woes, mistaken identity (mostly one major one here; devised, of course).

One small caveat: though, normally, Wodehouse can be an equal-opportunity-employer in creating male and female characters, in this novel women quite blatantly take a back seat. They're there, but pretty much only just. As opposed to how Wodehouse has shown them to be elsewhere, the women here are throw pillows. This novel is mainly about the men. 

More than that, even; it's mainly about Fred. And thank God for that! He's delicious! And rather inexhaustible. By the time we reach the conclusion (and the concluding line), not only has all come out, finally, comfortably well but Fred has triumphed in a way that was suggested all along in the book's title.

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brilliant, hilarious Wodehouse. I find it is best to read a couple of these at a time and then take a break.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord Ickenham (Uncle Fred) is down at Blandings Castle doing a "bit of good" - well, we know no good can come of that, don't we? Except belly-laughter, that is!

I love it when two worlds of Wodehouse collide. It's like mixing two types of liquor together and taking a swig - guaranteed to knock you out! (But then, Jeeves will always be there with his inimitable pickups on the morning after, won't he?)

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I repeat the review of another P.G. Wodehouse novel. Because it's the same.
Yes, we have the similar set of characters in this book (Uncle Fred is exactly like Galahad Threepwood), and the usual story of multiple engagements, break-ups, miscommunications, benevolent uncles, gambling nephews, impostors, haughty aunts, pig-napping, etc. And I love all of it.

Author Lynne Truss once said "Wodehouse always lifts your spirits,no matter how high they happen to be already.”" I completely agree with her.

Here is Wodehouse's epic reply when someone criticized him for repeating the characters and the stories.
“A certain critic -- for such men, I regret to say, do exist -- made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained 'all the old Wodehouse characters under different names.' He has probably by now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha: but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge. With my superior intelligence, I have out-generalled the man this time by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy.”

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought poor Pongo was going to have a nervous breakdown. I know I would have! No matter how many times Uncle Fred's lies are exposed, his schemes fail, he just smoothly steps forward and comes up with something even more precarious to cover it up, while Pongo sweats in the background. There were far too many star-crossed lovers in this one, plus I never could figure out if the duke really wanted the pig, or if he just thought everyone should give him anything he looked at. . . ? Really, he's the most horrible character I've encountered in any of these books, and it was rather jarring. Sure, it's funny that he keeps throwing eggs and at people, because someone is constantly singing or whistling "Loch Lomond" outside his window, but when people start listing other things he's done, he really should be Sir Roderick Glossop's care! Or something! Poor Lord Emsworth! He only wants to be left alone, and to take care of his pig!

[Michael Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant. I laughed the whole way through.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so funny in parts that I found myself rewinding it and listening to certain scenes over and over. Absolute classic PG Wodehouse.

[Barbarroja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una verdadera delicia. Probablemente, la mejor novela cómica que he leído nunca. Mis respetos, señor Wodehouse.

[Elitsa Ivanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Когато имам нужда да си подобря настроението много обичам да чета Уудхаус. Голямо въображение има и страхотно чувство за хумор. 3.5☆

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even for a Wodehouse plot, this was exquisitely wacky. I actually had to listen to a couple chapters again to make sure I was remembering who loved whom and who was impersonating whom and for what reason. Uncle Fred is a delightful character; he is full of pluck and absolutely nothing rattles him. I love that he has a Jeeves-like imperturbability with a Wooster-like debonair politeness. He's a delightful creation! My favorite part of this (besides Uncle Fred) was probably a scene with the Empress of Blandings. It was described so hilariously.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impostors, schemes, pig rustling, and more impostors - The indominitible Uncle Fred conducts a veritable three- ring circus at Blandings. Guest appearance by Sir Roderick Glossop, nerve doctor to the upper crust. Delightful.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if you happen to know what the word "excesses" means, but those are what Pongo's Uncle Fred, when in London, invariably commits.

[Mariya Mincheva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Първи роман от автора, който безапелационно ми допада и не усещам безвъзвратно отживял. Четенето беше истинско забавление. :)

[Христо Блажев · Rating 4 out of 5]

В Бландингс през пролетта всички откачат: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/c...

Вижте сега, това място си е откачено. Тук за песните замерят с яйца, тук залагат на дрехи, а в очакванията влиза и обектът на залозите да се появи издокаран като зулуски воин. Тук любовта пламва и гасне за миг, разпалвана или потушавана според правилни или не дотам добре подбрани думи – но в крайна сметка всички знаем, че за когото трябва, тя ще запламти окончателно в крайна сметка. Тук богаташите са обект на обожание – и на постоянни врънкания за пари, разбира се. Всеки подозира всекиго в лудост, а без колебание се викат и прочути психиатри, за да удостоверят със сигурност тези прояви – а това дава и възможност други да се превъплътят в такива роли, за да проникнат в Бландингс, това средоточие на всичко друго, но не и на здрав разум.

Storytel
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/c...

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely way to start the year with the hilarious Blanding Castle characters. Connie’s friend the Duke of Dunstable threatens to take the empress pig from her infatuated owner Lord Emsworth. There is also the issue of Ricky the poet trying to get £250 to buy an onion soup bar so he can marry the lovely Polly. There is also the fact that Pongo needs £250 to pay off some gambling debts. Thankfully Lord Ikenham assists his nephew to get the readies through being an imposter and confidence man.

This is one of the funniest P G Wodehouse books I have read. A pig in a bathroom, trigger happy son Lord Bosham and overhearing conversations and proceeding to get the wrong end of the stick. Hilarity ensues.

[Ritika · Rating 4 out of 5]

My namesake gets into trouble, and Ickenham, with his sweetness and light, extricates him, while also reuniting some lovelorn swains with their mates. Wodehouse is Wodehouse at his almost best- Emsworth is slightly more aware (he mostly remembers that shenanigans are taking place. The Blandings lakes must have been swimming in fish that season), the Duke's corrupt soul tarnishes a bit more, and then we see the origin story of the Onion Soup bar. I do believe that the only thing keeping it from a 5 star is Emsworth muttering "Capital! Capital!" a few hundred times. And a lot more Empress.

But a solid 4.5.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful romp involving the Duke of Dunstable trying to take Emsworth's pride and joy, the Empress of Blandings, and put her on a reducing diet. In an attempt to avoid this, Emsworth enlists his brother Galahad's old pal, Pongo Twistleton's Uncle Fred.

Jonathan Cecil narrated this audiobook and was once again a treat to listen to.