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Jeeves and the Song of Songs
Originally published in the Strand, in September 1929.
Paperback
First published September 1, 1929
About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,720 books7,158 followersSir 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).
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).
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
November 22, 2017
It's deja vu all over again!
Once I got into it, I soon realized I'd read this before. Not specifically this book, but the stories within it. You see, Jeeves & the Song of Songs is also "Jeeves & the Song of Songs," which is to say it is the title of a book and the title of a story. It is also the first story in this collection, kicking off a bevy of solid stories in the Jeeves & Wooster line. Let's take a look at them!
"Jeeves & the Song of Songs" - Bertie Wooster is embroiled in an old chum's romance. Too much of the same song proves its undoing, perhaps for the best. This little number is a classic and was included in the Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry tv version of Jeeves & Wooster.
"Indian Summer of an Uncle" - One of Bertie's uncles is about to make an ass of himself, matrimonially speaking, and Bertie's tasked with putting an end to it. This is one time where Wodehouse treads a bit rough on class distinction. It's not one of his best. Let's move on!
"Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" - Bertie has a thing for Bobbie Wickham and tries to do a good deed for her at a girls' prep school. Doing good deeds for others never does Bertie any good. Things fall apart like a papier-mâché umbrella in the rain. This is classic-form Wodehouse and a story that sets the parameters used in a number of his full-length books.
"The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy" - An old pal has no backbone, so Bertie hatches up a scheme to get him his just desserts. Bertie ought to know by now that it's best to let Jeeves come up with the schemes, but alas, all goes amiss and Jeeves must tidy it up in the end. I think this might be the only story in this collection which I hadn't read before. It's not bad!
"Jeeves and the Impending Doom" - One of Bertie's awful aunts covertly tries to hook him up with a job he doesn't want. A friend of Bertie's is trying to keep a job with Bertie's aunt that he doesn't like but needs to keep, and Bertie must help him keep it by keeping safe the unpleasant blighter who the aunt is trying to secure Bertie's job with. Make sense? No? Welcome to the world of Wodehouse!
"Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit" - Jeeves is looking forward to a trip to Monte Carlo. Bertie is thinking about marriage to that Wickham gal. Jeeves realizes how unsuitable the match would be well before Bertie figures it out, and goes to great lengths to make his master see the light. Jeeves inevitably saves the day in all these stories, but seldom does he long for any recompense for his extraneous efforts, aside perhaps for Bertie to dress more conservatively. It's nice to see a little personal desire out of the man.
All in all, Jeeves & the Song of Songs cobbles together a very solid set of shorts. I'm a big Jeeves & Wooster fan, so I didn't mind the reread and was happy to find at least one new tale herein. Short and sweet, this would make a good primer for the newcomer!
Once I got into it, I soon realized I'd read this before. Not specifically this book, but the stories within it. You see, Jeeves & the Song of Songs is also "Jeeves & the Song of Songs," which is to say it is the title of a book and the title of a story. It is also the first story in this collection, kicking off a bevy of solid stories in the Jeeves & Wooster line. Let's take a look at them!
"Jeeves & the Song of Songs" - Bertie Wooster is embroiled in an old chum's romance. Too much of the same song proves its undoing, perhaps for the best. This little number is a classic and was included in the Hugh Laurie/Stephen Fry tv version of Jeeves & Wooster.
"Indian Summer of an Uncle" - One of Bertie's uncles is about to make an ass of himself, matrimonially speaking, and Bertie's tasked with putting an end to it. This is one time where Wodehouse treads a bit rough on class distinction. It's not one of his best. Let's move on!
"Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" - Bertie has a thing for Bobbie Wickham and tries to do a good deed for her at a girls' prep school. Doing good deeds for others never does Bertie any good. Things fall apart like a papier-mâché umbrella in the rain. This is classic-form Wodehouse and a story that sets the parameters used in a number of his full-length books.
"The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy" - An old pal has no backbone, so Bertie hatches up a scheme to get him his just desserts. Bertie ought to know by now that it's best to let Jeeves come up with the schemes, but alas, all goes amiss and Jeeves must tidy it up in the end. I think this might be the only story in this collection which I hadn't read before. It's not bad!
"Jeeves and the Impending Doom" - One of Bertie's awful aunts covertly tries to hook him up with a job he doesn't want. A friend of Bertie's is trying to keep a job with Bertie's aunt that he doesn't like but needs to keep, and Bertie must help him keep it by keeping safe the unpleasant blighter who the aunt is trying to secure Bertie's job with. Make sense? No? Welcome to the world of Wodehouse!
"Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit" - Jeeves is looking forward to a trip to Monte Carlo. Bertie is thinking about marriage to that Wickham gal. Jeeves realizes how unsuitable the match would be well before Bertie figures it out, and goes to great lengths to make his master see the light. Jeeves inevitably saves the day in all these stories, but seldom does he long for any recompense for his extraneous efforts, aside perhaps for Bertie to dress more conservatively. It's nice to see a little personal desire out of the man.
All in all, Jeeves & the Song of Songs cobbles together a very solid set of shorts. I'm a big Jeeves & Wooster fan, so I didn't mind the reread and was happy to find at least one new tale herein. Short and sweet, this would make a good primer for the newcomer!
April 13, 2021
”She seemed to me a good deal like what Cleopatra would have been like after going in too freely for the starches and cereals. I don’t know why it is, but women who have anything to do with Opera, even if they’re only studying for it, always appear to run to surplus poundage.”
Ha ! Carbs inhibiting lipolysis is certainly not recent research like the media suggests. It was common knowledge in 1926 when The Strand first published Wodehouse short stories.
This is my second read; each time I return to Wodehouse, there’s something new to uncover. <3
Ha ! Carbs inhibiting lipolysis is certainly not recent research like the media suggests. It was common knowledge in 1926 when The Strand first published Wodehouse short stories.
This is my second read; each time I return to Wodehouse, there’s something new to uncover. <3
December 22, 2017
Initially and early on, the themes and ideas of P G Wodehouse revolves around love and coming up with a 'cunning plan' to change it, of which, this book is true to form.
March 27, 2009
Another wonderful recording (from Recorded Books Direct) of a book designed to lift the soul in these troubled times. Rather than being a novel, the book includes 5 or 6 short stories starring (as 1st person narrator and main character) Bertram (Bertie) Wooster and his gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves. The narrator (don't have name in front of me...) *does* Bertie Wooster's voice well enough, but he really shines with Jeeves. It helps to have read, as in physical book form, at least one P.G. Wodehouse Jeeves novel to see in action with with one's own eyeballs (versus an audio recording) a Bertie Wooster characteristic abbreviation. For example, "the right Honorable [so-and-so:]" becomes "the right Hon," and when read by a reader I can see where these sorts of abbreviations could be confusing to the uninitiated. However, they're hilarious, and to hear them spoken (or read aloud) in context adds to the fun.
The Wooster / Jeeves books are some of THE FUNNIEST books around. I highly recommend them for anyone in need of a laugh and who likes their humor swift and smart.
The Wooster / Jeeves books are some of THE FUNNIEST books around. I highly recommend them for anyone in need of a laugh and who likes their humor swift and smart.
November 23, 2009
The plots of these Jeeves books are all too forgettable, but hot dang, Wodehouse can make me laugh out loud every thirty seconds (time my watch by it) as I drive around doing errands.
When I arrive chipper to the car repair shop, what else matters?
When I arrive chipper to the car repair shop, what else matters?
September 3, 2009
My first "Jeeves" book. Listened to it on CD in the car while traveling with my English major daughter . . . thoroughly enjoyable for a car ride (if you like that British dry kind of humor).
January 17, 2012
I love Bertie and Jeeves, and Wodehouse is even more fun when read aloud.
February 5, 2012
The narrator really makes this series pop! Effervently funny!
May 26, 2015
Like the old TV show "I Love Lucy" these short stories are all variations of the same plot, but they are all very amusing.
April 20, 2018
Excellent!
March 26, 2019
Another romp with Jeeves and Wooster, delightfully read by Alexander Spencer.
November 10, 2023
This is, without doubt, the single funniest story I have ever read. Sorry, it just is.
April 26, 2021
Such a funny story.
August 9, 2021
Straight out funny, hilarious, and it mirrors life.
Made into television episodes with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
💥 Recommended.
📺
Made into television episodes with Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
💥 Recommended.
📺
January 29, 2010
I listened to the audio version of this book, and it could be laugh-out-loud funny at times. Very British and very droll. Plus the prose is wonderful.
July 27, 2010
I suppose it's more of the same, but great fun to listen to nonetheless.
March 6, 2015
Comedic gold.
April 7, 2017
Entertaining as P.G. Wodehouse always is. Short stories.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews