I’m using this placeholder as a stand-in for “The Strange Disappearance of Mr. Buxton-Smythe” by P. G. Wodehouse since it’s not available here on Goodreads but I really wanted to review it. 😄
I just finished this short story while on a plane trip, and my goodness, it was hysterical. I confess that I had high expectations for this short story because 1) it was a Sherlock Holmes parody and pastiche (and I’m obviously very picky about pastiches); 2) it was written by the inimitable P. G. Wodehouse, who wrote the Jeeves books; and 3) I’m not huge on SH parodies since they’re essentially making fun of the Holmes stories (which I don’t mind, but they must be done tastefully).
I figured, however, that if it was P. G. Wodehouse (who was apparently a massive fan of the SH books) writing this, then it couldn’t be that bad. I was right; in fact, it was brilliant. I couldn’t stop laughing. The writing style was indeed Doylean (enough to rival popular pasticheurs!), and the humor was tasteful and well placed with a perfect Wodehousian touch.
I think the key to making good parodies of something is that the humor stays geared towards appreciators of the content. Instead of overusing terms or phrases like “elementary, my dear Watson” and doing the natural “I deduced that _____ was _____ because of _____” and then leaving it there, Wodehouse knew these stories, so he also knew what more obscure terms Conan Doyle was fond of. Any Sherlockian enjoyer would appreciate this touch. Some examples:
• “I will begin at the beginning”
• “the peculiar methods of my friend”
• “[Random person they see in the window] is coming here. That, I think, is his knock at the door.”
• “tut, tut, my dear sir, these are trifles”
• closed eyes and touching fingertips
• Holmes (Burdock Rose) telling Watson (Dr. Wotsing) to look up something in his index (with a HILARIOUS twist 🤣)
• the client explaining the case in a story-like manner
• “this appears to be a pretty little problem”
• referencing the “twisting theories to suit facts” quote but having Wotsing mention it 😂 (and Rose subsequently saying, “Didn’t I make a remark very like that to you once?” 🤣)
• “he did not speak again until we had reached our lodgings”
• and even the structure of the story, especially beginning with a dialogue between Holmes and Watson (or, in this case, Rose and Wotsing) in 221B
The plot is essentially that Wotsing started out much like the astonished Watson we all know and love, except that now that he has known Rose and his methods for so long, he has started to supersede Rose in deductive knowledge and intelligence. 🤣 Now he is the one solving the case (to Rose’s disgruntlement, which he communicates in the line, “Wotsing, in a household of two I am inclined to think that one detective is ample, a pair excessive”).
Hilariously enough, I actually find these characters just different enough that I want to write about them! 😆 In fact, I am not taking much of a liberty to say that this was infinitely better and more hilarious than Conan Doyle’s own disgrace to the Canon, “How Watson Learned the Trick.” Stick to mystery, dude. Wodehouse has you covered as far as comedy goes. 😉
Overall, excellently done. I am beginning to see that anything from Wodehouse is pure comedy gold. Most importantly, however, I appreciate that the parody was tasteful, unique, and not demeaning. Indeed, it had references that only SH readers would understand. (The index was my favorite part; you’ll love it too. 😆)
As always, Wodehouse’s diction and word choice are immaculate. Just like in the Jeeves books, he knows the rules of English, bends them, and molds them into silly-putty without ever breaking them. He knows when to use modern slang and when to be posh. Even Stephen Fry (who played Jeeves) said words much to that effect on video while holding his own copy of a Jeeves book.
Cheers to P. G. Wodehouse, the man whom I deem as the best literary humorist of the 20th century. 🙌🏻