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Blandings Castle #3
Blandings Castle
“I envy those who’ve never read [Wodehouse] before—the prospect of reams of unread Wodehouse stretching out in front of you is . . . something which is enticing to contemplate.” —Tony Blair
Welcome to Blandings Castle, home of the well-intentioned but often distracted Lord Emsworth—and there are quite a few distractions at this stately country house. Head gardener Angus McAllister has resigned before the Shrewsbury Agricultural Show, when Emsworth needs him most; Lady Constance, Emsworth’s officious sister, has caged her daughter in the castle to keep her away from the persistent Beefy Bingham; and the Blandings pigman, Wellbeloved, has been sent to prison for drunken and disorderly conduct just days before Emsworth’s adored sow can win first prize at the 87th Annual Shropshire Show. Through P.G. Wodehouse’s expert wit, we witness Lord Emsworth trying to solve these predicaments and others, with the unexpected help (and hindrance) of a lively array of characters.273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 12, 1935
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About the author
P.G. Wodehouse
1,680 books6,925 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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December 12, 2024
This was my first ever Wodehouse.
So as you can imagine, it has a special spot in my heart.
The dotty Lord Emsworth, the indomitable Lady Constance, the hapless Freddie, and her porkiness...the Empress of Blandings.
You root for Lord Emsworth to find the backbone to stand up to his sister and head gardener, and you root for Freddie to not cock it up...whatever it happens to be.
This book does have the story of Freddie finally managing to get a girl to walk down the aisle with him.
Keeping her proves to be a bit trickier, but he can count on his father to sweet talk his wife into staying his wife. Right?
Towards the back of the book, Mr. Mulliner regales the local pub with stories from his days in Hollywood. I thought Castaways, the story of people who have been unfortunate enough to wander too close to a studio and have been press-ganged, imprisoned, and forced to finish a movie script, was pretty funny.
Overall, this is a pretty great selection from the Blandings Castle crew.
Recommended.
So as you can imagine, it has a special spot in my heart.
The dotty Lord Emsworth, the indomitable Lady Constance, the hapless Freddie, and her porkiness...the Empress of Blandings.
You root for Lord Emsworth to find the backbone to stand up to his sister and head gardener, and you root for Freddie to not cock it up...whatever it happens to be.
This book does have the story of Freddie finally managing to get a girl to walk down the aisle with him.
Keeping her proves to be a bit trickier, but he can count on his father to sweet talk his wife into staying his wife. Right?
Towards the back of the book, Mr. Mulliner regales the local pub with stories from his days in Hollywood. I thought Castaways, the story of people who have been unfortunate enough to wander too close to a studio and have been press-ganged, imprisoned, and forced to finish a movie script, was pretty funny.
Overall, this is a pretty great selection from the Blandings Castle crew.
Recommended.
January 1, 2022
I sprinkled these dozen stories over four months: the adorable, exasperating, and familiar Lord Emsworth, and then the tiddly raconteur, Mr Mulliner. They were published in 1935.
BLANDINGS CASTLE, 5*
Old favourites: Lord Emsworth, his feckless second son, the Empress of Blandings (not a human relative!), people outwitting each other accidentally and deliberately, multiple misunderstandings, the trials of young love, crazy coincidences, and Wodehouse's inimitable analogies. The stories are self-contained, but with a loosely connecting narrative arc.
Note: Avoid the 2013 TV adaption called Blandings. It had a good cast, but was unwatchably awful, imo.
1. The Custody of the Pumpkin
"It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine."
Agriculturally, one mostly associates Lord Emsworth with competitive pig breeding, so the pumpkin angle was fresh. There are cattle, too:
“It was a fine cow, as cows go, but like so many cows, it lacked sustained dramatic interest.”
However, concerns about his son, The Hon Freddie Threepwood, cast a comic pall on his otherwise cheerful demeanour. Freddie doesn’t want confrontation either:
“He had the air of one who is being pushed towards dangerous machinery in which he is loath to become entangled.”
I also find something inherently amusing in Aggie being an unsuitable wife because her father is an American dog biscuit millionaire.
Image: Dog biscuits - similar to those I occasionally, secretly, ate as a child! (Source)
2. Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
“Peril brings out unsuspected qualities in every man. Lord Emsworth was not a professional acrobat, but the leap he gave in this crisis would have justified his being mistaken as one.”
Further worries and interventions concerning Freddie’s love life make me question Lord Emsworth’s parenting. He wants the best for his son, but I cannot condone his judgement and methods, and his despair at the very sight of Freddie is tragic. Yet Wodehouse still makes me smile.
"A ray of sunshine, which had been advancing jauntily along the carpet, caught sight of his face and slunk out, abashed."
3. Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey!
How to charm a pig and so win a Fat Pig contest, even though circumstances keep throwing new impediments at you.
4. Company for Gertrude
“The master of Blandings was one of those fluffy-minded old gentlemen who are happiest when experimenting with strange drugs. In a less censorious age, he would have been a Borgia.”
Another young couple, Gertrude and Rupert, facing parental objections. A dash of slapstick, plenty of confusion, misapplied medication, and general joie de vivre - eventually.
5. The Go-Getter
Freddie is immune to the carefully tended beauty of his father’s garden:
“He eyed the lobelias with an unseeing stare, as if he were cutting an undesirable acquaintance in the paddock at Ascot.”
I, on the other hand, am immune to the charms of most dogs, and this story was too focused on canines and their food, although the different reactions to a dog fight in the drawing room were brilliant.
6. Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
"He drank coffee with the air of a man who regretted that it was not hemlock."
Lord Emsworth at his most benevolent, in his simple, non-judgemental kindness, when others are aghast at “the admixture of the Fresh Air London children” during the time of the village fete.
Image: Fan art by ashokbhatia (Source)
A BOBBIE WICKHAM STORY
7. Mr Potter Takes a Rest Cure
“The doves in the immemorial elms cooed with precisely the right gentlemanly intonation.”
Mr Potter is a US publisher, staying at the country house of one of his authors, novelist Lady Wickham. He’s reading a manuscript titled “The Ethics of Suicide”. An interesting subject, especially in a time when attempted suicide was a crime. However, comic misunderstandings related to the subject jarred.
THE MULLINERS OF HOLLYWOOD, 3*
I was never as much of a fan of the Mulliner or Hollywood stories as Wodehouse’s others, let alone both together. Evidently, that’s still true. As with Meet Mr. Mulliner, each story takes place in The Angler’s Rest, where Mr Mulliner tells tall tales about his relatives to fellow drinkers known by their tipple: “A Tankard of Stout”, “Small Bass”, and “Gin Fizz”. Wodehouse worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood for a couple of years before publishing these stories, so I fear the horrid starlets and working conditions are some reflection of his own experience.
8. Monkey Business
“If America is not to go the way of Babylon and Rome, we must come back to normalcy and the sane outlook.”
The film “Black Africa” involves a gorilla, which provides opportunity to show machismo - or not.
9. The Nodder
“A Nodder is something like a Yes-Man, only lower in the social scale.”
But the question at the heart of this is whether child stars are really “midgets”?!
“Most people, eyeing him, would have been reminded of a corpse which had been several days in the water: but Mr Schnellenhamer thought he looked like a leopard about to spring.”
10. The Juice of an Orange
“[He] was not one of those men who can eat sandwiches aloofly and, as it were, surreptitiously… There was a brio, a gusto, about the performance which stripped it of all disguise.”
The dangers of extreme dieting, and a comic scene where an underling is told he’ll have his pay cut because the studio is struggling, but he bargains down to even less.
Image: Orange juice - delicious, but not enough to live on! (Source)
11. The Rise of Minna Nordstrom
The problem of being a studio boss is that “everybody you meet starts acting at you” - so how does an ambitious wannabe get noticed?
“The Duke of Wigan, who, as so many British dukes do, was at this time passing slowly through Hollywood.”
12. The Castaways
Hold on to your hat if you want to live happily ever after!
A better Mulliner story
Mulliner’s Buck-U-Uppo. See my review HERE.
BLANDINGS CASTLE, 5*
Old favourites: Lord Emsworth, his feckless second son, the Empress of Blandings (not a human relative!), people outwitting each other accidentally and deliberately, multiple misunderstandings, the trials of young love, crazy coincidences, and Wodehouse's inimitable analogies. The stories are self-contained, but with a loosely connecting narrative arc.
Note: Avoid the 2013 TV adaption called Blandings. It had a good cast, but was unwatchably awful, imo.
1. The Custody of the Pumpkin
"It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine."
Agriculturally, one mostly associates Lord Emsworth with competitive pig breeding, so the pumpkin angle was fresh. There are cattle, too:
“It was a fine cow, as cows go, but like so many cows, it lacked sustained dramatic interest.”
However, concerns about his son, The Hon Freddie Threepwood, cast a comic pall on his otherwise cheerful demeanour. Freddie doesn’t want confrontation either:
“He had the air of one who is being pushed towards dangerous machinery in which he is loath to become entangled.”
I also find something inherently amusing in Aggie being an unsuitable wife because her father is an American dog biscuit millionaire.
Image: Dog biscuits - similar to those I occasionally, secretly, ate as a child! (Source)
2. Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best
“Peril brings out unsuspected qualities in every man. Lord Emsworth was not a professional acrobat, but the leap he gave in this crisis would have justified his being mistaken as one.”
Further worries and interventions concerning Freddie’s love life make me question Lord Emsworth’s parenting. He wants the best for his son, but I cannot condone his judgement and methods, and his despair at the very sight of Freddie is tragic. Yet Wodehouse still makes me smile.
"A ray of sunshine, which had been advancing jauntily along the carpet, caught sight of his face and slunk out, abashed."
3. Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey!
How to charm a pig and so win a Fat Pig contest, even though circumstances keep throwing new impediments at you.
4. Company for Gertrude
“The master of Blandings was one of those fluffy-minded old gentlemen who are happiest when experimenting with strange drugs. In a less censorious age, he would have been a Borgia.”
Another young couple, Gertrude and Rupert, facing parental objections. A dash of slapstick, plenty of confusion, misapplied medication, and general joie de vivre - eventually.
5. The Go-Getter
Freddie is immune to the carefully tended beauty of his father’s garden:
“He eyed the lobelias with an unseeing stare, as if he were cutting an undesirable acquaintance in the paddock at Ascot.”
I, on the other hand, am immune to the charms of most dogs, and this story was too focused on canines and their food, although the different reactions to a dog fight in the drawing room were brilliant.
6. Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
"He drank coffee with the air of a man who regretted that it was not hemlock."
Lord Emsworth at his most benevolent, in his simple, non-judgemental kindness, when others are aghast at “the admixture of the Fresh Air London children” during the time of the village fete.
Image: Fan art by ashokbhatia (Source)
A BOBBIE WICKHAM STORY
7. Mr Potter Takes a Rest Cure
“The doves in the immemorial elms cooed with precisely the right gentlemanly intonation.”
Mr Potter is a US publisher, staying at the country house of one of his authors, novelist Lady Wickham. He’s reading a manuscript titled “The Ethics of Suicide”. An interesting subject, especially in a time when attempted suicide was a crime. However, comic misunderstandings related to the subject jarred.
THE MULLINERS OF HOLLYWOOD, 3*
I was never as much of a fan of the Mulliner or Hollywood stories as Wodehouse’s others, let alone both together. Evidently, that’s still true. As with Meet Mr. Mulliner, each story takes place in The Angler’s Rest, where Mr Mulliner tells tall tales about his relatives to fellow drinkers known by their tipple: “A Tankard of Stout”, “Small Bass”, and “Gin Fizz”. Wodehouse worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood for a couple of years before publishing these stories, so I fear the horrid starlets and working conditions are some reflection of his own experience.
8. Monkey Business
“If America is not to go the way of Babylon and Rome, we must come back to normalcy and the sane outlook.”
The film “Black Africa” involves a gorilla, which provides opportunity to show machismo - or not.
9. The Nodder
“A Nodder is something like a Yes-Man, only lower in the social scale.”
But the question at the heart of this is whether child stars are really “midgets”?!
“Most people, eyeing him, would have been reminded of a corpse which had been several days in the water: but Mr Schnellenhamer thought he looked like a leopard about to spring.”
10. The Juice of an Orange
“[He] was not one of those men who can eat sandwiches aloofly and, as it were, surreptitiously… There was a brio, a gusto, about the performance which stripped it of all disguise.”
The dangers of extreme dieting, and a comic scene where an underling is told he’ll have his pay cut because the studio is struggling, but he bargains down to even less.
Image: Orange juice - delicious, but not enough to live on! (Source)
11. The Rise of Minna Nordstrom
The problem of being a studio boss is that “everybody you meet starts acting at you” - so how does an ambitious wannabe get noticed?
“The Duke of Wigan, who, as so many British dukes do, was at this time passing slowly through Hollywood.”
12. The Castaways
Hold on to your hat if you want to live happily ever after!
A better Mulliner story
Mulliner’s Buck-U-Uppo. See my review HERE.
February 3, 2014
Did I enjoy Blandings Castle? Oh I say, rather! I've been to Blandings before, usually with Uncle Fred, but this is the first time I've felt like a resident of the asylum.
Though similar to say a Totleigh Towers of the Jeeves & Wooster world, Blandings nonetheless has its own set of rules, its own cast of loons. Lord Emsworth, aka Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth is the principle character and a good ol' bean. In some stories he comes off as a doddering old Methuselah, but apparently he's meant to be only in his 60s. Irregardless of whatever story you're reading, Emsworth has a fairly one-track mind, he worries over his prize pig, the Empress of Blandings. If it's not the pig, then it's a pumpkin, but mainly it's the pig. Hardships and annoyances are tossed at him from every corner, yet he always keeps his eyes on the prize...pig.
Some of the hardships and annoyances include his constantly pestering sister Lady Constance Keeble, his good-for-nothing young son Freddy, his gravelly-souled gardner Angus McAllister, and bank holidays in August.
When Emsworth and his pig and pumpkin are not the focal point of the story, the topic almost inevitably is love. Some young couple, or rather I should say, some young trio is always falling in and out of love in Wodehouse's stories. Just as often as not, the young lovers are running from engagements as they are running to them. I can't count the number of times I've read about Bertie Wooster making a near escape from the alter.
Rounding out the collection of tales in Blandings Castle, nearly half the book to be more precise, are stories centered around the Hollywood movie scene of the early days. Wodehouse wrote a film script or two and committed his experiences to paper in the form of fictional, wacky misadventures. Some good satirical barbs at the industry provide a few laughs. However, good as these stories are, I can't help but feel that they are a tack-on to pad out the page total to make up a full book. That said, it's a very enjoyable book!
Addendum For Your Viewing Pleasure: I almost forgot, did you know there's a BBC tv series based on the Blandings books? I haven't seen it yet, but it's a comin' via the Netflix. I'm pretty excited, because it stars some actors from the Harry Potter movies as well as Jennifer Saunders of Ab Fab. I am however tempering my excitement, knowing full well that it will probably be flawed as any Wodehouse adapted story for the screen has been. Without his witty narration, it just isn't the same. But, we'll see!
Though similar to say a Totleigh Towers of the Jeeves & Wooster world, Blandings nonetheless has its own set of rules, its own cast of loons. Lord Emsworth, aka Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth is the principle character and a good ol' bean. In some stories he comes off as a doddering old Methuselah, but apparently he's meant to be only in his 60s. Irregardless of whatever story you're reading, Emsworth has a fairly one-track mind, he worries over his prize pig, the Empress of Blandings. If it's not the pig, then it's a pumpkin, but mainly it's the pig. Hardships and annoyances are tossed at him from every corner, yet he always keeps his eyes on the prize...pig.
Some of the hardships and annoyances include his constantly pestering sister Lady Constance Keeble, his good-for-nothing young son Freddy, his gravelly-souled gardner Angus McAllister, and bank holidays in August.
When Emsworth and his pig and pumpkin are not the focal point of the story, the topic almost inevitably is love. Some young couple, or rather I should say, some young trio is always falling in and out of love in Wodehouse's stories. Just as often as not, the young lovers are running from engagements as they are running to them. I can't count the number of times I've read about Bertie Wooster making a near escape from the alter.
Rounding out the collection of tales in Blandings Castle, nearly half the book to be more precise, are stories centered around the Hollywood movie scene of the early days. Wodehouse wrote a film script or two and committed his experiences to paper in the form of fictional, wacky misadventures. Some good satirical barbs at the industry provide a few laughs. However, good as these stories are, I can't help but feel that they are a tack-on to pad out the page total to make up a full book. That said, it's a very enjoyable book!
Addendum For Your Viewing Pleasure: I almost forgot, did you know there's a BBC tv series based on the Blandings books? I haven't seen it yet, but it's a comin' via the Netflix. I'm pretty excited, because it stars some actors from the Harry Potter movies as well as Jennifer Saunders of Ab Fab. I am however tempering my excitement, knowing full well that it will probably be flawed as any Wodehouse adapted story for the screen has been. Without his witty narration, it just isn't the same. But, we'll see!
September 5, 2013
The Custody of the Pumpkin: It seems Lord Emsworth was a pumpkin enthusiast before he acquired his pig fixation. He fires the groundskeeper because Freddie Threepwood's in love with a cousin of his. Soon Emsworth fears for his pumpkin's health and goes to London to re-hire McAllister. Hilarity ensues. The Earl is in all his absent-minded glory in this one. "Have that cats gotten at it?"
Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best: Freddie and his wife have a spat and Freddie ends up back in London. The ninth Earl initiall decides not to intervene but does so when it dawns on him that Freddie intends to return to Blandings if his marriage fails. Couple this with a Jeeves-eque side plot where Beach is thinking about quitting because Emsworth grew a beard and there you have it.
Pig Hoo-o-o-o-ey: The Empress of Blandings quits eating after her trainer ends up in the jug. Angela, Emsworth's niece, breaks off her engagement to cavort with Jimmy Belford. Jimmy's what brings the plots together. It seems he worked for two years on a farm...
Company for Gertrude: Gertrude, yet another niece, is staying at Blandngs because her mother doesn't want her marrying Beefy Bingham, a friend of Freddie's. Freddie gives Beefy the idea to go to Blandings under another name and ingratiate himself to the ninth Earl so Gertrude's mother will have to give consent, thus continuing the tradition of an imposter in Blandings.
The Go-Getter: Beefy and Gertrude are on the rocks. Gertrude's mooning over Orlo Watkin, a tenor. Freddie's trying to get them back together while also trying to sell Donaldson's Dog-Joy. Freddie's pretty Wooster-ish in this one.
Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend: Emsworth in a foul mood over August Bank Holiday and meets a little girl that is a kindred spirit.
Mr. Potter Takes a Rest Cure: Bobbie Wickham faces an unwanted engagement to Clifford Gandle until she manages to convince Gandle and J.H. Potter that one another are crazy. Classic Wodehouse.
Monkey Business: Montrose Mulliner's fiancee has him cowed and ditches him for a big game hunter until an ape goes on the rampage.
Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best: Freddie and his wife have a spat and Freddie ends up back in London. The ninth Earl initiall decides not to intervene but does so when it dawns on him that Freddie intends to return to Blandings if his marriage fails. Couple this with a Jeeves-eque side plot where Beach is thinking about quitting because Emsworth grew a beard and there you have it.
Pig Hoo-o-o-o-ey: The Empress of Blandings quits eating after her trainer ends up in the jug. Angela, Emsworth's niece, breaks off her engagement to cavort with Jimmy Belford. Jimmy's what brings the plots together. It seems he worked for two years on a farm...
Company for Gertrude: Gertrude, yet another niece, is staying at Blandngs because her mother doesn't want her marrying Beefy Bingham, a friend of Freddie's. Freddie gives Beefy the idea to go to Blandings under another name and ingratiate himself to the ninth Earl so Gertrude's mother will have to give consent, thus continuing the tradition of an imposter in Blandings.
The Go-Getter: Beefy and Gertrude are on the rocks. Gertrude's mooning over Orlo Watkin, a tenor. Freddie's trying to get them back together while also trying to sell Donaldson's Dog-Joy. Freddie's pretty Wooster-ish in this one.
Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend: Emsworth in a foul mood over August Bank Holiday and meets a little girl that is a kindred spirit.
Mr. Potter Takes a Rest Cure: Bobbie Wickham faces an unwanted engagement to Clifford Gandle until she manages to convince Gandle and J.H. Potter that one another are crazy. Classic Wodehouse.
Monkey Business: Montrose Mulliner's fiancee has him cowed and ditches him for a big game hunter until an ape goes on the rampage.
May 9, 2020
I laughed.
I laughed.
And I laughed some more.
Five stars for the Blandings Castle stories. The Mulliners were a cut below that, but this is still some prime Wodehouse.
"Years before, when a boy, and romantic as most boys are, his lordship had sometimes regretted that the Emsworths, though an ancient clan, did not possess a Family Curse. How little he had suspected that he was shortly to become the father of it."
"... weighing profit and loss as he sipped his port,Lord Emsworth considered that the ledger worked out on the right side. True, he had taken into his house what appeared to be a half-witted acrobat, but then any friend of his son Frederick was bound to be weak in the head ..."
"In predicting that Lord Emsworth would appreciate the gift of a lotion, Freddie had spoken with an unerring knowledge of his father's character. The master of Blandings was one of those fluffy-minded old gentlemen who are happiest when experimenting with strange drugs. In a less censorious age he would have been a Borgia."
I laughed.
And I laughed some more.
Five stars for the Blandings Castle stories. The Mulliners were a cut below that, but this is still some prime Wodehouse.
"Years before, when a boy, and romantic as most boys are, his lordship had sometimes regretted that the Emsworths, though an ancient clan, did not possess a Family Curse. How little he had suspected that he was shortly to become the father of it."
"... weighing profit and loss as he sipped his port,Lord Emsworth considered that the ledger worked out on the right side. True, he had taken into his house what appeared to be a half-witted acrobat, but then any friend of his son Frederick was bound to be weak in the head ..."
"In predicting that Lord Emsworth would appreciate the gift of a lotion, Freddie had spoken with an unerring knowledge of his father's character. The master of Blandings was one of those fluffy-minded old gentlemen who are happiest when experimenting with strange drugs. In a less censorious age he would have been a Borgia."
March 20, 2024
I'm rereading all the Blandings Castle stories and thought I might have missed these Blanding short stories first time round but, as it turned out, they were all familiar to me. Still, as you know, Wodehouse is always a treat, the plots are secondary to the joy of the characters, turn of phrase, and all round sunniness of his wonderful Wodehousian world.
This collection also contains some non-Blanding stories. The first six stories all take place at Blandings Castle. These are set some time between the events of Leave it to Psmith (1923) and those of Summer Lightning (1929). All are predictably varying hues of marvellous.
The seventh story features Bobbie Wickham (who is an acquaintance and sometime fiancée of Bertie Wooster). This is downright hilarious. I was weeping with laughter at points. I love it when PG can reduce me to that state. This story is worth the price of admission on its own.
The last five are Mr Mulliner stories and all are set in Hollywood among the movie studios that Wodehouse knew from his time as a screenwriter in 1930–31. This is my first encounter with Mr Mulliner and, whilst not up to the dizzy heights of the best of Blandings or Jeeves & Wooster, they were all enjoyable enough.
Each Mulliner story starts in The Angler’s Rest pub, where Mr Mulliner tells tall tales about his relatives to fellow drinkers known by their drink (e.g A Tankard of Stout, Small Bass, and Gin Fizz - Mulliner himself is a Hot Scotch and Lemon).
I have subsequently discovered that Bobbie Wickham appears in three of the stories in Mr. Mulliner Speaking so will be reading that one in the near future, after the effect she had on me in this book.
Delightful
4/5
This collection also contains some non-Blanding stories. The first six stories all take place at Blandings Castle. These are set some time between the events of Leave it to Psmith (1923) and those of Summer Lightning (1929). All are predictably varying hues of marvellous.
The seventh story features Bobbie Wickham (who is an acquaintance and sometime fiancée of Bertie Wooster). This is downright hilarious. I was weeping with laughter at points. I love it when PG can reduce me to that state. This story is worth the price of admission on its own.
The last five are Mr Mulliner stories and all are set in Hollywood among the movie studios that Wodehouse knew from his time as a screenwriter in 1930–31. This is my first encounter with Mr Mulliner and, whilst not up to the dizzy heights of the best of Blandings or Jeeves & Wooster, they were all enjoyable enough.
Each Mulliner story starts in The Angler’s Rest pub, where Mr Mulliner tells tall tales about his relatives to fellow drinkers known by their drink (e.g A Tankard of Stout, Small Bass, and Gin Fizz - Mulliner himself is a Hot Scotch and Lemon).
I have subsequently discovered that Bobbie Wickham appears in three of the stories in Mr. Mulliner Speaking so will be reading that one in the near future, after the effect she had on me in this book.
Delightful
4/5
April 23, 2019
The title is a bit of a misnomer. The first half of the book indeed is all about the delightful Blandings Castle and its crazy gang. But the second half covers stories from the Mr. Mulliner saga. To be honest, while I adore the Blandings stories, I can't say the same for Mr. Mulliner. The Mulliner cast simply doesn't have the same charm for me.
The Custody of the Pumpkin: This is a delightful story of a stubborn gardener matching wills with Lord Emsworth. Also Freddie Threepwood gets married! Loved this one. - 5 stars
Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best: Lord Emsworth helps out his younger son in resolving his marital problems. Probably would have been best if he hadn't! - 4 stars
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey: We meet the Empress for the first time ever! I have loved this gorgeous animal since childhood. Lord Emsworth also learns how to properly talk to his piggy. - 5 stars
Company for Gertrude: This story follows the typical Blandings formula. Emsworth's niece gets sent to Blandings because she loves the wrong person. Fate plays its role, as does Freddie Threepwood. - 5 stars
The Go-Getter: Poor Freddie tries to sell dog biscuits to his aunt but doesn't appear to be having much success. But a younger son can't sit on his laurels - he has to pull up his pants and get in some action. - 5 stars
Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend: This is a rather sweet story where Lord Emsworth makes friends with a little girl from the village and finds courage. - 4 stars
Mr Potter Takes a Rest Cure: Pure bonkers! Roberta Wickham is introduced here. Her mother wants her to marry a man she doesn't want to. Her way of getting rid of him is ... well, let's just say - creative. - 5 stars
Monkey Business: The Mulliner stories are all set in Hollywood. In this one, Monrose Mulliner is in love with a woman who wants to get married in the gorilla cage. It's fun but I didn't really enjoy this one. Also was a huge disappointment seeing these stories right after the delightful Blandings sagas. - 2 stars
The Nodder: Another Mulliner story: this time Wilmot Mulliner is in love with a woman who thinks he is chicken. His job is to nod at the director's speeches, and he does it admirably well. But would any woman of spirit marry such a man? - 2 stars
The Juice of an Orange: This story was slightly better than the previous two. Mulliner is put on a diet which changes his entire character. Just drinking orange juice (or the juice of an orange) is quite potent! - 4 stars
The Rise of Minna Nordstrorm: I think this was my favourite of all the Mulliner stories. How do popular actresses get made in Hollywood? Read and find out! - 5 stars
The Castaways: Mulliner is enslaved into writing scripts, which plays havoc with his love life. - 2 stars
The Custody of the Pumpkin: This is a delightful story of a stubborn gardener matching wills with Lord Emsworth. Also Freddie Threepwood gets married! Loved this one. - 5 stars
Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best: Lord Emsworth helps out his younger son in resolving his marital problems. Probably would have been best if he hadn't! - 4 stars
Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey: We meet the Empress for the first time ever! I have loved this gorgeous animal since childhood. Lord Emsworth also learns how to properly talk to his piggy. - 5 stars
Company for Gertrude: This story follows the typical Blandings formula. Emsworth's niece gets sent to Blandings because she loves the wrong person. Fate plays its role, as does Freddie Threepwood. - 5 stars
The Go-Getter: Poor Freddie tries to sell dog biscuits to his aunt but doesn't appear to be having much success. But a younger son can't sit on his laurels - he has to pull up his pants and get in some action. - 5 stars
Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend: This is a rather sweet story where Lord Emsworth makes friends with a little girl from the village and finds courage. - 4 stars
Mr Potter Takes a Rest Cure: Pure bonkers! Roberta Wickham is introduced here. Her mother wants her to marry a man she doesn't want to. Her way of getting rid of him is ... well, let's just say - creative. - 5 stars
Monkey Business: The Mulliner stories are all set in Hollywood. In this one, Monrose Mulliner is in love with a woman who wants to get married in the gorilla cage. It's fun but I didn't really enjoy this one. Also was a huge disappointment seeing these stories right after the delightful Blandings sagas. - 2 stars
The Nodder: Another Mulliner story: this time Wilmot Mulliner is in love with a woman who thinks he is chicken. His job is to nod at the director's speeches, and he does it admirably well. But would any woman of spirit marry such a man? - 2 stars
The Juice of an Orange: This story was slightly better than the previous two. Mulliner is put on a diet which changes his entire character. Just drinking orange juice (or the juice of an orange) is quite potent! - 4 stars
The Rise of Minna Nordstrorm: I think this was my favourite of all the Mulliner stories. How do popular actresses get made in Hollywood? Read and find out! - 5 stars
The Castaways: Mulliner is enslaved into writing scripts, which plays havoc with his love life. - 2 stars
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April 9, 2021
It's my belief that in the olden days, people were better writers.
Or maybe that's not quite true; without easy access to publishing, only the very best writers were published (yes the odd shite one like D.H. Lawrence still snuck through, but you know what I mean). Nowadays every Tom, Dick, and Harry can publish whatever they want. That's a good thing of course for diversity of plotlines, but I do feel very wistful for books which you can open and know for a guaranteed fact that the grammar etc is flawless. You don't even have that guarantee with some traditionally published books nowadays, that's how low the bar has sunk.
Wodehouse has an absolutely delightful writing style which just SCREAMS 1930s England. It's witty, and polished, and turns everything into an art form. Even the short stories collected in this book. Sometimes, I listen to old broadcasts from this time period, and I'm always blown away by the accents people had; these slow, posh, painfully elegant drawls which people just don't have anymore. Reading Wodehouse is like listening to one of those broadcasts. It's pure joy.
Or maybe that's not quite true; without easy access to publishing, only the very best writers were published (yes the odd shite one like D.H. Lawrence still snuck through, but you know what I mean). Nowadays every Tom, Dick, and Harry can publish whatever they want. That's a good thing of course for diversity of plotlines, but I do feel very wistful for books which you can open and know for a guaranteed fact that the grammar etc is flawless. You don't even have that guarantee with some traditionally published books nowadays, that's how low the bar has sunk.
Wodehouse has an absolutely delightful writing style which just SCREAMS 1930s England. It's witty, and polished, and turns everything into an art form. Even the short stories collected in this book. Sometimes, I listen to old broadcasts from this time period, and I'm always blown away by the accents people had; these slow, posh, painfully elegant drawls which people just don't have anymore. Reading Wodehouse is like listening to one of those broadcasts. It's pure joy.
March 11, 2021
Is this the best Wodehouse? It is the best Wodehouse. Are there about 30 other Best Wodehouses? Yes, yes there are. But this is definitely one of them.
February 25, 2020
From TIA:
Short stories by P.G. WODEHOUSE adapted for radio in seven parts by RICHARD
USBORNE.
Lord Emsworth....................Richard Vernon
Beach............................Lockwood West
Lady Constance...................MArgot Boyd
The Hon Grederick Threepwood.....Steve Hodson
Narator..........................Nigel Anthony
Producer.........................Bobby Jaye
1. The Custody of the Pumpkin (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 2nd February 1985 12:27)
McAllister.......................Henry Stamper
Mr Donaldson.....................Michael Golide
2. Lord Emsworth Grows a Beard (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 9th February 1985 12:27)
Mrs Tremlow......................Phillada Sewell
Aggie Threepwood.................Fiona Mathieson
Jane Yorke.......................Valerie Colgan
3. Pig-Hoo-oo-o-o-o-ey! (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 16th February 1985 12:27)
Magistrate.......................Peter Tuddenham
Angela...........................Diana Martin
James Belford....................Edward Duke
4. Company for Gertrude (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 23th February 1985 12:27)
5. Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 2nd March 1985 12:27)
Gladys...........................Susanna Dawson
6. Crime Wave at Blandings - Part 1 (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 9th March 1985 12:27)
Jane.............................Helen Atkinson Wood
George...........................Elizabeth Proud
Mr Baxter........................Michael McClain
7. Crime Wave at Blandings - Part 2 (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 16th March 1985 12:27)
https://archive.org/details/blandings...
Short stories by P.G. WODEHOUSE adapted for radio in seven parts by RICHARD
USBORNE.
Lord Emsworth....................Richard Vernon
Beach............................Lockwood West
Lady Constance...................MArgot Boyd
The Hon Grederick Threepwood.....Steve Hodson
Narator..........................Nigel Anthony
Producer.........................Bobby Jaye
1. The Custody of the Pumpkin (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 2nd February 1985 12:27)
McAllister.......................Henry Stamper
Mr Donaldson.....................Michael Golide
2. Lord Emsworth Grows a Beard (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 9th February 1985 12:27)
Mrs Tremlow......................Phillada Sewell
Aggie Threepwood.................Fiona Mathieson
Jane Yorke.......................Valerie Colgan
3. Pig-Hoo-oo-o-o-o-ey! (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 16th February 1985 12:27)
Magistrate.......................Peter Tuddenham
Angela...........................Diana Martin
James Belford....................Edward Duke
4. Company for Gertrude (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 23th February 1985 12:27)
5. Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 2nd March 1985 12:27)
Gladys...........................Susanna Dawson
6. Crime Wave at Blandings - Part 1 (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 9th March 1985 12:27)
Jane.............................Helen Atkinson Wood
George...........................Elizabeth Proud
Mr Baxter........................Michael McClain
7. Crime Wave at Blandings - Part 2 (Broadcast Radio 4, Sat 16th March 1985 12:27)
https://archive.org/details/blandings...
June 18, 2016
It would probably be considered cheating to mark this as "read" because I haven't read any of the "Elsewhere" stories & it's time to send this book on to other locations. That said, couldn't we all use some Wodehouse at the end of the day? Or should I say, couldn't all of us who can fully appreciate Wodehouse use some at the end of the day? B asked me what I was chortling about, but when I read him some of the real choice bits (gyrating dog, I am looking at you particularly), he looked at me like I was touched. But never mind him! I will always have a warm spot in my heart for a certain dreamy peer & all the other inmates of this particular stately home in England.
"Beach understood. If he was surprised at the presence of a the younger son of the house in the amber drawing-room with a sack of rats in his hand, he gave no indication of the fact. With a murmured apology, he secured the sack and started to withdraw. It was not, strictly speaking, his place to carry rats, but a good butler is always ready to give and take. Only so can the amenities of a large country house be preserved."
"Gazing at him, she was reminded of the heroes of old. And few could have denied that he made a strangely impressive figure, this large young man, standing there with bulging eyes & a gyrating dog in each hand."
And finally, "Nature has made some men quicker thinkers than others. Lord Emsworth's was one of those leisurely brains." Beautiful.
"Beach understood. If he was surprised at the presence of a the younger son of the house in the amber drawing-room with a sack of rats in his hand, he gave no indication of the fact. With a murmured apology, he secured the sack and started to withdraw. It was not, strictly speaking, his place to carry rats, but a good butler is always ready to give and take. Only so can the amenities of a large country house be preserved."
"Gazing at him, she was reminded of the heroes of old. And few could have denied that he made a strangely impressive figure, this large young man, standing there with bulging eyes & a gyrating dog in each hand."
And finally, "Nature has made some men quicker thinkers than others. Lord Emsworth's was one of those leisurely brains." Beautiful.
August 9, 2007
If it happened at Blandings Castle, it's priceless.
January 22, 2018
An absolute masterpiece of humorous short story writing from PGWodehouse. Wonderful plots, writing, humour.
Six Blandings Castle, one Bobby Wickham, and five Mulliners of Hollywood. The last five reflect Wodehouse's time as a scriptwriter in Hollywood, poking much fun at the ignorance and management of the picture studios by its moguls, and the servile condition of the staff, including the 'nodders', whose job was just to nod silently in agreeing with their bosses, but only after the 'yesmen' had had their say! Just superb.
The GR blurb:
'Here are a dozen stories to delight all Wodehouse addicts...A crooning tenor is attempting to captivate the affections of the Rev. Rupert Bingham's fiancee, Lord Emsworth is striving to remove a pumpkin-shaped blot on the family escutcheon, the Hon. Freddie Threepwood is making a last-ditch attempt to convert Lady Alcester to the beneficial quality of Donaldson's Dog-Joy, and in the bar-parlor of the Anglers' Rest, Mr. Mulliner fascinates everyone with the secret history of old Hollywood.'
Six Blandings Castle, one Bobby Wickham, and five Mulliners of Hollywood. The last five reflect Wodehouse's time as a scriptwriter in Hollywood, poking much fun at the ignorance and management of the picture studios by its moguls, and the servile condition of the staff, including the 'nodders', whose job was just to nod silently in agreeing with their bosses, but only after the 'yesmen' had had their say! Just superb.
The GR blurb:
'Here are a dozen stories to delight all Wodehouse addicts...A crooning tenor is attempting to captivate the affections of the Rev. Rupert Bingham's fiancee, Lord Emsworth is striving to remove a pumpkin-shaped blot on the family escutcheon, the Hon. Freddie Threepwood is making a last-ditch attempt to convert Lady Alcester to the beneficial quality of Donaldson's Dog-Joy, and in the bar-parlor of the Anglers' Rest, Mr. Mulliner fascinates everyone with the secret history of old Hollywood.'
April 12, 2023
This is a book of 12 short stories by P.G. Wodehouse. The first six are excellent as they involve the familiar characters of Blandings Castle such as Lord Emsworth, his son Freddie Threepwood, Beach the butler and the monumental Empress of Blandings who wins her first silver medal in the Fat Pigs class at the Shropshire Agricultural Show in the classic short story PIG-HOO-O-O-O-EY. Hopefully, the publisher doesn't feel the need to change this story in the future so that the Fat Pigs class becomes the Monumental Pigs class or something similar. The Empress consumes 58000 calories a day and so is rather overweight.
The seventh story is a Bobby Wickham story and the last five all relate to the Mulliners of Hollywood. I didn't enjoy these stories as much.
In chronological terms, these Blandings Castle short stories come after "Leave It To PSmith" but before "Summer Lightning" so the Empress wins her first silver medal in this book but struggles to repeat her success in both "Summer Lightning" and "Heavy Weather".
The seventh story is a Bobby Wickham story and the last five all relate to the Mulliners of Hollywood. I didn't enjoy these stories as much.
In chronological terms, these Blandings Castle short stories come after "Leave It To PSmith" but before "Summer Lightning" so the Empress wins her first silver medal in this book but struggles to repeat her success in both "Summer Lightning" and "Heavy Weather".
November 3, 2019
Тиквата, тиквата…: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...
Този кратък сборник съдържа шепа забавни истории, които носят обилна порция смях сред райските селения на Замъка Блайндингс, където природата е нетипично щедра към лорд Емсуърт. Той е отдаден от цялото си сърце и душа на своята градина – и особено в частност на една гигантска тиква, на която разчита да го окичи с непреходна регионална слава, и на една тлъста свиня-медалистка, за която има сходни въжделения.
Storytel
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...
Този кратък сборник съдържа шепа забавни истории, които носят обилна порция смях сред райските селения на Замъка Блайндингс, където природата е нетипично щедра към лорд Емсуърт. Той е отдаден от цялото си сърце и душа на своята градина – и особено в частност на една гигантска тиква, на която разчита да го окичи с непреходна регионална слава, и на една тлъста свиня-медалистка, за която има сходни въжделения.
Storytel
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/b...
July 29, 2021
To remove the sting of my recent, heavy reading - and to put a spring back in my step - I returned to Wodehouse, figuring if I'm going to read about chaos, it may as well have effervescence. I also found balm for hot weather.
Rather than take up another in the Wooster-Jeeves jaunts this time, I veered off into the 'Blandings Castle' series, with which I'm not familiar. Gone, of course, is the lilting W-J banter. In its place is a protagonist (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth) who also has a butler (Beach) but the Earl does not serve as his straight-man. (Beach is little more than functional.)
He is also less amiable than Wooster. If not a curmudgeon, the Earl is certainly at bottom a malcontent when it comes to the world around him. His hobbies - and those alone - preoccupy him and he's perfectly blissful being self-absorbed. When called on to recognize the rest of the human race for one reason or another, his bent toward sarcasm accompanies him. ~unless he must rise to the occasion for the overriding purpose of having his needs met.
The Earl's resentment re: socialization is always at its height when it comes to his own son Frederick, a spirited, enterprising lad who nevertheless - and inexplicably - fills his father with apoplexy. (How Clarence ever managed to propagate in the first place is a mystery.)
This series-introduction volume - listed sequentially at #3 - is the perfect launch for the series proper. It's a collection of six, extended short stories - each with a strong, comic premise in its spine and each containing dazzling wit that seems to effortlessly cascade. Each story either highlights the Earl's character:
Rather than take up another in the Wooster-Jeeves jaunts this time, I veered off into the 'Blandings Castle' series, with which I'm not familiar. Gone, of course, is the lilting W-J banter. In its place is a protagonist (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth) who also has a butler (Beach) but the Earl does not serve as his straight-man. (Beach is little more than functional.)
He is also less amiable than Wooster. If not a curmudgeon, the Earl is certainly at bottom a malcontent when it comes to the world around him. His hobbies - and those alone - preoccupy him and he's perfectly blissful being self-absorbed. When called on to recognize the rest of the human race for one reason or another, his bent toward sarcasm accompanies him. ~unless he must rise to the occasion for the overriding purpose of having his needs met.
The Earl's resentment re: socialization is always at its height when it comes to his own son Frederick, a spirited, enterprising lad who nevertheless - and inexplicably - fills his father with apoplexy. (How Clarence ever managed to propagate in the first place is a mystery.)
This series-introduction volume - listed sequentially at #3 - is the perfect launch for the series proper. It's a collection of six, extended short stories - each with a strong, comic premise in its spine and each containing dazzling wit that seems to effortlessly cascade. Each story either highlights the Earl's character:
The master of Blandings was one of those fluffy-minded old gentlemen who are happiest when experimenting with strange drugs. In a less censorious age, he would have been a Borgia.or his view of his fellow man:
"She is seeing far too much of this man Watkins."Granted - and in a style typical of lighthearted angst - many of those the Earl happens upon are grating:
"Well, so am I, for the matter of that. So is everybody who sees him more than once."
In matters where shades of feeling are involved, it is not always easy for the historian to be as definite as he could wish. He wants to keep the record straight, and yet he cannot take any one particular moment of time, pin it down for the scrutiny of Posterity and say, 'This was the moment when Lord Emsworth for the first time found himself wishing that his guest would tumble out of an upper window and break his neck.'But ultimately Wodehouse grows magnanimous towards his principal fop and, in the final story, bestows on him something very unlikely: saving grace.
December 18, 2021
ENGLISH: Third book in the Blandings Castle series, published after the fifth.
It contains 6 short stories published separately before the fourth book in the series, about Lord Emsworth, his son Freddie and Blandings Castle, plus one about Bobby Wickham, and 5 about Mr. Mulliner.
ESPAÑOL: Este es el tercer libro de la serie del Castillo de Blandings, que se publicó después de la quinta entrega.
Contiene seis historias breves sobre Lord Emsworth, su hijo Freddie y el Castillo de Blandings, que se publicaron por separado antes del cuarto libro de la serie, además de una sobre Bobby Wickham y cinco sobre el señor Mulliner.
It contains 6 short stories published separately before the fourth book in the series, about Lord Emsworth, his son Freddie and Blandings Castle, plus one about Bobby Wickham, and 5 about Mr. Mulliner.
ESPAÑOL: Este es el tercer libro de la serie del Castillo de Blandings, que se publicó después de la quinta entrega.
Contiene seis historias breves sobre Lord Emsworth, su hijo Freddie y el Castillo de Blandings, que se publicaron por separado antes del cuarto libro de la serie, además de una sobre Bobby Wickham y cinco sobre el señor Mulliner.
July 4, 2013
Delightful and not very demanding--perfect for a plane trip. I learned some new words, too:
zareba: a protective enclosure
gamboge: yellow-orange
one of Nature's prunes: an unpleasant person
not quite the straight bat: dishonest
wince like a salted snail: suffer from the effects of a hangover
cold-asparagus-backboned: devoid of courage
roly-poly pudding: a steamed or baked dessert of biscuit dough and jam or fruit
zareba: a protective enclosure
gamboge: yellow-orange
one of Nature's prunes: an unpleasant person
not quite the straight bat: dishonest
wince like a salted snail: suffer from the effects of a hangover
cold-asparagus-backboned: devoid of courage
roly-poly pudding: a steamed or baked dessert of biscuit dough and jam or fruit
March 23, 2021
Me he reído muchísimo con la primera parte del libro, la referente al castillo y sus moradores. A carcajadas.
La otra parte está simpática, pero poco más.
La otra parte está simpática, pero poco más.
May 14, 2015
A prime collection of Wodehouse short stories from the 1930s - half a dozen Blandings Castle stories, a Bobbie Whickham story, and five of Mr. Mulliner's tales of Hollywood. I suppose that each reader will prefer one group or another of these stories, depending on which of Wodehouse's fictional worlds he favors. I love the Blandings Castle stories. Most of the usual suspects are here: the vague Lord Emsworth, his prize pig The Empress of Blandings, his domineering sister Constance, his younger son Frederick, and Beach, the butler. (The Efficient Baxter does not appear in these stories, for better or worse.) They're all funny, but I found "Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" rather touching; the influence of Gladys, a tough, kindhearted girl visiting from London, inspires Emsworth to defy both Lady Constance and Angus McAllister, his formidable gardener.
I am less enamored with Wodehouse's Mulliner stories. But that reflects only my taste; plenty of other folks love them. Wodehouse generally wrote farce, but Mr. Mulliner's tales go beyond that, into the absurd. (It is perhaps fitting that these "fish stories" are told in the bar of a pub called The Angler's Rest.) Wodehouse's own brief stint writing for the Hollywood studios was apparently pretty absurd and unbelievable, so maybe these stories aren't exaggerating as much they seem at first.
I am less enamored with Wodehouse's Mulliner stories. But that reflects only my taste; plenty of other folks love them. Wodehouse generally wrote farce, but Mr. Mulliner's tales go beyond that, into the absurd. (It is perhaps fitting that these "fish stories" are told in the bar of a pub called The Angler's Rest.) Wodehouse's own brief stint writing for the Hollywood studios was apparently pretty absurd and unbelievable, so maybe these stories aren't exaggerating as much they seem at first.
May 26, 2017
The story with the dogs is plain funny. Maybe even funnier is listening to an audio of a story written by a British author & read by a British reader who does 6+ American accents, some of which succeed better than others. (Not that I could do a passable British accent at all, but it's really entertaining.)
One story features early 20th-century baffledness around dwarfism that wouldn't be called amusing now, just fyi.
One story features early 20th-century baffledness around dwarfism that wouldn't be called amusing now, just fyi.
August 15, 2017
In this volume of short stories there is one which stood out as possibly the funniest thing I've read by Wodehouse: the Bobbie Wickham story "Mr. Potter Takes A Rest Cure."
Do yourself a favor and read it. Then do your family a favor and read it aloud on your next road trip. Its quite short and can be easily read aloud in less than an hour--that is, if you don't keep stopping because you are laughing too hard.
Do yourself a favor and read it. Then do your family a favor and read it aloud on your next road trip. Its quite short and can be easily read aloud in less than an hour--that is, if you don't keep stopping because you are laughing too hard.
August 9, 2025
Blandings Castle stories are so similar to one another that it took a few pages before I realised I had, in fact, read some of these stories before and not just ones extremely similar - stories in which Freddie Threepwood is married into the Donaldson’s Dog Biscuits empire and in which the Empress (Lord Emsworth’s beloved pig) arrive were tacked onto the copy of ‘Summer Lightning’ I read. As reading a Blandings book every summer becomes increasingly habitual to me, there were few surprises in plotting among the snail-low stakes of these tales, but you read them for the rhythm, the narrative voice and the wit. All of them are very funny Sunday afternoon farces.
The other stories padding out the set and occupying more than half the length include a single showcase for Bobbie Wickham - a cunning girl presented here in a sort of Southern equivalent of Blandings - and a selection of tales from Mr Mulliner, a pub raconteur who always has a fantastical anecdote about a distant relative. Mulliner’s stories here are all set on the Hollywood studios of the Perfecto-Zizzbaum corporation, and we close the set with ‘The Castaways’, one of the weirdest Wodehouses I’ve read so far. An engaged man arrives in California to prospect for oil only to get sucked into writing dialogue for a film, apparently against his will. He collaborates with a woman to whom he is not attracted, but a romance nevertheless develops. When their fiancées catch them, they (the fiancées) leave indignantly, only to themselves get trapped in the Hollywood spider web. Even the ending is a bizarrely - dare I say it - Kafkaesque denouement unusual to Plum, who prefers the happy ending with lovers resolute. The Hollywood satires are not quite as good as Blandings, but then few things are, and they usually have at least one laugh out loud line, gag or simile worth the effort.
The other stories padding out the set and occupying more than half the length include a single showcase for Bobbie Wickham - a cunning girl presented here in a sort of Southern equivalent of Blandings - and a selection of tales from Mr Mulliner, a pub raconteur who always has a fantastical anecdote about a distant relative. Mulliner’s stories here are all set on the Hollywood studios of the Perfecto-Zizzbaum corporation, and we close the set with ‘The Castaways’, one of the weirdest Wodehouses I’ve read so far. An engaged man arrives in California to prospect for oil only to get sucked into writing dialogue for a film, apparently against his will. He collaborates with a woman to whom he is not attracted, but a romance nevertheless develops. When their fiancées catch them, they (the fiancées) leave indignantly, only to themselves get trapped in the Hollywood spider web. Even the ending is a bizarrely - dare I say it - Kafkaesque denouement unusual to Plum, who prefers the happy ending with lovers resolute. The Hollywood satires are not quite as good as Blandings, but then few things are, and they usually have at least one laugh out loud line, gag or simile worth the effort.
July 31, 2020
**4.2**
April 21, 2014
The first half of this book tells of the further adventures of the Threepwood family and friends. The second half are tall tales from Hollywood featuring a new character, Mr. Mulliner.
I quite enjoyed the Blandings Castle stories. Freddie Threepwood is growing up and growing a brain! I liked him much more now that he's more steady. Lord Emsworth remains a dear most of the time, but he can be just as snobby as his sisters when he wants to be. Pig Hoo-o-o-o-ey! made me laugh so hard. I just love stories involving The Empress of Blandings. Who ever though a story about a pig could be so funny?
I really didn't like any of the Mulliner stories. The plots were bland and seemed too over the top. I don't know Mr. Mulliner or care why he's telling these stories or whether they're supposed to be true or tall tales. They don't have as well-drawn characters as the Blandings Castle stories. The characters are all the same and basically boring. Some of the plots are typical Wodehouse formula plots. I really don't like how the heroines love the heroes only when the heroes become alpha males. The point was for them to stand up for themselves but the heroines who like take charge heroes come across as weak and unlikeable. I also don't like brooding heroines.
I'm obsessed with Blandings Castle and I want to read more. I think the stories work better in the shorter format because the plots of the novels are basically the same and tend to drag on too long. The shorter format allowed Wodehouse to exercise his comic genius without getting hung up on plot.
I quite enjoyed the Blandings Castle stories. Freddie Threepwood is growing up and growing a brain! I liked him much more now that he's more steady. Lord Emsworth remains a dear most of the time, but he can be just as snobby as his sisters when he wants to be. Pig Hoo-o-o-o-ey! made me laugh so hard. I just love stories involving The Empress of Blandings. Who ever though a story about a pig could be so funny?
I really didn't like any of the Mulliner stories. The plots were bland and seemed too over the top. I don't know Mr. Mulliner or care why he's telling these stories or whether they're supposed to be true or tall tales. They don't have as well-drawn characters as the Blandings Castle stories. The characters are all the same and basically boring. Some of the plots are typical Wodehouse formula plots. I really don't like how the heroines love the heroes only when the heroes become alpha males. The point was for them to stand up for themselves but the heroines who like take charge heroes come across as weak and unlikeable. I also don't like brooding heroines.
I'm obsessed with Blandings Castle and I want to read more. I think the stories work better in the shorter format because the plots of the novels are basically the same and tend to drag on too long. The shorter format allowed Wodehouse to exercise his comic genius without getting hung up on plot.
March 9, 2014
Its always fun to read the works of P.G. Wodehouse after a while and find oneself laughing out loud at the looney characters and among people falling in and out of love.
The story " the custody of the pumpkin " was kind of surprise because earlier i have seen lord emsworth being infatuated by only pigs and only pigs occupied his life. i also liked the the bobbie wikham story, my only complaint being that blandings castle part occupied less number of pages that i thought. But dash it! what ho ! I had a jolly good time.
The story " the custody of the pumpkin " was kind of surprise because earlier i have seen lord emsworth being infatuated by only pigs and only pigs occupied his life. i also liked the the bobbie wikham story, my only complaint being that blandings castle part occupied less number of pages that i thought. But dash it! what ho ! I had a jolly good time.
May 7, 2021
Funny as always, PG Wodehouse is who I turn to for some cheering up and lightheartedness. I really enjoyed the Blandings Castle stories in this volume, the Mr. Mulliner ones a bit less so but still quite a bit.
“Unlike the male codfish, which, suddenly finding itself the parent of three million five hundred thousand little codfish, cheerfully resolves to love them all, the British aristocracy is apt to look with a somewhat jaundiced eye on its younger sons. And Freddie Threepwood was one of those younger sons who rather invite the jaundiced eye.”
“Unlike the male codfish, which, suddenly finding itself the parent of three million five hundred thousand little codfish, cheerfully resolves to love them all, the British aristocracy is apt to look with a somewhat jaundiced eye on its younger sons. And Freddie Threepwood was one of those younger sons who rather invite the jaundiced eye.”
June 24, 2019
Very much a book of two halves. The six Blandings short stories that make up the first half are among Wodehouse's best (that I've encountered so far). The six Mr. Mulliner stories that make up the second half are not. I know this character has his fans but I'm not one of them (apparently) and I feel slightly duped by the title of the book finding that half of it isn't Blandings at all.
April 5, 2016
Разказите за замъка Бландингс бяха много смешни, буквално се смях на глас в метрото. Другите ми бяха по-скучни, с изключение на последния разказ за Джийвс, който беше хубав финал за книгата. Определено станах фен на Уудхаус!
March 31, 2021
Reading Plum Pie had shown me that my adoration for Wodehouse’s humor would only grow were I to start reading the Blandings Castle series of stories. Sure enough, in this collection of 12 short stories, half of which are set in Blandings Castle, featuring the absent-minded Earl of Emsworth, his obsession for gardens, pigs, and pumpkin, were so hilarious that they made me laugh out loud many times.
Elsewhere, the schemes of the wicked Bobbie Wickham, and Mr. Mulliner’s distant connections showcasing the inner workings of Hollywood movie making make for a different kind fun from the inimitable Wodehouse.
Elsewhere, the schemes of the wicked Bobbie Wickham, and Mr. Mulliner’s distant connections showcasing the inner workings of Hollywood movie making make for a different kind fun from the inimitable Wodehouse.
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