The Jeeves Omnibus Vol. 3: The Mating Season / Ring for Jeeves / Very Good, Jeeves

Jeeves #4, 9, 10

by P.G. Wodehouse

As always, Bertie is about to find himself in the soup (or 'up to the knees in bisque') and Jeeves is poised to pull him out - quite possibly after pushing him in in the first place. In this omnibus of characteristically hilarious short stories and novels, Jeeves is for the first time shockingly employed to resolve the woes of someone other than Bertie Wooster.

Contains The Mating Season, Ring for Jeeves and Very Good, Jeeves.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Comedy, Classics, British Literature, Historical, Short Stories

574 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 1991

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

[Richa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another lovely volume read. Enjoy these immensely!

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an excerpt from Most of PG Wodehous, see SimonAndSchuster

"Jeeves Omnibus 3" collects P.G. Wodehouse hilarious masterpieces, aristocratic English eccentrics, 1915-30s culture, drawing-room satire, almost Shakespearian mixups, rambling expositions, in effervescent language. Comfort shelf material warms hearts in our chilly world. In a time of luxury and ease, polish and manners, hats and gloves, proper butler-valet Jeeves, famed for fish-nourished brain-power, advises Lords and Ladies with classic literary quotations how to maintain their positions under perilous threats, such as a garish bonnet or waistcoat.
As always, our reticent correct hero suggests solutions that cause complications, secrets spill. We turn pages and smile. Casts have recognizable stereotypes, familiar to reassure, unique to challenge our imaginations. Situations get worse before better. Wodehouse titles are a mixup; books of the same name are not always as written elsewhere.

**** "Ring for Jeeves" features a returned engagement ring. Impoverished Lord Bill loves Jill; safari bwana Biggar still yearns for long-ago sweetheart now twice billionaire-bereaved widow Rosie. To subsidize the family abbey and prospects, sartorially impeccable Jeeves helps Bill take bets, both in outlandish florid bookie disguises. Biggar beats the odds and wins more than their funds. Rosie's diamond pendant vanishes. Silly supporting characters interfere. In a Derby race country weekend, heart and home are endangered then spared.
* "The Mating Season" mixes four couples before they match. Impersonations abound. This effort, set again in a village manor, with exploits around and beyond, is either weaker or too complicated for me. I confused who was currently attracted to whom, so I skimmed along to the happy ending maneuvered by Jeeves, his master Wooster, and pals. In this first-person narrative, 'an angel who eats lots of yeast' (disingenuous gal who bubbles with mischievous energy) prods young gadabout Bertie to perform in a local production. Love letters are forged and peculated (pilfered). 'Espièglarie' (frolicsome) flights seldom 'bung' me to google, because the usage in context usually 'socks me on the occiput'. I enjoy soaring 'welkin' (sky) high expansion of my dictionary above minimal plots.
***** "Very Good, Jeeves" has 17 chapters of separate misadventures, again espiègle, my favorite for toothsome bites of a light-hearted era between world wars, frivolous last gasps of a leisured English aristocracy. Unsuitable amours, boisterous schoolboys, domineering aunts, misinterpretations and predicaments - time to 'burnish the old bean' of ingenious conniver Jeeves, uphold Wooster pride, and set all to rights. Silly slang, poetic ramblings, even a bear in Shakespeare, advance my vocabulary and knowledge of classics while tickling my funny bone.

[Mervyn Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real mix in this volume. There's Ring for Jeeves, Wodehouse's only Jeeves novel without Wooster. Very Good Jeeves, a collection of short stories. And the masterpiece that is The Mating Season. Ring for Jeeves I can't read. Jeeves without Wooster is like Laurel without Hardy, Tintin without Snowy, Lucia without Georgie. The short stories are of variable quality, but all worth reading. And The Mating Season is The Mating Season. A stone cold classic. No ifs or buts or maybes. Straight up perfection. The plot, the writing, the everything. The only problem is I keep rereading it. I hope I never get bored of it. Doubtful, but I'm going to have to start rationing myself with the J and Ws. Thankfully I've got Jonathan Sumption's fifth volume coming today. Should keep me away from the Wodehouses for the time being. For the time being...

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kicking off with 'Ring for Jeeves', Wodehouse's Wooster-less 1953 novel, this third volume in the series doesn't start well. Tinkering with such a successful formula - discarding Bertie's narration, and even worse, leaving him out of the book almost entirely - simply doesn't work. It's an amusing enough story but aside from Jeeves (temporarily installed as the Earl of Rowcester's butler) the main characters feel like flat, uninspired retreads or rehashes of well-established characters in the Jeeves and Wooster canon. Honestly, this took me forever to finish.

'The Mating Season' is much better. No, it's worlds better. A fantastic comic novel, this 1949 entry in the season revolves around all the usual romantic misadventures, sharp dialogue, all sorts of scaly aunts and a plot that sees Bertie have to pretend he's Gussie Finknottle and Gussie masquerading as Bertram. Sheer joy to read. One of Wodehouse's absolute best.

Finally, 'Very Good Jeeves' is a consistently entertaining short story collection, first published in 1930 in a format that allows all sorts of minor characters to take centre stage for a couple of dozen pages or so. All eleven tales are great fun but the entries starring Bingo Little ('Jeeves and the Old School Chum') and Tuppy Glossop ('Jeeves and the Song of Songs' and 'the Ordeal of Young Tuppy') are particularly good.

[Sophia Exintaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book in the omnibus is made up of short stories that can be read in 15-30 min. Very short. I kept on wishing they would go on.

[Ross Whamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just perfect for lockdown.Everything you would expect.Just perfect.It doesn't get any better.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great entertaining romp with the world’s premier manservant. Once again Jeeves uses his vast skills and intellect to help his gentlemen from various pickles and predicaments. A gentle humour from a past age which is just as amusing now as it was then.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, once I quash the socialist in me. Something like “Three’s Company” written by Oscar Wilde. Good book for a vacation house.

[rabbitprincess · Rating 5 out of 5]

* * * * 1/2

Since there are three books in this omnibus, I shall review each of them separately.

Ring For Jeeves: This story, the longest in the omnibus, is also the one with the least amount of Bertie Wooster. Bertie has been bundled off to aristocrats' school, where he is to learn how to fend for himself in the event that he can no longer afford Jeeves' services. So Jeeves is in the temporary employ of the Earl of Rowcester, who is less rich than you would think, to the extent of preparing to sell off his childhood home to an American, Mrs. Spottsworth, and even posing as a bookie to scrape together enough cash for a ring for his betrothed, Jill. However, as all Wodehouse-book schemes are wont to do, things become very complicated very quickly, but Jeeves is able to save the day. This story was fun, but I did miss Bertie.

The Mating Season: Bertie is back now, and he is embroiled in a scheme involving several people's engagements, an identity swap with newt-fancier Gussie Fink-Nottle, and complications springing from people breaking off engagements and hooking up with others. A Wodehouse plot is never simple to explain, so forgive me if this all sounds thoroughly confusing. However, it is brilliantly done, and if you are the laugh-out-loud-while-you-read type, you will enjoy this story.

Very Good, Jeeves: This was my favourite, by far. Each chapter is a separate adventure in the life of Bertie Wooster and his pals, and some of these will be familiar to fans of the Fry and Laurie "Jeeves and Wooster" series, such as "Jeeves and the Song of Songs" (an absolute scream, probably my favourite story) and "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy". As always, Jeeves is brilliant, and the foibles of Bertie and his friends are amusing to read about.

The main appeal of Wodehouse is his writing style -- his characters all have excellent dialogue that suits them perfectly, and many lines are hilarious. The best way to prove this is to quote directly from the books, so here's a great quote from "The Love That Purifies", a chapter in Very Good, Jeeves:

Bertie: "I don't know why it is, but I've never been able to bear with fortitude anything in the shape of a kid with golden curls. Confronted with one, I feel the urge to step on him or drop things on him from a height."

Vicious? Yes. Cruel? Sure. Hilarious? Heck yes. It's just such a preposterous thing to say, so it makes one laugh.

Wodehouse is also a master of subtle wit, as in this quote from "Ring for Jeeves". Sorry, I can't remember which characters were involved.

"He is tall...and wears a ginger moustache and a black patch over his left eye."
"No, dash it, that's not possible...Oh, I see what you mean. A black patch over his left eye and a ginger moustache on the upper lip. I thought for a moment..."


So all in all, this omnibus is a valuable addition to the bookshelves of any Wodehouse fan (assuming, of course, that they don't have separate copies of each book in the omnibus already).

[Saurav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeeves as usual a brilliant character and a pleasant conversationalist! What makes me read more of the series is not the brilliant plot-lines of the stories or the eccentricities of upper class English households but rather the eloquence and suave with which the characters converse. It's simplicity wrapped in delightful mannerism.
While reading Jeeves however I have noticed that it's best to read them not in a complete go, but rather enjoy the 3 parts over periods of break (reading something different probably). A personal suggestion which can make the reading of Jeeves far more enjoyable. Since the characters and the settings of each story revolve around similar environs they tend to make a hearty reading with the occasional break of missing-it-and-coming-back-again feeling. The brilliance of eloquence displayed by P.G.Wodehouse is simply unparalleled. Hope others enjoy it as much as I did.

[Siri]

If you've read a few Jeeves stories, you've read them all: Bertie Wooster is called down to a country estate, where troubles - usually caused by a lovers' tiff - have arisen. Jeeves may or may not be called upon to find a solution to the complications, depending on Bertie's mood, but the loyal gentleman's gentleman always finds a way of making the events work out for the best for all parties involved, though Bertie is sometimes left appearing a bit... barmy. This omnibus is comprised of Ring for Jeeves in which Bertie is absent, for once; The Mating Season which followes the Jeeves & Wooster recipe religiously, and Very Good, Jeeves which is a compliation of several short stories. Best enjoyed with tea and sandwiches, or one or two rather stiff whisky and sodas with a bit of lemon.

[Mithira · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the funniest, if not the funniest, writer is at it again. The omnibus has two novels and ten short stories.

In the first novel, there is no Wooster but only Jeeves. However, the novel was still funny. (Watch out for the rib-tickling part of kicking frogs - it might your hurt your stomach)

The second novel was fine as well. However, my only issue with this omnibus is the presence of short stories.

Wodehouse's strength, in my perspective, lies in setting up the stage where the grand action occurs and letting the actors and the action to make you laugh. This is not possible in his short stories (well you know, it's a short story).

And this is why, I personally feel that Wodehouse's short stories aren't as funny as his novels. Hence, I am forced to give a rating of 4.

[angrykitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

haven't read yet, but it's jeeves so i know it will be great!

the mating season (8th book)

ring for jeeves (9th book)

very good, jeeves (3rd book): this was the other book, along with inimitable jeeves and right ho, jeeves that was contained in life with jeeves....ahhh...the love of jeeves is born....

[AJW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume gets marked down from the usual 5 stars as it contains 'Ring for Jeeves' which is the worst Jeeves story IMO.

'The Mating Season' consists of all the ingredients we find in Wooster & Jeeves stories - set in a large country house, people pretending to be somebody else, Wooster trying to avoid being trapped in marriage, ghastly aunts, etc. I get so much pleasure from looking at the world through Bertie Wooster's eyes.

'Very Good, Jeeves' are a collection of early short stories.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remain perplexed as to why the Jeeves Omnibus chose to include the books in a non-chronological order. It's especially odd since the first two volumes of this collection end up with the absolute best of the books.

Here, we find three enjoyable volumes: the novels The Mating Season and Ring for Jeeves - the former largely omitting Jeeves, the latter entirely omitting Bertie - and the final short story collection, Very Good, Jeeves.

[Stephen Hull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another lovely helping of Wodehouse. Since I'm reading these in chronological order I can't really remember Very Good, Jeeves or The Mating Season -- although I seem to recall that the latter is particularly brilliant. I've just finished Ring for Jeeves, which is definitely below par, but who cares when they're this easily digested.

[Nisha-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ring For Jeeves: Quite quite hilarious but I missed Bertie soooo much, that waffling googly-eyed stoat.

The Mating Season: Utter perfection in structure. Much snorting and guffawing was occasioned.

The collection of stories that was the last book didn't do much for me.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not sure if I read this as omnibus or individual books - but I remember 2 of the stories from the blurb.

Bertie is Bertie and Jeeves is Jeeves (even without Bertie) and I love the stories but even though they did get a bit repetitive I was always in stitches.

[David Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was late discovering Wodehouse, Jeeves and Bertie.
More woes me for my delay.

Funny stuff and so was the TV series with Fry & Laurie in the tile roles.
I found the show after the book, but went back and enjoyed a few rereads with their voices added.

[James Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it’s substantially inferior to the previous two volumes in terms of the stories, the fact a man can be as funny as P.G Wodehouse amazes me. Probably the most enjoyable reads you can have are his Stories of Jeeves and Wooster

[Roxandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a shame I can only give Plum 5 stars.

[Andrew Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The master of one-liners at work

[Aditya Mallya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any collection of Jeeves and Wooster stories is bound to be a treasure - this isn't an exception.

[Brenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edging toward 4 stars