Ring for Jeeves

Jeeves #10

by P.G. Wodehouse, Nigel Lambert (Narrator)

Listening length: 6 hours, 49 minutes

The only Jeeves story in which Bertie Wooster makes no appearance, involves Jeeves on secondment as butler and general factotum to William Belfry, ninth Earl of Rowcester (pronounced Roaster).

Despite his impressive title, Bill Belfry is broke, which may explain why he and Jeeves have been working as Silver Ring bookies, disguised in false moustaches and loud check suits. All goes well until the terrifying Captain Brabazon-Biggar, big-game hunter, two-fisted he-man and saloon-bar bore, lays successful bets on two outsiders, leaving the would-be bookies three thousand pounds down and on the run from their creditor. But the now incandescent Captain just happens to be the former flame of Rosalinda Spottsworth, a rich American widow to whom Bill is attempting to sell his crumbling stately home.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics, Comedy, Audiobook, British Literature, Historical Fiction

Audible Audio

First published April 22, 1953

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

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeeves is running solo here and it shows by the lack of the usual pleasure reading the narrative, don't get me wrong the book always entertains at a different level though .. Jeeves has been loaned to a friend by the perpetual boss Mr. Bertie Wooster as his money slips from unhappy hands like a relentless, tumultuous waterfall. The Ninth Earl of Rowcester no mental giant either ( call him Bill). However troubles seem to be a torrent attached to the nervous British aristocracy during the time of 1950's socialism, and the ancient mansion collapsing slowing into the soil when the cold river inch by inch rises up to recapture the lost land during winter. Bill needs to sell before that unhappy occurrence to bored American woman an angel of mercy, if there was ever one, attractive and oddly lonely, if you can believe it...
Mrs. Spottsworth who is quite pretty, and rich , Rosalinda to her late spouses ...Jill the Earl's girlfriend is jealous, while sibling Monica preaching the glories of the dilapidated , quaint, damp structure Rowcester Abbey... exaggerating just a bit . THE GREAT HUNTER Captain Biggar maybe not so good at chasing humans or the Earl's money, some say never quite a gentleman... the main reason is Bill owes him that, a great deal. JEEVES the quiet butler with brains will try keeping the so- called superiors... from jail...Monica, Bill's sister , Rory her dim husband, give nice support. Another P.G. Wodehouse fluffy yet nevertheless always a delightful book, of fun and silliness the stories charm readers, never being too unkind to the clueless characters , if you want a break from bleak reality...They are the lucky ones. Still I miss the chemistry between Jeeves and his "master" Wooster... Such rare interplay are the heart of these novels ...

[Algernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

[7/10]

“We’re in the soup, Jeeves.”
“Certainly a somewhat sharp crisis in our affairs would appear to have been precipitated, m’lord.”

The familiar refrain comes with an unexpected twist in this tenth episode of the series : one of the principals is missing, Bertie Wooster having been sent back to school and his place in the soup given to William ‘Billiken’ Egerton Bamfylde Ossingham Belfry, the ninth Earl of Rowcester. The particular trouble alluded to in my opening quote is also somehow familiar : romance is on the menu at Rowcester Abbey in Southmoltonshire, where young m’lord Billiken is engaged to be married to nice girl Jill Wyvern, daughter of the local Chief Constable. Financial woes and ghosts from the past complicate the issue, requiring Jeeves intervention. The soup is brought to boiling point by the arrival at Rowcester Abbey of a couple of foreign visitors : the wealthy American widow Mrs. Rosalinda Bessemer Spottsworth and the famous white hunter Captain Cuthbert Gervase Brabazon-Biggar, of the United Rowers Club, Nortumberland Avenue.

I have given the full names to the main actors and to the locations out of my enjoyment of Wodehouse bombastic references to the high life at lush country mansions – one of his many signature moves that can be found here, together with long running gags about the silently flowing movements of Jeeves or his outrage over too colourful or modern items of clothing. Even with the absence of Bertie Wooster, the characters and the action feel comfortably familiar. A less indulgent reviewer might even call them predictable or recycled. Take for example the first entrance of Jeeves – still capable of raising a smile on my face even after coming across it at least a dozen of times:

The man who entered – or perhaps one should say shimmered into – the room was tall and dark and impressive. He might have been one of the better class ambassadors or the youngish high priest of some refined and dignified religion. His eyes gleamed with the light of intelligence, and his finely chiselled face expressed a feudal desire to be of service. His whole air was that of a gentleman’s gentleman who, having developed his brain over a course of years by means of a steady fish diet, is respectfully eager to place that brain at the disposal of the young master.

With lovers Bill and Jill cast in traditional roles, the surprises and the colourful touches here are delegated to the two outsiders : Rosie Spottsworth and Captain Biggar, with occasional supporting acts from the earl’s sister Moke and her husband Sir Roderick. Rosie, with her fortune inherited from two timely dead husbands, could provide financial relief if she can be persuaded to buy the derelict mansion, but she seems more interested in chasing ghosts and trying to persuade the big white hunter to propose to her. Captain Biggar would also like to declare his love for the shapely American widow, but he is restrained by his own lack of funds ( for which he holds the Ninth Earl of Rowcester responsible) and by his misguided scruples aquired over a lifetime spent in the colonies.

One recalls the nostalgic words of the poet Kipling, when he sang “Put me somewhere east of Suez, where the best is like the worst, where there ain’t no ten commandments and a man can raise a small bristly moustache.”

I’m not entirely sure if Wodehouse is lampooning or regretting the passing of an age of Imperial magnificence here, but it is worth mentioning that the current episode stands apart from other books in the series not only throught he absence of the first person narration by Bertie Wooster, but also by being unusually anchored in current Post-War social developments.

We’re all workers nowadays! exclaim Sir Roderick and many of his landed peers as they contemplate the decline of the ruling class and the overturning of the social order. Sir Roderick is forced to take a job as floorwalker at a convenience store, Jill is working as a veterinary surgeon and even Bill is trying to find money for running his sprawling mansion and paying his servants by moonlighting as ‘Honest Patch Perkins’, a bookmaker at the horse racing tracks. Emblematic for the period, even in his absence, is Bertie:

“Mr Wooster is attending a school which does not permit its student body to employ gentlemen’s personal gentlemen.”
“A school?”
“An institution designed to teach the aristocracy to fend for itself, m’lord. [...] Mr. Wooster ... I can hardly mention this without some display of emotion ... is actually learning to darn his own socks. The course he is taking includes boot-cleaning, sock darning, bed-making and primary grade cooking.”

Well, simmer me in prune juice! as Captain Biggar likes to say, but this social revolution has reached even the Elysian Fields of Wodehouse romances, well known until now for being completely detached from real world events. What next?

... Faithfull readers can relax. Even when not firing from all cylinders, the author can still be relied upon to provide solid escapist entertainment, complete with hijinks in the middle of the night dressed in purple pyjamas, pinching of valuable jewelry, risque plays on words ( ... when I saw Whistler’s Mother pass us on her way to the starting-post, I was conscious of a tremor of uneasiness. Those long legs, that powerful rump ... ) and dancing the charleston with the lady one is not engaged to at the time. Each ‘clever’ solution that m’lord Rowcester and white hunter Biggar deploy in their search for easy money only serves to drive them deeper into the soup, until only one man is left standing resolute and confident in a happy conclusion to the whole unfortunate Whistler’s Mother affair.

I am being vague on purpose, trying to leave the plot developments unspoiled for those of you who are not already familiar with the style of the Wodehouse farces. All I can say in confidence is to trust in the benefits of a steady fish diet:

Let this fish-fed master-mind get his teeth into the psychology of the individual, and it was all over except chucking your hat in the air and doing Spring dances.

The ending of this slightly undercooked story (below his usual high standards) brought me some hope of a return to form in the next one, since in the final chapter Bertie is expelled from his special school for clueless aristocrats:
It’s all most unfortunate, m’lord. Mr. Wooster was awarded the prize for sock-darning. Two pairs of his socks were actually exhibited on Speech Day. It was then discovered that he had used a crib ... an old woman whom he smuggled into his study at night.
It surely looks like he cannot live without his gentleman’s gentleman Jeeves and the duo will be reunited in the next novel

I will close my remarks with two more ejaculations from Captain Biggar:

Well, mince me up and smother me in onions! ... Fricassee me with stewed mushrooms on the side! but I believe I will continue with the series.

[Велислав Върбанов · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Джийвс запретва ръкави“ е поредната отлична хумористична история на Удхаус! Нейният вълнуващ сюжет е разгърнат в 50-те години на миналия век, като времената са станали тягостни за британските аристократи. Този път Джийвс временно работи за лорд Роастър, тъй като Бърти Устър се учи да се справя с живота без иконом. Разбира се, Джийвс използва интелекта си, за да измъкне Бил от доста трудни и забавни ситуации...





„Тогава й се струваше, че той сякаш е изскочил от някоя книга на Хемингуей, а тя винаги бе имала слабост към онези сурови и необуздани негови герои. Самата тя бе деликатна и съвсем естествено необуздаността у мъжете я привличаше. И у Клифтън Бесемър, и у А. Б. Спотсуърт това качество се радваше на буйно изобилие. Например Клифтън привлече вниманието й с категоричния начин, по който размаза една досадна муха с навития на руло следобеден вестник на камерното парти, където се запознаха. А в случая с А. Б. Спотсуърт, искрата лумна, когато един следобед чу гневните хули, с които засипа парижки таксиметров шофьор, изказал неудовлетворение от размера на бакшиша.“


„— Само не ми казвай — продължи той, забелязвайки блясъка на мощен интелект в очите на своя посетител, — че си измислил нещо?
— Да, милорд. Щастлив съм да ви съобщя, че намерих решение на проблема, с който се сблъскахме.
— Джийвс, ти си осмото чудо на света! — възкликна Бил и се надигна от леглото.
— Много ви благодаря, милорд.
— Спомням си как веднъж Бърти Устър ми каза, че не се е намерила още в света толкова смрадлива тиня, че ти да не успееш да измъкнеш от нея клетника, поверил делата си в твои ръце.
— Господин Устър винаги прекалено много ме ласкае, милорд.
— Глупости на търкалета. Хич не е достатъчно даже. Ако ти наистина си измислил как да прескочим тия нечовешки препятствия, непрекъснато изникващи по пътя ни…
— Убеден съм, че е така, милорд.“


„Джийвс му беше направил неизразимо впечатление. Джийвс си го биваше. Младият Роастър беше прекалено неопитен, за да оцени съкровището, което е под носа му. Но полковникът, вечно тормозен от своята невръстна домашна прислуга, можеше да различи брилянта от плявата. Джийвс! Джийвс беше нещо специално! И някъде в чернилката, покрила цялото мироздание на полицейския бос от полюс до полюс и станала непрогледна като космическата пустош след конфузната сцена с Еванджелин Трелони, изведнъж грейна спасителна светлинка. Той щеше да си остане със своя Булстроуд, но поне дъщеря му ще се ожени за мъж с иконом, носещ високо факела на добрата стара традиция. Това стопли сърцето му и го накара да си помисли, че все пак светът не е чак толкова лош, колкото му се струваше в началото.“


„При вида на огърлицата, обгръщаща шията на госпожа Спотсуърт, не повече от три косъмчета от лявата му вежда трепнаха за миг, разкривайки на наблюдателния зрител колко дълбоко го е развълнувала тази гледка.
— Виждам, че забеляза огърлицата — каза госпожа Спотсуърт, цялата сияеща от щастие. — И никак не се учудвам, че си изненадан. Капитан Бигър току-що я намери в тревата близо до дървената пейка, където седяхме снощи.
Трудно би могло да се твърди, че Джийвс се обл��щи. И все пак очите му леко се разшириха — нещо, което се случваше само при извънредни произшествия.“

[F.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did genuinely surprise me, as – despite what I thought – I had read it already. I told myself I’d missed out on ‘Ring for Jeeves’, the sole Jeeves novel without Bertie Wooster, as a Jeeves novel without Bertie Wooster just seemed to me unspeakably strange. However, despite my professed ignorance, on turning the pages I found it all came back to me. Clearly I had read ‘Ring For Jeeves’ before, then equally clearly I had blocked the whole experience from my mind. As this really is not a good book. It’s that very rare thing: a feeble and uninspired Wodehouse . Even though there are a few quality jokes, the whole thing never struggles above sub-par. Written in the third person, ‘Ring for Jeeves’ is crying out desperately for the zip and whizz of Bertie Wooster’s prose style. Based on a stage show (also written by Wodehouse), the book feels horribly like the prose adaptation of a stage show. It is flat and workmanlike, with the action seeming particularly flat especially when it rarely leaves the same couple of rooms. The floating narration even allows us a few peeks into Jeeves’s marvellous mind and what’s disturbing is how utterly prosaic these glimpses are. Surely a P.G. on form would know that to reveal the inner workings of such a marvellous machine was bound to be a mistake.

Written in 1952/1953, and set in the 1950s, this is Wodehouse dealing with post-War Britain. Post-War Britain is of course a place Wodehouse himself never visited, and it makes a decidedly odd target for him. Far from the idle rich and stately pads of his earlier books, we have, thanks to encroaching socialism, an impoverished aristocracy and a genteel ruin. At one point, Jeeves even says he will work for nothing, which is a fine set of affairs for such a brilliant butler. Furthermore we have a bluff old white hunter who seems like the worst caricature of a sun-burnt colonial, written at the exact time the colonies were falling away. Undoubtedly this character has a heart of gold, but one doesn’t have much faith in his ability to do anything of use, only hunt exotic species and get drunk in the sunlight. It really seems as if Wodehouse is saying that Malaysia, and other such places, would be in a far better state without these particular blots on the landscape. The times are moving on from beneath Wodehouse and he is trying to adapt to them, but I’m not sure that a light romantic comedy of the upper classes is the best mode with which to do that. Nor, if we’re honest, is P.G. Wodehouse – a man, lest we forget, with so little understanding of politics he let himself get trapped in Wartime France – the best writer to handle this. Obviously he can see that the world is changing, but equally obviously he has very little idea how to engage with it and so I can’t help thinking it would be better if he didn’t try.

Early in the book Jeeves is asked to predict the winner of The Derby, and says that the 1925 winner is one to watch. This is a novel that’s actually stated to take place in the 1950s and so surely this horse – even with the most charitable view – is going to be about twenty years past its prime, and would be a hugely unlikely recommendation for someone who supposedly knows so much about the turf. But then I suppose Jeeves, much like Wodehouse himself, would really just like to be back in The Twenties where things were so much simpler.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book comes somewhere past the midway of the Bertie and Jeeves saga - and the only novel where Bertie is not around, and the only novel narrated in third person. It was adapted from a play co-authored by Wodehouse.

In this novel, Bertie has gone "back to school" to learn how to survive in a post-apocalyptic (that is, post-WW II) world, without a valet. Jeeves has taken up temporary employment as butler to Bill Belfry, the impoverished Ninth Earl of Rowcester, who is saddled with a decaying ancestral home (Rowcester Abbey) which he is not able to keep up. To make ends meet, he adopts the disguise of Honest Patch Perkins, a Silver Ring bookie, with Jeeves as his clerk. Bill's sister Monica plans to entice the rich American widow Mrs. Spottsworth to buy the white elephant, provided that her bumbling husband Sir Roderick ("Rory") Carmoyle, who opens his mouth only to put his foot into it, doesn't bung a spanner into the works. However, there are complications.

Complication one: By accepting an outside bet against Jeeves's better advice, Bill ends up owing three thousand pounds to Captain Biggar, the big game hunter, and is forced to welsh (at least temporarily). Biggar follows Bill to Rowcester Abbey and is determined to get his pound of flesh. It doesn't help matters that the captain is hopelessly in love with the rich American widow.

Complication two: Bill is supposed to coo like a turtle dove to Rosalind Spottsworth to put his deal through. The fact that they were in a brief romance in the French Riviera once, should have helped matters along, had nor Bill's jealous girlfriend Jill were not on the premises, looking squiggly-eyed at him.

Complication three: Mrs. Spottsworth is ready to buy Rowcester Abbey, for its supposed ghostly inhabitants; but doesn't care for the damp, which Rory is bound to harp upon in every conversation.

A pretty hopeless situation. But then, Jeeves is around, and he is still eating plenty of fish...

***

The novel being an adaptation of a play, relies heavily on dialogue. Most of the trademark Wodehouse escapades are offstage. But the scintillating conversation (especially about an England which is undergoing a makeover into a welfare state and thus "impoverishing everyone", according to Jeeves) and excellent characterisation more than make up for it. However, one does miss Bertie!

[Ahtims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a hilarious journey with Bill, the impoverished Lord of the Abbey, his fiancee Jill, a veterinarian, Jeeves, who has taken residence as his butler as Bertie is out at a school which teaches self-sufficiency. Monica aka Moke, Bill's sister, and Rory her bumbling husband, are also in residence. Enters, Rosie aka Mrs. Pottsworth, the rich lady who amassed wealth of her dead husbands, and Captain Bigger, the hunter of large wild animals, who is secretly in love with her. Mix with this , a pendant which is perpetually being stolen, horses at Derby which do not behave as they ought to, and loads of debts being waited to be claimed. And lone man army of Jeeves who has to untangle the various muddled threads. Thanks to his super large, over charged brain, full of phosphate acquired from a fish rich diet, it is all child's play to him.
Thoroughly enjoyed this audio book, richly enunciated, made me chuckle, guffaw or even peal out in laughter during my walks, much to the consternation of passers by.

[Ian Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rather than be a Jeeves and Wooster novel ‘Ring for Jeeves’ is an adaption of a P G Wodehouse musical play of the same name. The decision to use Jeeves was no doubt a commercial decision to trade on this great name to bring them flocking to the theatre. This makes for an unfortunate book in the series for three very good reasons.

Firstly in order for the correct ending in a musical comedy the leads must fall in love and marry, consequently Bertie cannot be the lead male as he cannot marry as this would end his saga and so Jeeves has been lent out to Bill Rowcester. Not very plausible as the whole point of Jeeves and Wooster is of course that Bertie cannot cope without the advice of his trusted valet.

Secondly although Jeeves has always ‘endeavoured to give satisfaction’ and would do anything to help his master stopping short of breaking the law. Jeeves has no compulsion here and readily breaks the law here.

Thirdly the Jeeves and Wooster stories are written in the first person by Bertie himself and although Wodehouse is quite the writer he’s not in Bertie’s class.

A pretty decent P G Wodehouse novel but a very poor Jeeves and Wooster book. For Wodehouse completists only.

[Girish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ring for Jeeves - Excellent humor though a bit adventerous for the usual Jeeves. For starters Jeeves in the service of Bill Rowcester while Bertie is away in preparatory school for life in world of declining aristocracy.

Bill Rowcester comes a close second to Bertie however and even brings on an additional audacity and the dimension of dire financial straits. Billiken and Jeeves have to masquerade as Bookies to make ends meet so that Bill can marry the normal daughter of local constable Jill. Things start going south when Bill and Jeeves flee from the races when odds of 33 to 1 throw in a spanner in the mechanism.

Bill's sister Moke (and with no help from her husband Rory) has arranged for the Rowcester Mansion to be sold to a rich ex lover of Bill who believes in spirits and, for some odd reason, tribal hunters of the east. Enter Captain Biggar - the man with a mushy heart for the rich lady and a IOU of 3000 odd pounds due to be paid by Bill.

Then it's vintage PGW. Has the usual rip roaring heists, misunderstandings and the flourishing finish. I did find Jeeves a lot more wordy than usual (as if jeeves had an alter ego).

A good read

[Jason Koivu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd have to rank this as my least favorite Jeeves & Wooster book. Probably because there's no Wooster in it. There's plenty of Jeeves, more so than any of the others in the series that I can remember, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Jeeves is relatively wordy here and it doesn't seem right. He's out of character at times. More problematic than that is the rest of the cast. I don't know or care about these characters. And finally, we're without Wooster's narration in Ring for Jeeves, and that's the very heart and soul of the series! This was a play Wodehouse wrote and it seems he added Jeeves for the sake of name-recognition. Perhaps it shouldn't be considered part of the novel series.

[Hymerka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Аж не віриться, що я прочитала вже десяту книжку про Дживса. З іншого боку це переконливе свідчення того, що Вудгаусовий гумор — це мій тип гумору. Мені бракувало трохи Берті, але молодий лорд, до якого тимчасово подався в найми Дживс, теж ще той фрукт. ) У цій серії ми маємо вкрай марновірну американську пані-багатійку, руїни старовинного сімейного маєтку, який уже й задарма ніхто не хоче забирати, невиплачений виграш на кінських перегонах, фальшиві вуса, непорозуміння між зарученими і дуже екзальтовану крихітну собачку. До того ж, крім жартів, які заплановані автором, тут ще й тішать око фразочки штибу "Bill was far from being the gayest of all that gay company.", які викликають у мене нестримне гигикання (чесно думала, що я переросту такий школярський гумор, але де там! вони ще й регулярно ejaculate одне до одного).

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeeves without Wooster . . . what IS the world coming to?

And that does seem to be the issue at hand. In this post-war Britain, all is not right with society. The nobility are having to take on real jobs, or sell their ancestral homes, and good help is hard to find. With Bertie Wooster off at a school for the useless upper classes where he will learn to darn socks and cook scrambled eggs, Jeeves offers himself to an impoverished lord looking to either make a fortune as a bookie, or sell his ancestral home, or both.

The usual mayhem ensues. This one involves a lot of betting on horses, and features a wealthy American widow who regularly uses a ouija board to speak to her dead husbands and is hoping to see the ghosts. Also Rory, the brother-in-law of the owner of the ancestral dump, er, manor, is a hoot. Dumber than a post, and always saying the wrong thing, but usually at just the right time. Jeeves tries to smooth the path, but really, it's more than one man, even a brainy one, can do.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thankfully credit Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins for putting me on to Wodehouse, but this (my second book of Jeeves) seems somehow darker and more contrived. Ring for Jeeves is, as I understand it, the only book in the series without the presence of Bertie Wooster. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it’s Costello without Abbott? Hardy without Laurel? Chaney without Bush? Whatever it is, Ring seems somehow less inspired.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeeves and Wooster without bonehead Bertie doesn't bare thinking about. Not bad, just needs that ZING! that one gets when the duo are together. Nevermind, Jeeves is still as cool and calm as ever.

Made me snarf an' snort a few time so thats not so bad.

"Bugger this Jeeves I'm off to the Drones to get wasted with the chaps until I'm so drunk I do the left handed snakedance."

"Indeed sir."

Now that's one I would love to see in the books.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't figure out why Jonathan Cecil didn't read this Jeeves book and when I started listening I was very confused and then absolutely appalled to discover Bertie wasn't telling the story!

I was ready to dislike this book, but the purist in me insisted that I finish it so I could say I'd completed the whole series.

While I continued missing Bertie and it took me awhile to even understand what was happening, there were some hilarious moments, mostly involving Captain Bigger. He often had me giggling.

Basically there are lots of romances happening around the sale of an old estate and things get very complicated.

Glad I read it, but even happier to be returning to Bertie in the next book!

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

my idol has feet of clay aka p.g. wodehouse sometimes writes duds

hate to say it but i really felt as i read this entry in the jeeves series that it was just cranked out to get the author a few bob. i had thought previously that jeeves without wooster might be palatable but the two characters really do seem to need each other to strike sparks, even though jeeves is given a similar drones club member to serve here albeit one less rolling "in the stuff" than bertie. somehow jeeves comes off as dull in this book and his propensity to find the perfect aphorism for every situation seems unappreciated by the characters, and even the author himself.

p.s. whoever wrote the back-cover copy for this edition of the book obviously hasn't read it recently, if at all. captain biggar the big-game hunter is not who jeeves is working for but a man named rowcester.

[Nataliya Yaneva]

Изключително вдъхновен превод. Когато бях млада и (по-) наивна, така си представях, че искам да превеждам.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but it didn't feel right having Jeeves with no Wooster.

[Maggie M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably the most scathing review I'll ever write about Wodehouse. I borrowed this book from a friend as I was heading out to the train. It was a long ride; I was desperate for something to read and I never turn down Wodehouse.

The description on the back had the main character listed as "the ninth earl of Towcester (pronounced Toaster)..." but the main character was actually the early of Rowcester (pronounced Rooster). The book just got weirder from there.

Jeeves, that proper and stalwart butler of no small literary notoriety, deviates from his usually unreproachful manner to dabble in gambling, suggesting (and nearly following through with) attacking and robbing a man, and giving his stamp of approval to grand larceny.

The book, while still full of plenty of funny lines that made me giggle out loud, was uneven and kind of a labor to read. As with all other Wodehouse, it's just a nice way to pass the time and a good, fluffy, fun book full of characters you kind of wish you knew in real life. Not Wodehouse's best work, but still overall a decent work. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's just getting into Wodehouse, but for the forgiving Wodehouse fan this is a good way to spend a train ride.

[Todd Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hope I don’t give away too much of the plot when I say that Ring for Jeeves consists of a cast of bumbling characters getting themselves into a comic cluster-f*ck that only Jeeves can extricate them from. Though perhaps that comes as no surprise.

What is a surprise is the tone of the novel. I think what most people find endearing about Wodehouse stories is the light-hearted innocence that permeates his books. There are convoluted muddles and unpleasant characters, but all are drawn for comic effect and none could be perceived as particularly malicious or malevolent. This is not the case in Ring for Jeeves, where a cynical pall hangs over the story like a dark cloud. The main characters, including Jeeves himself, are involved in lying, thievery, gambling, deception and threats of physical violence. The humor is still there, but it is tainted by a scornful negativity.

Definitely not one of Wodehouse’s best.

[Iain M Rodgers · Rating 2 out of 5]

The publisher should withdraw this book. It completely ruins the image of Jeeves. Instead of being subtle and clever, he is long winded and pedantic. His solutions to some problems, instead of being neat and ingenious are crude and stupid.

There are one or two amusing moments but the whole atmosphere is different.

If the name Jeeves was changed to something else and Bertie similarly swapped out it would at least protect those characters from damage.

[مروان البلوشي · Rating 4 out of 5]

تاريخ القراءة الأصلي : ٢٠٠٢
موقع القراءة : بريطانيا

[Addy · Rating 5 out of 5]

RING FOR JEEVES
- PG Wodehouse.

There was a thread the other day in which someone had asked for recommendations in the Comedy genre. Other than comics(graphic novels), I had not ventured into this genre till now. Just read through the recommendations and PG Wodehouse seemed like a very popular choice and I remembered someone telling to start with his most legendary character - Jeeves.
After that, I forgot about this thread for a while. Then, I was going though my father's old collections and Voila! There it was - a 1971 print of the very book! Without wasting any time, I picked it up and I'm so happy that I tried it.
It is an absolute laughter riot and now I know why PG Wodehouse comes so highly recommended. I don't think I've ever laughed out loud so much ever while reading a book or even watching a movie. There's not a single dull moment, the dialogues are just superb and the hilarious anecdotes are just out of this world. The entire text is magnificently replete with Analogy, Similie, Hyperbole, Metaphor, Pun, Idiom, Slang, Double Entendre, et al. Undoubtedly, the star of the show is the all purpose problem solving butler, Jeeves who I believe gained as much cult status as Poirot or Sherlock. But for me, Rory(Lord Rowescester's brother in law) induced the most laughter with his innocuous, irritating and downright ridiculous behaviour and the unmatchable ability to always speak the wrong things at the wrong time. The plot is very simple yet so intricate and it is an utterly enjoyable read for people of all ages, genders, nationalities irrespective of what kind of books they prefer, because everyone can do with some laughter in their lives . It will literally have you rolling on the floor laughing. I'm glad that my experimentation with different genres is paying off.

5/5. Don't delay reading this.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I spent most of this book missing Bertie Wooster, who's only mentioned a few times in passing. The set-up here is the same as with Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories. It's set in the 50s, with Jeeves returning as a temporary butler for, I want to say, Lord Bill Towesceter (pronounced toaster.) Bill is Bertie-like in that he's gotten himself entangled in a scheme to make some extra money before marrying the Chief Constable's daughter and Jeeves is there to help him out of it. Though Bill isn't as clueless and needie as Bertie and really not as enjoyable a character.
The real problem I had with this book was that the characters all feel like minor characters in a Jeeves and Wooster novel, they're the people you'd meet out at the country house while Bertie gets into trouble. Jeeves seems to have less involvement in what's going on and the relationship between him and Bill isn't as necessary. He almost feels superfluous in this book.

[Ensiform · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this unusual Bertie & Jeeves adventure, the pair is split up. Jeeves works for Bill, the Earl of Towcester. Bill faces a steep gambling debt to a murderous ex-Army Captain (one of those types with red faces and a small bristly mustache), a rift with his intended Jill, and a crumbling estate he wants to sell. Jeeves, of course, sets it all right in the end.

As usual, Wodehouse’s comic timing is sharp, even if some plot points take a bit long to resolve themselves, and the rapid dialogue is pure genius. Wodehouse revels in this fantasy word of feudal devotion and lets zaniness ensue, even poking mild fun at his world where time has stopped by showing an anti-Jeeves, a sixteen year old Butler who trips over rugs and says “Yus?” affably when called. Altogether I liked this book even better upon the second reading. It’s amusing throughout, and great fun.

[read twice]

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The brilliant thing about Bertie Wooster is that everything is enjoyable to read when narrated through his eyes. I was horrified to open this book to a third-person narration, and then to realize that Wooster wasn't in the book at all. Even worse, Jeeves was not at all himself: far from being above reproach, he was absolutely unscrupulous, unnaturally chatty, and very short-sighted (if Wooster had left an incriminating costume in a chest, Jeeves would have removed it to safety instanter). I couldn't find a single character that I liked, or could say with any certainty that I understood (their individual psychology being somewhat obfuscated to me, probably because I didn't have Wooster to give me his colourful impressions). Equally disappointing, I found the plot weak and uncompelling, if that's the word I want. But take courage: Bertie's back in the series' next book.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ring for Jeeves features Jeeves without Wooster: Bertie is away and has temporarily loaned Jeeves to Bill Belfry, earl of Rowcester. Bill and Jeeves get into trouble while working as bookies to raise cash for Bill, who's engaged and needs money; hijinks ensue at Bill's country house. I really, really missed Bertie's first-person narration, and Jeeves seemed at a loss far more often than he ought; the plot was entertaining, but not enough to keep me from longing for the usual Jeeves and Wooster team.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

A complete oddity. A Jeeves and Wooster book without Bertie Wooster. Instead Jeeves is working for Bill Rowcester (name not that far removed!) who essentially is Bertie without any qualms about getting married; he's also less morally scrupulous. That said the chemistry just isn't the same and bits of the book seem very laboured. What also doesn't help is that Bertie's voice is missing in the narration - instead a third person narrative is employed which jars after reading the others. An interesting (failed) experiment which was never repeated

[Gu Kun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant rendition by Martin Jarvis on Youtube.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

My goodness, Bertie Wooster's absence leaves a big hole. With Bertie it's an ensemble act with the comic lines bouncing off one another. Without him, the jokes are still there but the actors are reading from a script. Get the balance right and it works, otherwise the laughter appears with a grudging belief that because it's Wodehouse it will be funny.

I had a feeling that once the action moved to Rowcester Abbey the plot was a novelization of a stage farce. While Bill's garish costume as a racecourse bookie would work well on stage it is hardly necessary in a novel, and chapters 2 to 4 in Rowcester Abbey read as scenes in a play: Monica and Rory (chapter 2), Monica, Rory and Jill (chapter 3), Bill and Jeeves (chapter 4), each group giving us cross-talk acts. It is Wodehouse though so, needless to say, there are funny lines and to crown it all the character of Captain Biggar, supposed big game hunter, with his tales of Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai and the exploits of Tubby Frobisher and the Subahdar.

The opening scene:

"I don't know if you would care to know, madam," [the waiter] said, in a voice that throbbed with emotion, "but Whistler's Mother won the Oaks."

The woman looked up, regarding him with large, dark, soulful eyes as if he had been something recently assembled from ectoplasm. "The what?"

Lady Carmoyle, or Monica, aka Moke, on debutantes coming-out:

"Coming out! The dear old getting-ready-for-market stage! How it takes one back. Off with the glasses and the teeth-braces."

The Wodehouse love of silly upper class names re-appears when Jill recounts her previous loves to Bill:

"I told you about Percy, didn't I? And Charles and Squiffy and Tom and Blotto," said Jill, mentioning other figures of Romance from the dead past.

Rory and Moke - a little gem:

"I say, Moke," said Rory, "can you speak Spanish?"

"I don't know. I've never tried. Why?"

And in chapter 12 there is a passage by Captain Biggar in which he reminisces about meeting Tubby and the Subahdar in Shanghai. It is too long to quote in full but as a sharp sarcastic stab at the Old Boys of fading Empire it takes some beating. Just a part of it as a taster:

I'm dashed if the first thing I saw wasn't the two old bounders sitting on a couple of stools as large as life. "Hullo there, Bwana, old boy," they said when I rolled up, and I said, "Hullo there, Tubby! Hullo there, Subahdar, old chap," and Tubby said, "What'll you have, old boy?" and I said, "What are you boys having?" and they said stingahs, so I said that would do me all right, so Tubby ordered a round of stingahs, and we started talking about chowluangs and nai bahn rot fais and where we had all met last and whatever became of the poogni at Lampang and all that sort of thing."

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 1 out of 5]

ENGLISH: This is the second time I've read this novel; the first was over 40 years ago. I'm disappointed. Jeeves' behaviour seems out of character, and it's not justified by the fact that in this novel he's not serving Bertie Wooster. I think Wooster's Jeeves would never have advised his master , whoever he was, to wear a checked jacket, an eye patch and a fake moustache.

In some places, It has come to my mind that this book could have been written by a second-rate imitator of Wodehouse, who has tried to copy his style and his characters, but not successfully. I know this did not happen, but I insist that the book, compared to the rest of the Jeeves series, is disappointing.

ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda vez que leo esta novela, más de 40 años después de la primera. Me ha decepcionado. El comportamiento de Jeeves no me parece propio de él, y no se justifica porque en esta novela no esté sirviendo a Bertie Wooster. Me parece que el Jeeves de Wooster jamás habría aconsejado a su señor que se pusiera una chaqueta a cuadros, un parche en el ojo y un bigote postizo.

En algunos sitio se me ha ocurrido que este libro podría haber sido escrito por un imitador de Wodehouse de segunda categoría, que hubiese intentado copiar su estilo y sus personajes, aunque sin éxito. Ya sé que no es así, pero insisto en que el libro, comparado con el resto de la serie de Jeeves, es decepcionante.