The Jeeves Collection

by P.G. Wodehouse, Stephen Fry (Narrator)

Contents:
My Man Jeeves
Extricating Young Gussie
Right Ho, Jeeves
Jeeves is a fictional character in a series of humorous short stories and novels by P. G. Wodehouse, being the highly-competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie Wooster created in 1915. Both the name "Jeeves" and the character of Jeeves have come to be thought of as the quintessential name and nature of a valet or butler, inspiring many similar characters. The premise of the Jeeves stories is that the brilliant valet is firmly in control of his rich and foppish young employer's life. Jeeves becomes Bertie Wooster's protector and all-purpose problem solver, devising subtle plans to rescue Bertie and his friends from tiresome social obligations, demanding relatives, brushes with the law, and, above all, problems involving women. Wodehouse derives much comic effect from having Bertie, his narrator, remain blissfully unaware of Jeeves's machinations, until all is revealed at the end of the story.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Classics

Audiobook

First published September 26, 2012

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

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like watching a great British comedy! I audibly laughed my way through.

[Christopher Whalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of five Jeeves and Wooster stories narrated by the inimitable Stephen Fry is a joy. It gives a taste of the full, if somewhat limited, range of ingredients of a Jeeves and Wooster caper: aunts, old school friends, engagements, country seats, policemen, Boy Scouts, fancy dress balls, pick-me-ups, escapes to New York, businessmen, and farcical plots. Fry does the voices perfectly. They fizz and come alive like a cartoon. The stories cross-reference each other but never let you feel left out if you haven’t read them all.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, good, quick read and VERY entertaining.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable audiobook read by Stephen Fry, who is known to many in the UK as one half of Jeeves and Wooster, which he starred in with Hugh Laurie as Wooster. This collection comprises of three full length novels (Right Ho, Jeeves, The Code of the Wooster and Joy in the Morning) and two short story collections (The Inimitable Jeeves and Carry On Jeeves).

Fry's narration as always is excellent and his vocal talents allow him to portray a range of characters splendidly, from wise yet deferential Jeeves to the rather rambunctious Aunt Dahlia.

I particularly enjoyed Right Ho Jeeves, with The Code of the Woosters coming a close second in terms of the novels. I didn't particularly enjoy Joy in The Morning but I am not sure if this is the book itself or rather that I had a bit of Jeeves fatigue.

I enjoyed both short story collections equally, but the Inimitable Jeeves just had a slight edge for me. Favourite stories included 'The Great Sermon Handicap' 'Jeeves and the Hard Boiled Egg' 'Fixing it for Freddie and 'Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest'.

I would highly recommend this audio book to anyone, but especially those who are fans of either or both Stephen Fry and the Jeeves and Wooster stories so wonderfully written by P. G. Wodehouse.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

At 40.5hrs of listening and 5.5 months later, I have finished! I absolutely love listening to Stephen Fry narrating. However, this was a lot, so much in fact you could see where the stories got rather samey. I do love the ol'fashioned style of speech from the 20's/30's.

[Sam Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime. Alternately achingly funny and gently wonderful. Like Pratchett's Discworld novels, these books are postcards from friends in a world you heartily wish existed. Pip pip!

[Tracy Fulcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every minute and felt rather defensive of Bertie, he has a good soul!

[Ne Na · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun & quirky. Mastery of the English language.