Thank You, Jeeves (The Jeeves Omnibus 1.1) ★★★★☆

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Thank You, Jeeves
Series: The Jeeves Omnibus 1.1
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 241
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Bertie Wooster has taken up playing the banjolele. He does it so badly that Jeeves gives his notice and all of Bertie's neighbors complain to the landlord. Bertie decides to spend the summer in a bungalo playing the banjolele at his chum Chuffy's mansion out in the country.

Chaos ensues. Chuffy is trying to sell his mansion to a rich american. This rich american has a daughter, Pauline, that Bertie was engaged to for about 24hrs a while ago. Chuffy falls in love with her and she with him. But other family interests make a hash of things, plus the father is convinced that his daughter still loves Bertie and he hates Bertie. Hilarity ensues, escapades happen and through it all, Jeeves helms the boat through troubled waters and in the end, brings it in to safe harbor.

Chuffy and Pauline are engaged, Chuffield Mansion is sold, Bertie gives up the banjolele and Jeeves and Bertie return to London once again united as Lord and Servant. Everybody is happy.

My Thoughts:

I am reading the Jeeves Omnibuses. They each contain 3 stories. So instead of saying that I only read one book, I am counting each book as one book. It's all about those numbers, you know? But that is why I am doing the series as a decimal number and not a whole number. This was the first book in the first Jeeves omnibus.

Now, WHY this was the first book is beyond me. It is actually #5 in the Jeeves series. So there are many, many, many instances of Bertie referencing things that have happened previously that we the reader have no idea about. None of the things are big enough that you lose the essence of what is being referred to, as it is mostly silly or assinine things that Bertie has done, but the specifics aren't there and it makes the references less real. That is really my only complaint for this book.

My favorite part is Bertie's new man, Brinklie. He gets roaring drunk, burns down Bertie's cottage, assaults various people with knives, potatoes, etc and is generally a dangerous lunatic but through Bertie's eyes it is “Oh, that just goes with the territory”.

I am surprised that I haven't seen more of an uproar by social justice clowns because of the whole master servant thing with Bertie and Jeeves and the use of the word nigger in several instances when referring to black performers. Since this was published in 1934 it is no doubt to old for them to even know it exists, as nothing existed before them, except when they wish to trot out their straw donkey arguments.

The one positive thing about reading this first, instead of fifth, is that I found the humor original enough so I wasn't comparing it to previous books. That was my complaint from my original read and most likely the reason I only gave it 3stars back in '03.

★★★★☆ 

• Thank You, Jeeves (2003 Review)