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Title: Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves
Series: Jeeves Omnibus #4.3
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 240
Words: 45K
Series: Jeeves Omnibus #4.3
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 240
Words: 45K
Synopsis:
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From Wikipedia
Jeeves
comes home after serving as a substitute butler at Brinkley Court,
the country house of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia. She tells Bertie that Sir
Watkyn Bassett was there and was impressed with Jeeves. Additionally,
Sir Watkyn bragged about obtaining a black amber statuette to Aunt
Dahlia's husband, Tom Travers, who is a rival collector.
Jeeves
dislikes Bertie's new blue Alpine hat with a pink feather. Bertie
continues to wear the hat, and has lunch with Emerald Stoker, the
sister of his friend Pauline Stoker who is on her way to the Bassett
household, Totleigh Towers. He then sees Reverend Harold "Stinker"
Pinker, who is upset that Sir Watkyn has not given him the vicarage,
which Stinker needs to be able to marry Stephanie "Stiffy"
Byng, Watkyn Bassett's niece. Stinker tells Bertie that Stiffy wants
Bertie to come to Totleigh Towers to do something for her, but
knowing that Stiffy often starts trouble, Bertie refuses.
Gussie
Fink-Nottle is upset with his fiancée Madeline Bassett, Sir Watkyn's
daughter. Jeeves suggests that Bertie go to Totleigh Towers there to
heal the rift between Gussie and Madeline, or else Madeline will
decide to marry Bertie instead. Though Bertie does not want to marry
Madeline, his personal code will not let him turn a girl down. Bertie
reluctantly decides to go to Totleigh, saying, “Stiff upper lip,
Jeeves, what?”.[2] Jeeves commends his spirit.
At
Totleigh Towers, Madeline is touched to see Bertie, thinking he came
to see her because he is hopelessly in love with her. Sir Watkyn's
friend Roderick Spode, formally Lord Sidcup, loves Madeline but hides
his feelings from her. At dinner, Madeline says that her father
purchased the black amber statuette from someone named Plank who
lives nearby at Hockley-cum-Meston. Stiffy says the statuette is
worth one thousand pounds.
Jeeves
tells Bertie that Gussie is unhappy with Madeline because she is
making him follow a vegetarian diet. The cook has offered to secretly
provide Gussie steak-and-kidney pie. The cook is in fact Emerald
Stoker, who took the job after losing her allowance betting on a
horse. She has fallen for Gussie.
After
telling Bertie that Sir Watkyn cheated Plank by paying only five
pounds for the statuette, Stiffy orders Bertie to sell it back to
Plank for five pounds, or else she will tell Madeline that Gussie has
been sneaking meat, and then Madeline would leave him for Bertie.
Stiffy takes the statuette and gives it to Bertie. Bertie goes to
Hockley-cum-Meston and meets the explorer Major Plank. Plank mentions
that he is looking for a prop forward for his Hockley-cum-Meston
rugby team.
When
Bertie tries to sell the statuette back to him for five pounds, Plank
assumes Bertie stole it from Sir Watkyn, and intends to call the
police. Jeeves arrives, saying he is Chief Inspector Witherspoon of
Scotland Yard. He tells Plank that he is there to arrest Bertie,
claiming that Bertie is a criminal known as Alpine Joe. Leading
Bertie safely away, Jeeves tells him that Sir Watkyn actually paid
the full one thousand pounds for the statuette and had lied to spite
Tom Travers. Jeeves returns the statuette to Totleigh Towers.
Spode
sees Gussie kissing Emerald, and threatens to harm him for betraying
Madeline. When Stinker moves to protect Gussie, Spode hits Stinker.
Stinker retaliates, knocking out Spode. Spode regains consciousness,
only to be knocked out again by Emerald. Seeing Spode on the ground,
Madeline calls Gussie a brute. He defiantly eats a ham sandwich in
front of her, and their engagement ends. Gussie and Emerald elope.
Sir Watkyn offers Harold Pinker the vicarage, but changes his mind
when he finds out that Stinker punched Spode. Meanwhile, Madeline
resolves to marry Bertie.
Major
Plank, after learning from a telephone call with Inspector
Witherspoon that Harold Pinker is a skilled prop forward, comes to
the house and gives him the vicarage at Hockley-cum-Meston. Because
of this, Stiffy no longer needs the statuette, which she stole a
second time to blackmail Sir Watkyn, so she gives it to Jeeves to
return it.
Hiding
from Plank behind a sofa, Bertie overhears Spode and Jeeves convince
Madeline that Bertie did not come to Totleigh Towers for love of her
but rather because he wanted to steal the statuette, which Jeeves
says he found among Bertie's belongings. Madeline decides not to
marry Bertie. Spode proposes to Madeline and she accepts. Bertie is
discovered and Sir Watkyn, a justice of the peace, intends to make
Bertie spend twenty-eight days in jail. After being arrested by
Constable Oates, Bertie spends the night in jail. In the morning,
Bertie is released. Sir Watkyn is dropping the charge because Jeeves
agreed to work for him. Bertie is shocked, but Jeeves assures him it
will only be temporary. After a week or so, he will find a reason to
resign and return to Bertie. Moved, Bertie wishes there was something
he could do to repay Jeeves. Jeeves asks Bertie to give up the Alpine
hat. Bertie agrees
My
Thoughts:
|
By the time I was done with this book I wanted to read another. Light
and funny really hit the spot at the moment and if one of something
is good, then isn't two of something even better? Thankfully, I DO
know better. The humor in these books continues to work for me
BECAUSE I know when I've had enough. I am rather proud of myself, to
be honest, for not only finding this balance, but sticking to it as
well. It is much easier to gorge on chocolate eggs until you're sick
and then not eat another for 6 months than to simply eat one
chocolate egg every 3-4 weeks for 6 months.
Of course, the problem with reading so many of these books (this IS
the twelfth one so far) is that at some point you run out of things
to say about the story, especially when the stories all run in
similar veins.
But they're still working for me and I'm still smiling at the antics
of Bertie Wooster and his superhuman gentleman's gentleman Jeeves! So
eat some fish to make your brain bigger, get some spineless friends
and have a laugh at your local castle!
★★★☆½
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