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Title: Much Obliged, Jeeves
Series: Jeeves Omnibus #5.1
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 256
Words: 40K
Series: Jeeves Omnibus #5.1
Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Humor
Pages: 256
Words: 40K
Synopsis:
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From Wikipedia.com
Jeeves
types a report of Bertie's latest misadventures for the club book of
the Junior Ganymede Club, in which the club's members are required to
record information about their employers, to inform those seeking
employment about potential employers. Bertie worries that his
embarrassing information will fall into the hands of his judgmental
Aunt Agatha and asks Jeeves to destroy the pages about him, but
Jeeves asserts that the book is secure and refuses to defy the rules
of his club.
An
old school friend of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the
House of Commons in a by-election at Market Snodsbury, near the home
of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, Brinkley Court, on the wishes of his strict
fiancée. Aunt Dahlia persuades Bertie to come to Brinkley to assist
in the canvassing. Before departing, Bertie has drinks with Jeeves at
the Junior Ganymede. They discuss how Ginger's chances for election
will be hurt if the public learns about his rowdy past (mild by
Bertie's standards but potentially offensive to the traditional rural
populace of Market Snodsbury). At the club, they see an uncouth
ex-valet that Bertie once employed, Bingley, who greets Jeeves in an
overly familiar fashion, calling him "Reggie".[4]
At
Brinkley, he discovers Ginger's fiancée is the overbearing Florence
Craye, who has previously been betrothed to several people, including
Bertie. Florence mistakenly believes that Bertie still wants to marry
her, and Bertie's personal code prevents him from telling her
otherwise. The intimidating Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup has
come to deliver speeches for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée,
Madeline Bassett. Like Florence, Madeline thinks Bertie wants to
marry her and Bertie is too polite to correct her.
Also
present is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector, who is visiting
Brinkley to sell a silver porringer worth nine thousand pounds to
Bertie's uncle Tom Travers (who has fled Brinkley Court to avoid the
guests). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Bertie's
friend Tuppy Glossop, and profited from Tuppy's father's invention,
leaving little for Tuppy and his father. Dahlia wants to soften up
Runkle and get him to pay Tuppy his due so Tuppy can finally marry
his fiancée, Angela, Aunt Dahlia's daughter.
Ginger's
chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are
threatened by Bingley, who has purloined the Junior Ganymede club
book. Bingley intends to sell its pages about Ginger to his opponent
or to the local newspaper. To prevent this, Jeeves pays Bingley a
social visit, taking the opportunity to slip him a Mickey Finn and
recover the book.
Surprisingly,
this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his
performance at the Council meeting, he no longer wants to marry her,
and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Like
Bertie, Ginger is prevented by his personal code from telling a woman
he does not want to marry her. To spur Florence to break the
engagement, Ginger wants the local newspaper to print the club book's
pages about him, but Jeeves is unwilling to part with the book.
Meanwhile, Spode is entranced by the reception he is getting at his
speeches for Ginger, and thinks of renouncing his title and running
for the Commons himself. This upsets Madeline, who wants to become a
Countess. Madeline considers marrying Bertie instead of Spode.
Aunt
Dahlia, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy any money, has
stolen the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to
return the porringer, but is caught, and hides the object in his
bureau drawer. At the candidate debate, Ginger, following Jeeves's
advice, endorses his opponent and resigns the race. Havoc ensues
between the opposing sides, and those present, including Spode and
Florence, are pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement
with Ginger, and he promptly elopes with Magnolia.
Bingley
(in Runkle's employ) discovers the missing porringer in Bertie's
drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the theft. While Bertie faces
jail time, this has the positive effect of keeping Florence from
trying to marry Bertie. Spode realises he would prefer to stay in the
produce-free House of Lords and chooses to keep his title. He and
Madeline reconcile.
Finally,
Jeeves reveals secrets about Runkle written about him by Bingley in
the club book, preventing him from pressing charges against Bertie,
and also forcing him to give Tuppy his legacy. Noting that Bingley
was able to steal the club book, Bertie again asks Jeeves to destroy
the eighteen pages that Jeeves wrote about Bertie. Jeeves states that
he has already done so.
My
Thoughts:
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I don't know what it was, but while this was still quite enjoyable,
the “zest” seemed not to be there for me. Part of that is because
I watched the BBC production with Frye and Laurie and the final
episode took a lot of the story from this book, so everything wasn't
all shiny and new. I also am wondering if Wodehouse was simply
running out of steam for this Dynamic Duo. This is the 13th
book in the series for goodness sake.
There was no chortling on my end. A slightly raised eyebrow and a
quirk of the lip were about the limits my expressions of joy and
delight while reading this. I felt very Jeeve'ish.
The lesson I learned from this? If there is a movie/tv version of a
book, read the bleeding book first so you don't ruin it for yourself
with the boobtube version. Once you've read the books, then I HIGHLY
recommend the Frye & Laurie rendition of Jeeves & Wooster.
★★★☆½
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