I’ve only read one of his books, but it was one widely regarded to be his “funniest” (The Code of the Woosters.) I wouldn’t call it a slog, but it didn’t exactly fly by. Most of my favorite books are comic novels, and it’s not like I can’t laugh at more benign comedy (I love Charles Portis), but Wodehouse’s brand of kooky similes left me almost completely stone-faced. I see people quote “convulsed like a Pekingese taking a pill” and other lines like it as if they were the most hilarious creations to ever be conjured by the human mind, and maybe they are. But I never laughed, I barely even smirked if I’m being honest.
With a lot of authors, I would just assume one particular book didn’t click with me. But Wodehouse, from what I understand, wrote almost 100 books that are more or less functionally the same. Maybe it was a mistake starting with a novel instead of his short stories, although the Psmith books seem the most interesting to me.
Is it worth bothering with any more of his books, though?
Find me a comic writer who doesn’t love Wodehouse!
When I started reading Wodehouse I remember struggling a bit to find the humour, i then watched an episode or two of the show staring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry and immediately the tone clicked. I’ve read about 16 of his books since. Love him!
The first Psmith book was one of the worst books i’ve ever read- the first half was basiclly ‘cricket – the book’ and the second half was the beginning of the Wodehouse style but it still wasn’t there.
Here’s a link to the show on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4GeN700eu4&list=PLHxC5fTU2oVbTLQ7WayDiYlnlHPjuOk6Z