“Have you ever tasted a mint julep, Beach?”
“Not to my recollection, sir.”
“Oh, you’d remember all right if you had. Insidious things. They creep up to you like a baby sister and slide their little hands into yours and the next thing you know the Judge is telling you to pay the clerk of the court fifty dollars.”
I’ve waxed poetic about the joys of P.G. Wodehouse before, but I think I’m due to push those of you who haven’t dipped into one of the greatest comic writers in the history of the printed word to do so. I’ve actually started to change my opinion on Wodehouse; after years of seeing the Jeeves/Wooster series as his masterworks, I’m coming around to the Blandings Castle series as the funnier books.
Summer Lightning
The Jeeves/Wooster novels and stories are brilliant, but the Blandings Castle series’ ensemble cast gives more opportunities for humor and also avoids overtaxing characters that might seem a little thinly drawn if given too much stage time. In addition, the presence of a true villain in Lady Constance Keeble, who disapproves of every match, despises her brother Galahad and looks down on her other brother Lord Emsworth, gives the Blandings novels more narrative greed than the typical Jeeves story, where the biggest question is usually how Jeeves intends to extract Wooster from impending nuptials, although Roderick Spode and the pilfered cow creamer do stand as counterexamples.
Next up: As many of you have begged me to do, I’ve started Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
hopefully, all the K&C recommendations havent raised your expectations to ridiculous heights. on that note, it prob would rank in my top five, if i were to have a top five. ha.
Please remove 75 pages from K&C for optimum enjoyment.
Echoing John Liotta, K&C starts off brilliantly (the descriptions of the comic are magnificent) and then really, really (REALLY) tapers off at the end. Still a solid book, but Chabon — as always — needs a better editor. Or a editor.
“Or a editor.”
!
Thanks for the rec! Have you seen Masterpiece Theatre’s adaptation of J&W yet? Hugh Laurie’s reaction to the hangover cure is one of the funniest scenes ever filmed.
Take the time you’d spend on K&C and start Infinite Jest. Even though its twice as long and takes more effort to read, it’s worth it. No doubt you’d have to update the KLaw100 and it would be great to see something on DFW that didn’t focus on his suicide (I have faith your subsequent review wouldn’t). Dave Eggers wrote a great 4 page intro for the 10th anniversary which should quell any doubts you have that Wallace and this book. Wallace hits like Pujols, plays 2nd base like Utley and pitches like Maddux, often at the same time.
If you think K&C is too long try reading Chabon’s Summerland. Good book, but for something that is intended for children it stretches on far too long.
It is funny that Chabon’s main character in Wonder Boys (FWIW: I enjoyed more than K&C)is an author whose book gets unmanageably long.