Talk:P. G. Wodehouse

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Contents 1 Style 2 Humble 3 Sir Thomas Browne 4 Pronunciation of Name 5 Book reference 2 6 Drones Club Article 7 Golf 8 possible mistake? 9 Knighthood 10 Performing flea 11 The Inimitable Jeeves 12 buzzer novels 13 Doctorate 14 Boarding school 15 Baxter 16 Regarding Wooster's aunts 17 Childhood 18 Galahad Threepwood 19 Life - Early Employment

[edit] Style

P.G Wodehouse's writing style involves strange plot devices such as engagements to get out of, cow-creamers to recover and so on and so on.

[edit] Humble

I wouldn't exactly call Jeeves humble, but I hesitate to change that. zadcat 09:56 Sep 1, 2002 (PDT)

Jeeves is definitely not humble. He's smugly superior, but in an underhand way that Wooster never notices. -- Tarquin 10:03 Sep 1, 2002 (PDT)

Point taken. I deleted "humble". Perhaps one adjective is enough. -- Heron

[edit] Sir Thomas Browne

Actually whilst not denigrating the linguistic prowess of 'Plum' I think you will find that the name of Sir Thomas Browne's name occurs far more frequently in the OED than Wodehouse. Incidentally Browne knew the Wodehouse's of Kimberley Norfolk whose ancestors fought at Agincourt, but whether related to the master of the social yarns of P.G. I dunno.Norwikian 14:29, 7 Dec 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation of Name

Pronunciation of his name: WOOd-house vs. WOAd-house? Actually, I seem to remember hearing a TV or radio interview with him many years ago (probably when I was in college, in the early 1960s, and had a Jeeves-monkey on my back) in which the man himself said his name was properly pronounced "Wood-uss" -- sort of eliding the H and O sounds. Anybody know for sure? ---Michael K. Smith 21:17, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Book reference 2

I've changed the format of Template:Book reference 2 so that instead of 'ISBN=nnnnnnnnn' it takes 'id=ISBN nnnnnnnnnn'. This is so that we can use it for books that don't have ISBNs. I'd update this article, but User:Rdsmith4 has an inuse message set, so this is a reminder for me or someone else to make that change once the article's no longer marked as inuse. —Morven 22:22, Jan 5, 2005 (UTC)

I've made the change. — Dan | Talk 22:40, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Drones Club Article

It seems to me that there is a Drones Club article. -- Two Halves, unlogged and unstoppable

So there is. Pardon my confusion, but what's the purpose of your comment? — Dan | Talk 03:04, 6 Jan 2005 (UTC)

There was no active link in the article, and I didn't want to mess up all the work you were doing and/or be instantly reverted. So, now you know. -- Two Halves

[edit] Golf

Surely "A Damsel in Distress" is also golf-oriented?

[edit] possible mistake?

"Wodehouse was a prolific author, writing ninety-six books in a career spanning from 1902 to 1977."

but he expired on 1975.

ephraim

Well spotted. I think the person who wrote "1977" was confused by PGW's posthumous publications. Now fixed. --Heron 11:42, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Knighthood

Is it correct to call him "Sir". If his knighthood was bestowed after he became an American, would it not be only honorary, like Bob Geldof's? Avalon 06:58, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

I believe he had dual nationality, which would mean that "Sir" was indeed correct. However, the matter is almost moot, since he was only a knight for a few weeks.

In some contexts "Sir" would be out of place (and in Wodehouse's case, occurrences of "Sir Pelham" would very much be the exception rather than the rule). But in this context, where the full details of his name and titles are presented, it is not only appropriate, but required, because leaving it out would be misleading. JackofOz 01:32, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Performing flea

"English literature's performing flea" isn't an insult - it's a delightful compliment! Penguin put it on the outside of most of its books, and Plum himself quoted it with pleasure. Maybe it shouldn't be in the intro, but it's not a criticism. I may move it yet again. - DavidWBrooks 16:42, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

I think it belongs in the article - it's a nice turn of phrase, if nothing else, and only arguably an insult - but I'm not sure it's a topline piece of info. I like it where it is now. Having said that, I won't be very upset if it's moved. --Rayray 16:50, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Inimitable Jeeves

This book seems to be missing from the bibliography, although it is indeed a very real and very Wodehouse-written book in the Jeeves series.

I think most of the books should be removed from the bibliography, since it has List of books by P. G. Wodehouse, where "Inimitable Jeeves" appears. I will remove most of them from this article, leaving summaries of the categories. - DavidWBrooks 13:23, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] buzzer novels

User:FlashSheridan recommends the "buzzer novels" – which are they? —Tamfang 18:32, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

I asked that question at his/her User page - and this was his/her answer:

"Buzzer" was a term used by at least one Wodehouse critic (I'm afraid I've forgotten his name) for a class of protagonist: young, male, and overly-confident but good-hearted. My particular favorite is Uneasy Money, but there are many others. FlashSheridan 05:14, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Doctorate

Is it worth mentioning his honorary doctorate? It was clearly important to PGW, and many (including Waugh) write letters to him as Dr Wodehouse. -- wikiman 9th April, 2006

[edit] Boarding school

Wodehouse only saw his parents every six or seven years whilst at boarding school? Can that be right, or should it be months instead of years? kylet 12:28, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

I would think that it should be months. If it was truly years, he would only have visited his parents once during his scholastic career. It is far more likely that he went home once for the Christmas holidays and once for the summer holidays each year. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:27, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Baxter

"Wodehouse's servants are frequently far smarter than their masters. This is quintessentially true with Jeeves, who always pulls Bertie Wooster out of the direst scrapes. It recurs elsewhere, such as the efficient Baxter, secretary to the befogged Lord Emsworth"

When has Baxter ever pulled Emsworth out of a scrape, maybe the inverse is true. Surely Baxter is known only to help Connie.

The quoted text doesn't say that Baxter pulls Emsworth out of scrapes. If you read it carefully you will see that it merely says that Baxter is smarter than Emsworth. -- Derek Ross | Talk 19:30, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, I didn't read the text carefully. -- Wikipaiyan 10:10, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Regarding Wooster's aunts

"Bertie Wooster's terrorising aunts Agatha and Dahlia" Aunt Dahlia was Wooster's favorite relative!

Even so, Bertie still regarded Aunt Dahlia as a terror, as she often forced him into doing things he did not want to do (albeit more nicely than Aunt Agatha!)

Is it worth mentioning that Wodehouse's female characters (Aunts included) are generally much more forceful (if that's the word I want) than his male characters. As Bertie Wooster would say "the F of the S is more D than the M."

Kipling actually (and PGW does attribute it to "Old Pop Kipling" in at least one book. The full text of the poem is at http://www.potw.org/archive/potw96.html - well worth a read srs 04:05, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Woops, I thought it was obvious, but I should have attributed it. Sorry Jen Powell-Psmith 04:18, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Childhood

"Feeling abandoned, Wodehouse grew very close to his brother, who shared his love for art. Wodehouse filled the voids in his life by writing relentlessly."

I'm fairly sure that he never said anything of the kind. He very rarely broke from the cheery tone of his books in any of his writings or interviews that I've read (for an exception, see his see the statements he gave upon his arrest in Paris after the War). Of course, he may have been wearing the mask, but I think we have to at least consider the possibility that he was a fairly happy person, as unfashionable as that undoubtedly is. Perhaps "Some biographers (Robert McCrum, others as well?) have speculated that Wodehouse suffered from feelings of abandonment."

[edit] Galahad Threepwood

Surely Gally Threepwood deserves at least a mention among Wodehouse's memorable characters. A true philanthrop, he might one of the most interesting characters created by Plum.--Khodadad 05:29, 21 September 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps it would be interesting to point out his best-known novels, the ones that should not be missed because they are in the collective memory?Zigzig20s 06:54, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Life - Early Employment

Surely Wodehouse never really worked at the HSBC Bank; unless it was in China. HSBC only acquired The Midland Bank in 1992 before that its European presence began as a minor share holder of The Midland in 1987. When Wodehouse worked for the bank it would have been known as the The London City and Midland Bank. Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that he worked for this bank adding if necessary that it was taken over by the HSBC in 1992? If any records of this employment came to light would they mention HSBC? Shropman 21:43, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

All my Penguin editions, most of which were printed long before 1987, say he worked at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (not "HSBC Bank"). Why shouldn't it have an office in the financial centre of the world even before becoming entangled with the Midland? —Tamfang 18:02, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

True. And there's Psmith in the City - Mike Jackson is more or less a semi autobiographical version of PGW, and he is forced to join "The New Asiatic Bank" after school instead of "going up to the coll" - that is, going to oxford or cambridge, mostly for the cricket there. The bank he joins (I'm paraphrasing here) is one of those banks with vast branches in far flung areas, with the london office a kind of holding area where people receive a year or so of training in the various departments, starting from the mail room, and are then packed off overseas to manage a tiny branch in some remote asian city.

'You look on the gloomy side, Comrade Jackson. I seem to see you sitting in an armchair, fanned by devoted coolies, telling some Eastern potentate that you can give him five minutes. I understand that being in a bank in the Far East is one of the world's softest jobs. Millions of natives hang on your lightest word. Enthusiastic rajahs draw you aside and press jewels into your hand as a token of respect and esteem. When on an elephant's back you pass, somebody beats on a booming brass gong! The Banker of Bhong! Isn't your generous young heart stirred to any extent by the prospect? I am given to understand--'

srs 06:01, 10 March 2007 (UTC)