correct age for reading Wodehouse?
Subrahmanyam Vemuru
going to initiate 15-year old boys into reading Wodehouse, or to that effect.
The question that comes to mind is what is the right age to appreciate
Wodehouse and his style!
From my own experience. The first time I happened to read Wodehouse was around
when I was fifteenish! I started with Joy in the morning. But I distinctly
remember not getting the hang of it all - why all the fuss over a mere
break-fast, the back-chat of quotes, the allusions to various things which was
not familiar to the reader (that time!), and more importantly the narrative
style and wording (this can be past the vocabulary of a school boy)- and all
that. As a matter of fact, I didn't really take to Wodehouse for nearly ten
years thenceforth.
But arriving at man's estate, re-reading the same numbers and the ones that
could be enjoyed at that time like Mike and Smith, the Gold Bat and others, I
realized that Wodehouse is enjoyed for a matured reading.
And on a slightly different note. Watching many of my friends start appreciating
Wodehouse, I notice that Jeeves's stories come slightly later (maybe they being
long stories) on the schedule. Most people took immdiately to Wodehouse after
reading the Drones club stories, the Mulliner stories, the Golf stories...
But once that done, one is eager to read all!
Would like to know what others think of the above, stating again that one needs
a matured state of mind to appreciate Wodehouse really. Comments?
V. Subrahmanyam.
Richard vine
>
> I was introduced to PGW almost as soon as I could read, and to
> W.S.Gilbert (Bab Ballads), and to Damon Runyan. However, it may be
> that being English gives one an unfair advantage, there were plenty
> of people around who could remember the "Bertie era", so the stories
> did not seem difficult or strange. You don't have to be old to
> appreciate "The Long Hole"! Have you tried Ukridge?
> TonyK
>
>
I discovered PGW when I was about 14 (20 years ago now), and I appreciated immediately. As you do at that age (and as I STILL do), I wanted all my friends to share my enthusiasm. So I became an insufferable PGW bore, passing the books around to all my classmates.
I discovered that age had nothing to do with it. It seemed to be a state of mind. And it had nothing to do with all the references: when I was 14 I missed most of them. It was the _style_ of the writing and the dialogue that kept me reading.
/Richard V
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The views expressed are mine. The blame for them belongs to society.
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Anne Cotton
There is no single "right" age for reading Wodehouse for the first time,
any more than there is a single right age for seeing Europe -- the experience
is different at each age, but all are valid.
I suspect it may be more a case of finding the right match between the
particular Wodehouse stories (Jeeves, Mulliner, golf, Drones, schoolboy,
etc.) and the particular sense of humor of the individual involved, at
whatever age that person happens to be when encountering the Master.
And once the right combination occurs, we have a fully hooked Plum addict,
who will then read everything s/he can lay hands on -- which, of course,
is exactly as it should be.
________________________________________________________________
| "A dear, good fellow, but inclined to become familiar under |
| the influence of trade gin. I shot him in the leg." |
| -- Lady Bassett (of the South Hadley Bassetts) |
|______________________________________________________________|
Rick Rashid
>The question that comes to mind is what is the right age to appreciate
>Wodehouse and his style!
>
I started reading Wodehouse at the age of 13 in 1968. I was
brought up in Pakistan, and in 1968 the British influence was
still prevalent. I was taught to read English at an early
age, and the books I mostly read were British school
stories. My faviourite author of such books was Frank Richards, the
author of the Billy Bunter stories that I am sure all Englishmen
are familier with. Having devouvered all Billy Bunter books, I found
a book called Mike at Wryken by P.G. Wodehouse. I will admit that
the main reason I purchased that book was because the cover showed
a Cricket scene, and Cricket was also a passion with me. After
finishing Mike at Wryken, followed by Mike and Psmith, I looked for
more Wodehouse stories, and thus became a lifelong fan.
I am not sure if the above sequence will work with american
youngsters. For one thing Cricket is unknown to them, and also
life in an English public school will be foreign to most american
youngsters. (If there is one regret I have in moving to, and settling
in America, it is that my kids know nothing about Cricket, and will
never read Billy Bunter). However, the best books for young
PGW initiates probably should be Mike at Wryken, and Mike and
Psmith. Hopefully they could overcome their unfamiliarity with
Cricket and enjoy these books for the story line and prose. After that
they can graduate to PGW's books for the adult audience.
Rick
Carl J. Chimi
says...
>There is no single "right" age for reading Wodehouse for the first time,
>any more than there is a single right age for seeing Europe -- the
experience is different at each age, but all are valid.
My dear Lady Bassett knows whereof she speaks. Rem acu tetigisti. I,
myself was about 32 or 33 when I first heard the Richard Briers/Michael
Mordern series on NPR Playhouse. These radio plays interested me
strangely, causing me to infest nearby bibliographic establishments with
my beastly presence to uncover the source of this Nile of amusement.
However, for years I was only able to stomach the stories which Bertie
himself had written. I was just not ready for other Wodehousean
treasures in the third person.
With age, time, and the perpective they bring, I have recently read
Summer Lightning (possibly called Fish Preferred on the other side of the
pond?) and have found it to be most wholesomely pleasing in form and
content. Galahad seems to me a hero for any man entering his middle
years.
And yet, I would not call myself particularly mature, nor, I think would
anyone save my youthful chum, Stephen Spaulding.
Carl
Tony Knight
In article <3ave38$1...@ictpsp3.ictp.trieste.it>,
> The question that comes to mind is what is the right age to
appreciate
> Wodehouse and his style!
>